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le Tour de France, 2021

26th June - 18th July, 2021

starting to shed covid
and plenty of mountains

Route map of the 2021 Tour de France
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Tour de France 2023s

official website for le Tour de France
[also official website in French]

 

the cycling zone

la Vuelta a España, 2016 - let's climb!

La Vuelta 2016

giro d'italia 2018
il Giro d'Italia 2018 : Middle East meets West, climbing all the way

Giro d'Italia

 

TDF current and previous years, as seen by abelard.org:

New translation, the Magna Carta

what to look forward to
Brittany in yellow!
climbing here we come
2021 tour de france route
the stages for 2021
this year’s t-shirts
the teams
team jerseys/colours

this year’s top ten riders according to betting odds
last year (2020): the first ten riders
mountain stages, uphill and summit finishes
watching tdf broadcasts

Tour de France 2022

watching TDF broadcasts

Le Giro 2018
La Vuelta 2017

what to look foward to

With the 2020 Olympics in Japan rescheduled due to Covid-19, this year's Tour de France dates have also been advanced, from July to 26 June to 18 July 2021, to avoid having to reschedule the already rescheduled Tokyo Olympic Games.

Originally planned to start in the Danish capital of Copenhagen, this year's Tour de France instead starts in Brittany with the first two stages ending with sharp climbs. The next three weeks will stay almost completely in France in order minimise nternational travel complications. The only exception will be stages 15 and 16 which enter and leave Andorra, with a rest day in this high altitude principality in between. As usual, there will be the Paris finish on the Champs d'Elysées.

The 2024 Olympics are being held in France, so the proximity of the Olympics road race (25 July, 2024), as well as the very mountainous world championship scheduled in Martigny will inevitably influence the preparation programmes and the motivation of the Tour's favourites.

(The 2022 TDF will start in Denmark.)

Brittany in yellow!

This year, and for the first time,  the Tour de France and its main partner LCL promote the Yellow Jersey through a contest between the eight stage-cities of 2021 Grand Départ Bretagne. The competition started on 29th May and continues throughout June. From Brest to Fougères, passing by Landerneau, Perros-Guirec, Mûr-de-Bretagne Guerlédan, Lorient, Pontivy and Redon, each city aims to decorate itself in yellow! A bike park will be offer to the winner city by LCL


2021 race route in 3D (5:08 minutes)

climbing here we come

Travelling clockwise, this year's Tour again skips the north of France, with its less wealthy rural regions. The Tour first visits the Armorican 'mountains' in Brittany. Stage 1 features Landerneau's finish on the 3 km, 5.7% Cote de la Fosse aux Loups.  Stage 2 which finishes at the summit of the 2 km, 6.9% Mur-de-Bretagne. On Stage 7, the longest stage since 2000, the race covers 249 km over the lumpy Morvan 'mountains' in the Central Massif. A short passage in the Alps follows on Stages 8 and 9.

The double-ascent of Mont Ventoux is on Stage 11, with exposed sections and its famous brutal winds towards the top will make for a hard challenge.

Andorra provides the next test with a passage of the 2,408m high Port d’Envalira on stage 15.

The Pyrenees offer hard climbing with Stage 17 going up the Col du Portet (16 km at 8.7%)  and then several stretches of over 10%, while Stage 18 tackles the Col du Tourmalet before a summit finish to Luz Ardiden.

Mountain ranges:
Armorican 'mountains' (stages 1, 2)
Morvan (stage 7)
Alps (stages 8, 9)
Andorra (stage 15)
Pyrenees (stages 17, 18).
with 3 summit finishes

 
First-time climb:
le Signal d’Uchon in the Morvan

feeling the pinch still more

The 2019 Tour de France [TDF] was held almost entirely in the eastern half of France, except for the required excursion into the Pyrenees and the final day trip to Paris, and the 2020 TDF was even more graphic and extreme in its avoidance of regions that cannot afford stage hosting bills. This year, the 2021 TDF is just as lean.

2021 tour de france route

Route map of the 2021 Tour de France

The race will cover 3,417.5 km, with:

  • 8 flat stages (stages 3, 5, 7, 10, 11, 14, 19, 21)
  • 5 hilly stages (stages 1, 2, 7, 14, 16)
  • 6 high mountain stages (stages 8, 9, 11, 15, 17, 18)
  • 3 summit finishes
    Tignes (9),
    Saint-Lary-Soulan col du Portet (17),
    Luz Ardiden (18)
  • 2 individual time trial stages (stages 5, 20)
  • 0 team time trial stage
  • 2 rest days

    There will be 10 towns or sites not visited before by the Tour de France:

  • Landerneau (finish stage 1)
  • Pontivy (finish stage 3)
  • Changé (start stage 5)
  • Vierzon (start stage 7)
  • Sorgues (start stage 11)
  • Malaucène (finish stage 11)
  • Quillan (finish stage 14)
  • Céret (start stage 15)
  • Pas de la Case (start stage 16)
  • Chatou (start stage 21)

the stages for 2021

[Note: blue links go to profile section on this page,
            yellow links go to associated pages at abelard.org]

Flat stages, hilly stages, medium mountain stages,
mountain stages
, time trials, rest days
1 Brest > Landerneau
Sat. 26 June [198 km / 123 mi]
12 Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux > Nîmes
Thurs. 8 July [159.5 km / 99.1 mi]
2 Perros-guirec > Mûr-de-Bretagne Guerlédan
Sun. 27 June [183.5 km / 114mi]
13 Nîmes > Carcassonne
Fri. 9 July [220 km / 140 mi]
3 Lorient > Pontivy
Mon. 28 June [183 km / 114 mi]
14 Carcassonne > Quillan
Sat. 10 July [184 km / 114 mi]
4 Redon > Fougères
Tues. 29 June [150.5 km km / 93.5 mi]
15 France: Céret > Andorra: Andorre-la-Vieille
Sun. 11 July [191.5 km / 119 mi]
5 Changé > Laval Espace Mayenne
Wed. 30 June [27.2 km / 16.9 mi]
individual time-trial (ITT)
R rest day - Andorra
Mon. 12 July
6 Tours > Châteauroux
Thurs. 1 July [161 km / 100 mi]
16 Andorra: Pas de la Case > France: Saint-Gaudens
Tues. 13 July [169 km / 105  mi]
7 Vierzon > Le Creusot
Fri. 2 July [249.5 km / 155 mi]
17 Muret > Saint-Lary-Soulan Col du Portet
summit finish: 2215 m
Wed. 14 July [178.5  km / 110.9mi]
8 Oyonnax > Le Grand-Bornand
Sat. 3 July [151 km / 94 mi]
18 Pau > Luz Ardiden
summit finish: 1715 m
Thurs. 15 July [130 km / 81 mi]
9 Cluses > Tignes
summit finish:  2,113 m
Sun. 4 July [145 km / 90 mi]
19 Mourenx > Libourne
Fri. 16 July [207 km / 129 mi]
R rest day - Tignes
Mon. 5 July
20 Libourne > Saint-Emilion
Sat. 17 July [30.8 km / 19.1 mi]
individual time-trial (ITT)
10 Albertville > Valence
Tues. 6 July [191  km / 119 mi]
21 Chatou > Paris Champs-Élysées
Sun. 18 July [108.5 km / 67.4 mi]
11 Sorgues > Malaucène
Wed. 7 July [199 km / 124 mi]
blue links go to related sections on this page
yellow links go to related articles at abelard.org

There will be 21 stages. These include 6 mountain stages, 5 hilly stages and 2 against-the-clock 2 [contre-le-montre] time trials. There are 2 rest days. All other days are 'on the plain' - relatively flat days. The race's distance is be 3,417.5  kilometres or 2,123.5 miles.

bonus seconds and bonus points

bonus seconds
They will distributed at the finish of each normal stage allowing the first three riders to gain 10, 6 and 4 seconds.

bonus points
Given at the summits of six significant climbs - 8, 5 and 2 seconds (under the approval of the Union cycliste internationale).
  • Stage 2: Mûr-de-Bretagne, first passage
  • Stage 7: Signal d’Uchon
  • Stage 8: Col de la Colombière
  • Stage 11: Mont Ventoux, second passage
  • Stage 14: Col de Saint-Louis
  • Stage 15: Col de Beixalis

this year’s t-shirts

Again, this year's TDF t-shirts are standard and without imagination, and the prices are still daftly steep. For those with a certain morbid curiosity. this is the TDF online boutique.

the teams for 2021

There are twenty-two teams taking part in the 2019 Tour de France. As well as all nineteen UCI World Pro Teams, four second-tier UCI Pro teams have been invited (wih askerisks in the main table) :
  • Alpecin–Fenix
  • Arkéa–Samsic
  • B&B Hotels p/b KTM
  • Total Direct Énergie

AUSTRALIA
Team BikeExchange (BEX)

BAHRAIN
Team Bahrain Victorious (TBV)

BELGIUM
Deceuninck–Quick-Step (DQT)
Lotto Soudal (LTS)
* Alpecin–Fenix (AFC)
* Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux (IWG)

FRANCE
AG2R Citroën Team (ACT)
Cofidis Solutions Crédits (COF)
Groupama–FDJ (GFC)
* B&B Hotels p/b KTM  (BBK)
* Total-Direct Energie (TDE)
* Arkéa–Samsic (ARK)

GERMANY
Bora–Hansgrohe (BOH)
Team Giant – Alpecin (TGA)
Team DSM (DSM)

GREAT BRITAIN
Ineos Grenadiers (IGD)

ISRAEL
Israel Start-Up Nation (ISN)

ITALY
Lampre-Merida (LAM)

KAZAKSTAN
Astana–Premier Tech (APT)

NETHERLANDS
Team Jumbo–Visma (TJV)

POLAND
CCC Pro Team (CCC)

SOUTH AFRICA
Team Qhubeka Assos (TQA)

SPAIN
Moviestar Team (MOV)

SWITZERLAND
IAM Cycling (IAM)
Katusha–Alpecin (KAT)

UAE
UAE Team Emirates (UAE)

USA
EF Education–Nippo (EFN)
Trek – Segafredo (TFS)

team jerseys/colours

2021 TDF team jersey
2021 TDF team jerseys

this year’s top ten riders according to betting odds

  Name Betting odds
at 29/5/21
UCI Team Code Nat. Comments
1 Tadej Pogacar 13/8 UAE SLO

22 y.o. 2020 TDF winner in his first TDF, this year he came first in both the UAE Tour and Tirreno-Adriatico.

2 Primoz Roglic 45/17 TJV SLO

Ranked world n 1 in 2019 and 2020; winner of 2021 Vuela d'Espagne, 15th in this year's Paris-Nice with 3 stage wins

3 Geraint Thomas 6/1 IGD GBR 35 y.o. 2018 TDF winner, beating the favourite Chris Froome; 2nd in TDF 2019; not rided in 2020 after a bad crash when training.
Thomas has been in 9 TDF races, double Olympic track gold medal winner and triple world champion for team pursuit. An impressive climber.
4 Richard Carapaz 18/1 IGD EQU 2019 Giro d'Italia winner. won a stage at 2021 Tour de Swiss.
5

Richie Porte

33/1 IGD NZD Winner 2021 Critérium du Dauphiné. 33 y.o. Previously, riding with Chris Froome in Team Sky. With exceptionally strong climbing legs, which he could use to his advantage in the ITT of stage 20.
6 Julian Alaphilippe 33/1 DQT FRA 29 y.o. Current Road World Champion. In 2020 TDF, was 1st on Stage 2 and held yellow jersey after Stages 2 to 4.
7 Mark Padun 50/1 TBV UKR Won 2 stages and the King of the Mountains at 2021 Critérium du Dauphiné
8 Tao Geoghegan Hart 50/1 IGD GBR Winner 2020 Giro d'Italia, first participation in a TDF
9 Miguel Angel Lopez 50/1 MOV COL 27 y.o. 1st  overall Vuelta a Andalucía, also coming 1st on Stage 3. 1st in 2021 Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge which may have some relevance for this year's TDF Stage 11.
10 Enric Mas Nicolau 66/1 MOV ESP

26 y.o. 5th Overall 2020 Vuelta a España, together with being 1st in the Young rider classification. 5th Overall 2020 Tour de France. 3rd  in 2021 Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge which may have some relevance for this year's TDF Stage 11.

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last year (2020): the first ten riders

Position No. Name First name Team Nat. Time diff.
1 131 POGACAR  Tadej UAE SLO 87h 20' 05'
2 x ROGLIC Primož TJV SLO + 00' 59''
3 x PORTE Richie TFS AUS + 03' 30''
4 x LANDA  Mikel  TBV ESP + 5' 58"
5 x MAS  Enric DQT FRA + 6' 07"
6 x LOPEZ

Miguel Ángel 

AST COL + 6' 47"
7 x DUMOULIN Tom TJV NED + 7' 48"
8 x URAN Rigoberto EF1 COL + 8' 02"
9 x YATES Adam  TBE GBR + 9' 25"
10 x CARUSO Damiano TBV ITA + 14' 03''
             
Overall winner POGACAR Tadej 131 UAE SLO 87h 20' 05''
(Yellow Jersey)
By points BENNETT Sam 43 DQT IRL 380 pts
(Green Jersey)
Climber

POGACAR Tadej

131 UAE SLO 82 pts
(Polka dot Jersey)
Under 25

POGACAR Tadej

131 UAE SLO 87h 20' 05'
(White Jersey)
Combativity

HIRSCHI Marc

204

DSM SUI 86h 30' 20"
Team winner

MOVIESTAR

MOV ESP 262h 14' 58''

mountain stages, uphill and summit finishes

Mont Ventoux remembering when Chris Froome ran up the mountain after a crash with a motor bike
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39oWOONz_0E
1m37s

  • 5 medium mountain stages (stages 5, 6, 9, 15, 17)
  • 5 high mountain stages (stages 12, 14, 18, 19, 20)

Stage 1, 26th June - Brest to Landerneau

The punchy short climb to finish stage 1 on the Côte de la Fosse aux Loups.

Stage 1 - Brest to Landerneau
Stage 1 - Brest to Landerneau

Stage 2, 27th June - Saint-Étienne to Brioud

Two climbs of the famed local climb, the Mûr-de-Bretagne. This climb has a long Tour de France history.

Stage 2 - the Mûr-de-Bretagne
Stage 2 - the Mûr-de-Bretagne

Stage 7, Fri. 2 July -Vierzon to Le Creusot

258 km long, the longest stage in two decades. 3,000m of vertical elevation. The Tour climbs the second category Signal d’Uchon for the first time this year.The climb is a 5.7 km test at 5.7% that averages 13.1% for the final kilometre.

Profile stage 12, Thurs. 18 July -Toulouse to Bagnères-de-Bigorre.
Stage 12 profile

The Signal d'Uchon, Stage 7
The Signal d'Uchon, Stage 7

Stage 8, Sat. 3 July - Oyonnax to Le Grand-Bornand

 This stage has three category 1 climbs: Cote de Mont-Saxonnex, Col de Romme, and Col de la Colombiere. This last climb offers a tasty final climb at 7.5km at 8.5%.

stage 8 profile Oyonnax to Le Grand-Bornand
Stage 8 profile Oyonnax to Le Grand-Bornand

Stage 9, Sun. 4th July - Cluses to Tignes

Tignes returns after the snow storms and landslides of 2019 wrecked its stage finale highlight.

Stage 9 profile - Cluses to Tignes
Stage 9 profile - Cluses to Tignes

Stage 11, Wed. 7 July - Sorgues to Malaucène

This stage sees two hors categorie ascents of Mont Ventoux by two different routes. First is the 'easy' way from Sault: 24.3km at 5%. Then comes the 'classic' Bédoin climb: 15.7km at 8.8%.

Stage 11 profile - Sorgues to Malaucène

Stage 11 profile - Sorgues to Malaucène

Stage 15, Sun. 11 July - Céret to Andorra: Andorre-la-Vieille

After crossing the border from France to Andorra, this stage presents the highest col of the entire TDF, the Port d’Envalira's Souvenir Henri Desgrangenwith its summit reaching 2,408 m.

Stage 15 profile, Céret to Andorra: Andorre-la-Vieille
Stage 15 profile, Céret to Andorra: Andorre-la-Vieille

Stage 17, Wed. 14 July - Muret to Saint-Lary-Soulan Col du Portet

A tough day of successively higher peaks - the Col du Peyresourde, the Col de Val Louron-Azet, then finishing on the 2,215 m Col du Portet.

Stage 17 profile - Muret to Saint-Lary-Soulan Col du Portet
Stage 17 profile - Muret to Saint-Lary-Soulan Col du Portet

Stage 18, Thurs. 15 July - Pau to Luz Ardiden

The hors categorie Tourmalet with its 17.1 km at 7.4% is the prelude to the second hors categorie climb of the day ending at Luz Ardiden. Its 13.3 km at 7.4% are the final mountain miles of the Tour.

Stage 18 profile - Pau to Luz Ardiden
Stage 18 profile - Pau to Luz Ardiden

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