2020 Tour de France stage 14 preview

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Stage 14: Clermont-Ferrand - Lyon

Date: September 12, 2020 

Distance: 194km 

Stage start: 1:05 p.m. CEST

Stage type: Mountain

A Saturday stage that is complicated on the front end with tough climbs and leads to a very punchy finish. There are three categorised climbs in the first 93 kilometres, then the final two come with just 12.5km to go. The finale will put off the sprinters so expect a break to win.

During the early years of the first millenium, wars raged across the part of France that lay between Clermont-Ferrand and Lyon. Sitting on the confluence of the Rhône and Saône rivers, Lyon was an important city for the Romans and a cosmopolitan centre for trade and commerce. The journey from rough highlands to the plains is reflected in the parcours of stage 14 of the 2020 Tour. The first half of the stage is mountainous, and if the sprinters didn’t look too closely at the finale, they might think it was worth trying to crest the category 2 Col du Béal, rising to 1,390m, to contest the finish. 

Lyon is a classic waypoint on the Tour de France route, having appeared in the very first race in 1903. In order to get to Lyon in 2020, riders will have to save power for  two punchy climbs just before the finish, both category 4 scrambles. These could prove to be battlegrounds for a rebellious uprising.