Amgen tour of California 2012

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Tour de France 2012

Date range:
June 30 - July 22 2012
  • Tour de France, Fra, WorldTour
  • Stages. Expand the race menu

    • Prologue

      Distance:
      6.1km
      Location
      Liège (ITT)

    • Stage 1

      Distance:
      198km
      Start location:
      Liège
      End location:
      Seraing

    • Stage 2

      Distance:
      207km
      Start location:
      Visé
      End location:
      Tournai

    • Stage 3

      Distance:
      197km
      Start location:
      Orchies
      End location:
      Boulogne-sur-Mer

    • Stage 4

      Distance:
      214km
      Start location:
      Abbeville
      End location:
      Rouen

    • Stage 5

      Distance:
      197km
      Start location:
      Rouen
      End location:
      Saint-Quentin

    • Stage 6

      Distance:
      210km
      Start location:
      Épernay
      End location:
      Metz

    • Stage 7

      Distance:
      199km
      Start location:
      Tomblaine
      End location:
      La Planche des Belles Filles

    • Stage 8

      Distance:
      154km
      Start location:
      Belfort
      End location:
      Porrentruy

    • Stage 9

      Distance:
      38km
      Start location:
      Arc-et-Senans
      End location:
      Besançon (ITT)

    • Rest Day 1

      Start location:
      End location:

    • Stage 10

      Distance:
      194km
      Start location:
      Mâcon
      End location:
      Bellegarde-sur-Valserine

    • Stage 11

      Distance:
      140km
      Start location:
      Albertville
      End location:
      La Toussuire - Les Sybelles

    • Stage 12

      Distance:
      220km
      Start location:
      Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne
      End location:
      Annonay Davézieux

    • Stage 13

      Distance:
      215km
      Start location:
      Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux
      End location:
      Le Cap d’Agde

    • Stage 14

      Distance:
      192km
      Start location:
      Limoux
      End location:
      Foix

    • Stage 15

      Distance:
      160km
      Start location:
      Samatan
      End location:
      Pau

    • Rest Day 2

      Start location:
      End location:

    • Stage 16

      Distance:
      197km
      Start location:
      Pau
      End location:
      Bagnères-de-Luchon

    • Stage 17

      Distance:
      144km
      Start location:
      Bagnères-de-Luchon
      End location:
      Peyragudes

    • Stage 18

      Distance:
      215km
      Start location:
      Blagnac
      End location:
      Brive-la-Gaillarde

    • Stage 19

      Distance:
      52km
      Start location:
      Bonneval
      End location:
      Chartres (ITT)

    • Stage 20

      Distance:
      130km
      Start location:
      Rambouillet
      End location:
      Paris Champs-Élysées
  • Race history

ASO reveals balanced Tour parcours for 2012

More time trials, fewer summit finishes on tap

By:
Cycling News

Cadel Evans with the 2012 Tour de France route.

Cadel Evans with the 2012 Tour de France route.

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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.

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.