Bookmark This Page
Posts
Tour de France 2009 Race Preview
posted by id* at 04:37 PM on November 03, 2008
Tour de France summary 2009 The Tour route for 2009 was announced on Wednesday and as with the past two years the race organizers ASO have thrown in some unexpected twists to make the race more exciting and dramatic as it heads into the final week. With 7 mountain stages, 2 time trails and a team time trial, this is a race designed for the complete rider. It’s been said the Tour is typically suited to a time trial specialist who can climb the last two editions have gone to climbers who can limit their losses against the clock. The 2009 edition will be no exception.
The 2009 Tour starts with a 15km time trail in the Principality of Monaco. Rather than a traditional prologue the 15km will certainly open up some time gaps right away and will immediately showcase who is on form and who came into the race underprepared. Look for Specialized sponsored Saxo-Bank athlete Fabian Cancellara to target this stage and take the first yellow jersey of the race. Following a pair of flat stages which look well suited to strong finishing sprinters like Tom Boonen, the Team Time Trial returns after a two year absence and will offer the strong teams a chance to put time into their rivals – Specialized teams Saxo-Bank and Quick Step will be sure to be competitive on this stage and should help to set very fast time splits all day long. Heading into the Pyrenees is the first mountain top finish of the race in Andora. This is the same place Jan Ullrich took control of the 2007 Tour. Look for top climbers like Alberto Contador, Cadel Evans, Christian Vandevelde, Carlos Sastre, Levi Leipheimer and the Schleck brothers to put their mark on the race on this stage.
Rounding out the first week of racing are two more Pyrenean stages with multiple cols and major climbs. Saturday’s race has five climbs enroute to a fast a furious downhill finish into Saint Girons while Sunday’s stage goes over the Aspin and then the dreaded col de Tourmalet. The Tour won’t be won on either of these stages, but certainly a few dreams will be crushed when the peloton leaves under prepared riders behind. Look for opportunists on both of these stages to push the pace early and put pressure on the main GC leaders.
Week Two starts with a much needed rest day in Limoges. Four transition stages follow as the Tour moves East toward Alsace. These four stages have none of the makings of traditional flat sprinter stages as they look to contain multiple small climbs and continued hard racing. These types of stages favor the opportunists and one-day classic racers like Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara. Look for both Quick Step and Saxo-Bank to help control these stages and set their men up for success. This second week should offer a small reprise for the GC contenders, but they will all have to remain extremely vigilant to escapes and splits in the peloton as there is always one or two top riders who miss a split and have their overall hopes ruined by inattention. Rounding out the second week is a hard Saturday stage into Besancon which should see multiple small climbs and then Sunday offers up the second mountain top finish of the race into Verbier Switzerland. This will be the most important stage of the race to date as it will be a huge opportunity for the GC contenders to again feel each other out and put time into their rivals. The top climber at the end of week two will certainly be in the best position to win this race.
Week Three starts again with a rest day on Monday and then heads back to France from Switzerland on Tuesday with an exceptionally hard stage over the 2473m Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard and then the 2184m Col du Petit-Saint-Bernard mountain tops. Wednesday continues the pressure as there are five mountain passes on tap. If Tuesday’s stage doesn’t create time gaps on some of the overall contenders Wednesday certainly will. This will be a stage where teamwork is paramount as none of the top GC riders will want to be isolated early and the main contender group will certainly be whittled down to just the top mountain men by the time they hit the final Col de Colombiere. Expect to see some powerful attacks on these two days as the top climbers will want to eliminate anyone who doesn’t have the endurance to race hard this late in the race.
Week Three continues on Thursday with only the second time trail of the race – a 40km flat race around Lake Annecy. The top GC riders will certainly have been tested and this will be a chance to see who has energy and power left. Typically the final time trail at the Tour de France is the day before the celebratory race into Paris. This year it’s not and with a climbing stage to come the top TT riders like Cadel Evans and Christian Vandevelde will want to take as much time as possible from their climbing rivals. Coming on the heels of two very hard Alpine stages this is sure to cause some separation at the top end of the race. The yellow jersey may change hands again today but with the hardest day still to come it’s no guarantee of success.
A transition stage follows and then the big show down on the Giant of Provence, Le Mont Ventoux. Having been left out of the Tour de France for the past 6 years the Ventoux makes a most dramatic return as the penultimate stage of the race. As Alp d’Huez showed us in 2008, a strong climber can make a bid for the race victory with one exceptional day. If the race is still close by July 25th expect it to be a winner takes all attack on one of the most mythical climbs of the Tour. At 21km in length and with an average gradient of almost 8% the Ventoux has always been a race breaker. Expect this year to be no exception. A strong climbing team like Saxo-Bank will benefit from controlling the race and a climber like Andy Schleck can use that to his advantage.
For 2009 race director Christian Prudhomme has created a course unlike one seen in years. With the mountain stages in week one and week three he has guaranteed a race that continues for the full three weeks. With only one long time trail the race appears to favor the climbers, but the Team Time Trial and the coupling of mountain stages should make the race one where the strongest complete cyclist will emerge victorious.
categories: News & Announcements , Photos
Post Photos
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Already a Member? Sign in Now to Add A Comment »
Comments (2)
08:59 PM on November 16, 2008 UTC KitC wrote:
This Tour is going to be incredible. Ventoux on the penultimate stage? Team Time Trial? The only thing that could be better would be a time trial into Paris -- but the sprinters wouldn't hear of it.
12:42 AM on November 29, 2008 UTC Darren Creaven wrote:
Allez,Allez...