On paper this looks like a test for the time trial specialists, although much the same was said of the Tour de France's TT in Pau in July and Julian Alaphilippe managed to best them with his punchy power on the short climbs and daredevil skills on the descents.
At 36.1km, this time trial is significantly longer than the Tour's. It starts in Jurançon, which is renowned for its sweetish white wine. It begins with a climb, rising almost 150 metres in the opening 3km, twisting almost all the way through the rolling vineyards. It then levels out for a dozen kilometres that will certainly suit specialists such as Jumbo Visma's Tony Martin and Primoz Roglic, Ag2r's Pierre Latour and perhaps UAE's precocious talent, Tadej Pogacar, who was crowned Slovenia's national TT champion in June.
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