Andy Schleck hopes to be one step higher on the final Tour podium in 2012.(Image credit: AFP)
Jean-Etienne Amaury, President of the Amaury Sport Organisation, speaks during the official presentation of 2012 Tour de France route.(Image credit: AFP)
Spaniards Sammy Sanchez and Alberto Contador at the unveiling of the 2012 Tour de France route.(Image credit: AFP)
2011 Tour de France champion Cadel Evans, Philippe Gilbert and Thomas Voeckler on stage with a 2012 Tour de France route map.(Image credit: AFP)
French tennis champion Yannick Noah and five-time Tour de France champion Bernard Hinault present the Tour's yellow jersey.(Image credit: AFP)
Plenty of star power on stage for the 2012 Tour route presentation (l-r): Alberto Contador, Pierre Rolland, Mark Cavendish, Cadel Evans, Philippe Gilbert, Frank and Andy Schleck, and Thomas Voeckler.(Image credit: AFP)
Three-time Tour champion Alberto Contador at the presentation of the 2012 Tour de France route.(Image credit: AFP)
Christian Prudhomme announces the 2012 Tour de France route.(Image credit: AFP)
Cadel Evans with the 2012 Tour de France route.(Image credit: AFP)
The route of the 2012 Tour de France has been officially presented in Paris today. The parcours, which had been mistakenly published by race organiser ASO one week ago, has been confirmed and detailed. The 99th Tour de France has been elaborated to include two long time trials and 'only' three summit finishes, so next year's winner will have to be an even more complete rider than in previous years.
The first week of racing, starting in Belgium, will have plenty of opportunity for the fast men to shine after the traditional prologue in Liège. But stage three to Boulogne-sur-Mer will also carry some challenging hills for opportunistic attackers to the liking of race director Christian Prudhomme. A first test day for the climbers and GC contenders will come on stage seven, when the Tour hits the medium mountain range of the Vosges in Eastern France and its ski station La Planche des Belles Filles at 1,148m of altitude.
This first summit finish comes after a 5.5km climb at an average gradient of 9.5 percent, with some parts exceeding 15 percent - a short but steep climb that should reveal the state of the favourites' legs.
After a tricky stage eight to Porrentruy, again perfect for breakaways, the next decisive day will be stage nine's 38km time trial from Arc-et-Senans to Besançon, setting up the potential candidates for the overall victory on a hilly parcours.
Stage 10 in the medium mountain range of Jura will feature the difficult Col du Grand Colombier, located 40 kilometres from the finish. Then, the second of the three summit finishes will take the riders to La Toussuire - Les Sybelles on July 12 via the mythical Cols de la Madeleine et de la Croix de Fer.
Coming down the Alps, the bunch will cross Southern France via another certain bunch sprint finish in the Mediterranean seaside resort Cap d'Agde on Bastille Day before entering the Pyrenees. There, the Cols of Aubisque, Tourmalet, Aspin and Peyresourde on stage 18 could shake up the classification even one day before the third and final mountain top finish in the ski station of Peyragudes on stage 19.
Moving up north again, the Grande Boucle will stage a second time trial, this time covering 52km, in Chartres on the penultimate day.
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This parcours should see even more fireworks from the climbers on the mountaintop finishes to gather a maximum advantage over the better time triallists on GC. A total of 25 climbs will count for Cat 2, Cat 1 or HC points for the mountains classification. Again, Prudhomme has elaborated a route which he hopes will "expand the riders' possibilities and give more importance to the medium mountain ranges."
There will be nine flat stages, four medium mountain stages (including one summit finish), five mountain stages including two summit finishes (one on stage 11 in the Alpine La Toussuire, and one on stage 17 in Peyragudes in the Pyrenees), two individual time trials and one prologue.
2012 Tour de France stages:
P Prologue Sat 30 June Liège > Liège 6.1 km 1 Road stage Sun 1 July Liège > Seraing 198 km 2 Road stage Mon 2 July Visé > Tournai 207 km 3 Road stage Tues 3 July Orchies > Boulogne-sur-Mer 197 km 4 Road stage Weds 4 July Abbeville > Rouen 214 km 5 Road stage Thurs 5 July Rouen > Saint-Quentin 197 km 6 Road stage Fri 6 July Épernay > Metz 210 km 7 Road stage Sat 7 July Tomblaine > La Planche des Belles Filles 199 km 8 Road stage Sun 8 July Belfort > Porrentruy 154 km 9 Time trial Mon 9 July Arc-et-Senans > Besançon 38 km 10 Road stage Weds 11 July Mâcon > Bellegarde-sur-Valserine 194 km 11 Mountains Thurs 12 July Albertville > La Toussuire - Les Sybelles 140 km 12 Mountains Fri 13 July Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne > Annonay 220 km 13 Road stage Sat 14 July Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux > Le Cap d’Agde 215 km 14 Road stage Sun 15 July Limoux > Foix 192 km 15 Road stage Mon 16 July Samatan > Pau 160 km 16 Mountains Weds 18 July Pau > Bagnères-de-Luchon 197 km 17 Mountains Thurs 19 July Bagnères-de-Luchon > Peyragudes 144 km 18 Road stage Fri 20 July Blagnac > Brive-la-Gaillarde 215 km 19 Time trial Sat 21 July Bonneval > Chartres 52 km 20 Road stage Sun 22 July Rambouillet > Paris Champs-Élysées 130 km
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