The official presentation of the hundredth edition of the Tour unveiled will take, from June 29 to July 21, riders, followers, and viewers on a 3,360 km route exclusively designed in France. It is known that Nice will be honored for the 35th time as a stage city for a time trial while also serving as a rear base for the Corsican journey, while Cagnes-sur-Mer will be the starting city for the arrival in Marseille.
The Island of Beauty will thus host the Tour de France for the first time. The Grand Départ organized there will set the tone for an edition dedicated to the majesty of the territories as much as to the sporting achievement. For the first time in ten years, the Tour’s route has been drawn 100% within the borders of mainland France.
After its Corsican stay, the 2013 Tour will also be imbued with the theme of water: with Nice, Marseille, Saint-Malo, and Mont-Saint-Michel, six stages will be judged at the seaside, while the peloton will have the opportunity to travel along the four major rivers of France and ride on the banks of the magnificent lakes of Serre-Ponçon and Annecy.
During the three weeks of the race, aesthetics will also be found in action. The diversity of terrains has been favored, to offer all types of riders the possibilities to express themselves, in all the sequences that the Tour will experience. Time trialists will be honored in groups in Nice, then solo at Mont-Saint-Michel, while sprinters are expected to meet in Marseille, Montpellier, or Saint-Malo. Whatever happens, the route remains constantly open to the daring. And among them, climbers will have opportunities spread throughout their journey.
The Pyrenean program revisits ascents recently integrated into the list of the “elite cols” of the Tour de France, such as the Col de Pailhères or the Hourquette d’Ancizan. The giants of the Tour will later meet the Giant of Provence, Mont Ventoux, which has not been climbed since 2009. If they prove enterprising, the mountain climbers have the sufficient mileage and gradients of ascent for a real fireworks display in the Alpine massif. The final time trial of the Tour has not been placed so far from the final finish since 1975. Moreover, there will still be more than 140 km of climbing spread over three high-intensity stages: for the first time, we will talk about the 42 hairpin bends of Alpe-d’Huez as it is a double ascent in the station that the riders will face on Thursday afternoon. A rematch is prepared for them the next day towards Grand Bornand, then up to the arrival at Semnoz, facing Mont-Blanc, which they will discover 24 hours before the Champs-Elysées.
Finally, only one question remains, who will be the winner of this 100th Tour?
