Tour Blog

We’re expecting a summer holiday feeling for the first few miles of today’s stage, as we wend our way out of the medieval fortified town of Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux and roll through fields of lavender and sunflowers towards the winding roads of the Cevennes (hamlets, rivers, ravines and a noticeably slower pace of life). The afternoon will […]

This flatter stage will offer some respite for those whose legs are tired from the Alps, as well as a chance for the sprinters to shine when the Tour itself comes through a week later. We’re expecting Stage 13 to be a highlight for many, as it squeezes so many of France’s finest landscapes into

Stage 12 is, according to Chris Froome, the “Queen stage” of this year’s Tour with 5,400m of climbing over the Col de la Madeleine and the Col de la Croix de Fer, before an uphill finish on Alpe d’Huez. It’s bucket list, tour climbs all day! Riders will also be treated to the absurd twists

Stage 11 isn’t particularly long, but makes up for it with a lot of climbing – an overall 4,200m vertical gain. It also sees the Tour’s first ascent of the 1,748m Col du Pré which follows a warm up on the similarly lofty Montée de Bisanne. Some of us will no doubt slow down to

A great introduction to the mountains – this scenic stage will take riders alongside the picturesque Lake Annecy before heading up the 1,477m Col de la Croix Fry, and then on to the eagerly awaited Col de Glières. It’s a relatively short climb but with an average gradient of 11.5%, it’s a tough first test