2023-10-25 12:01:12
With several premieres and a hoped-for battle between four cycling stars, the 111th Tour de France 2024 is entering a historic edition. For the first time, the world’s largest cycling race starts in Italy, and for the first time it ends in Nice and not in Paris because of the Olympic Games. As with the legendary battle of seconds in 1989, the next tour (June 29th to July 21st) will be decided in an individual time trial, preceded by four mountain finishes and a gravel stage.
“It’s going to be epic,” said defending champion Jonas Vingegaard at the presentation of the course on Wednesday in the chic Palais de Congrès in Paris. The women will hold their 2024 tour in mid-August. The start is in Rotterdam, the finish is at the end of the famous bends of Alpe d’Huez.
The two-time tour winners Tadej Pogacar and Vingegaard, time trial world champion Remco Evenepoel and Bora-hansgrohe’s royal transfer Primoz Roglic are set to fight a breathtaking four-way battle over 21 stages and 3,492 kilometers. From a local perspective, eyes are on Felix Gall, who won the queen stage of this year’s Tour and was subsequently voted Austria’s Athlete of the Year 2023.
The organizers have put everything in place for a memorable tour, with every top star able to play to their strengths. There are also up to eight possible sprint finishes, where Mark Cavendish is hoping for his 35th stage win. This would distance him from Eddy Merckx and become the sole record holder.
After the start in Florence, four days follow in Italy, which are also dedicated to the memory of the Italian legend Marco Pantani. The first stage ends in Rimini, where Pantani died of a cocaine overdose in 2004; the second stage starts in his hometown of Cesenatico.
Then we head to the French Alps. There will be a first endurance test early on at the legendary Col du Galibier. You then drive towards Paris, where the ninth section is likely to be a spectacle as a gravel stage. 14 sections on loose ground have to be overcome, a total of 32 kilometers.
After the first day of rest in Orleans, the field heads to the Pyrenees. The 15th stage ends there on the Plateau de Beille; with an altitude difference of almost 5,000 meters, it is the most demanding day in the mountains. In the final week, three Alpine stages await the riders. The 19th stage with the 2,802 meter high Cime de Bonette and the mountain finish in Isola 2000 stands out here. There are 4,600 meters of altitude to overcome in just 145 kilometers.
An extremely demanding individual time trial from Monaco to Nice over 35 kilometers concludes the tour. The winner will be determined on the Promenade des Anglais on the Mediterranean, and the organizers are hoping for a similar outcome to 1989. Back then, Frenchman Laurent Fignon and Greg LeMond fought a memorable battle against the clock in Paris. In the end, the American won the yellow jersey with a lead of eight seconds. It is still the closest tour decision in history.
Because of the Summer Games in Paris, the women’s tour will not start on the last day of the men’s race, as it did recently. The Grand Départ will only take place in Rotterdam on August 12th and will be the first time abroad. The route leads south over eight stages and 946.3 kilometers. On the second day there will be two stages in Rotterdam. The decision on overall victory will be made on the final stage on August 18th, a demanding day in the Alps with almost 4,000 meters of altitude from Le Grand-Bornand to Alpe d’Huez.
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