And so again we come to this sport of two wheels and slower speed, that somehow attracts my attention. The Tour de France is back ! and I am excited. Ok I have to say I am not an expert or even good at it but my French family are experts, since grandpa’s time and before they have follow it every year. And it is the talk of the family this time around. Therefore, I got in the wagon or voiture and will be telling you about it for the 2019 edition that starts tomorrow July 6 from Brussels!
not in Brittany this year but is a lot of fun anywhere!
Needless to say, would love to have the time to be at Albi and or Toulouse this year for the 11th stage! We had base at Pau ourselves couple times as the family came down to meet us there. Albertville is one town my dear late wife Martine lived and worked before meeting me and she was an avid follower as well of course. Then, to finish in our beloved Yvelines dept 78 at Rambouillet to Paris Champs –Elysées would had been wonderful.
The Tour de France 2019 is the 106th edition and will take place from 6 to 28 July 2019. The big start will take place in Brussels in tribute to the 50th anniversary of the first victory on the Tour of Eddy Merckx. Each day, a different yellow jersey will be given to the leader of the general classification in tribute to the riders and symbols that have marked the history of the tunic that celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2019. All traditions!
The route is 3,460 kilometers long, divided into 21 stages. Two stages will take place in Brussels, a first stage in line completing a loop around the city favorable to sprinters but passing through the famous Grammont Wall at the beginning of the stage, and the second being a team time trial linking the Royal Palace to Atomium.
Latest news on departure as of today : Four-time winner of the event and third in the 2018 edition, Christopher Froome is out after a heavy crash on the Critérium du Dauphiné on June 12, 2019 A few days later, the second of the Tour de France 2018, Tom Dumoulin declares in turn due to a knee injury dating back to the 2019 Giro d’Italia and from which he has yet to recover. So we will need to look for other hopefuls after the time trials as for me there is no favorite on this one.
For the first time, the famous brand Panini is launching an album of vignettes, this collection includes 352 vignettes and 42 cards that will represent runners, team jerseys, bikes or even stage cities. 150,000 albums are distributed before the Tour.
Taking the queu from the official site we will have 7 flat stages, 5 hilly stages, 7 mountain stages and 5 mountain-top finishes (La Planche des Belles Filles, Tourmalet, Foix Prat d’Albis, and Tignes, Val Thorens). 1 individual time-trial stage , 1 team time-trial stage and 2 rest days. There will be 3 stage cities of sites visited for the first time out of a total of 34. These will be Binche (start of stage 3), Saint-Dié-des-Vosges (start of stage 5) , and Pont du Gard (start of stage 17). In Foix (Stage 15), the finish will be set at the summit of Prat d’Albis (1 205 m).
The 2019 Tour will go through two countries, Belgium and France. It will visit the three Belgian regions of Bruxelles-Capitale, Flanders and Wallonia, and 37 departments of France. Like in 2018, there are two time-trials on the menu:: by teams for stage 2, Bruxelles Palais Royal > Brussel Atomium on a distance of 27 km and the individual for stage 13 in Pau on a distance of 27 km. It’ll be on Friday the 19th of July, a date that marks the 100th anniversary of the Yellow Jersey.
It’ll be the third time that a finish is set at the top of the Pyrenean mountain after 1974 (victory of Jean-Pierre Danguillaume) and 2010 (victory of Andy Schleck). The Tourmalet is also to date the mountain that has been climbed the most in the history of the Tour: 82 times.. At an altitude of 2 770 metres, the col de l’Iseran that hasn’t been climbed for twelve years will be the summit of the 2019 Tour. It will be climbed for the 8th time.
The participating teams in 2019 are (my favorites highlighted):
TEAM INEOS, BORA – HANSGROHE, DECEUNINCK – QUICK – STEP, AG2R LA MONDIALE, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, GROUPAMA – FDJ ; MOVISTAR TEAM; ASTANA PRO TEAM, TEAM JUMBO – VISMA, EF EDUCATION FIRST, MITCHELTON – SCOTT, CCC TEAM, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, TREK – SEGAFREDO, TEAM SUNWEB,COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, LOTTO SOUDAL, TOTAL DIRECT ENERGIE,TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN, WANTY – GOBERT CYCLING TEAM, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, and TEAM ARKEA – SAMSIC.
Some webpages to help you plan your trip to see in person or even on TV ::) are
Official Grand Depart from Brussels
Official Tour de France on the routes stages
Velo Club on the stages of the Tour de France in detail
Now sit back and enjoy it , it will be another exciting race and first and foremost for me, gorgeous views of my French countryside! Enjoy the Tour de France!
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 