Tour de France 2016: The ups and downs of this year"s route

Tour De France 2016 Preview Show

The real star of the Tour is always the route, and while its not as initially intimidating in 2016 as it was last year, its going to be tricky to plot a course to victory through it. Comparatively subtle the route may be but the effect of this is to raise the tension and intensity. Theres an uphill finish on stage 2, a mountain summit finish on stage 5, and the Pyrenees begin on stage 7.

2015 was a series of four clearly-defined phases: Classics opening week, Pyrenees, Massif Central, Alps. 2016 is far more complex, less regular, more a piece of free-form jazz than a traditionally-constructed symphony in four movements. Theres a flat stage, a hilly stage, and two more flat stages in the first four days, and then the uphill finish at Le Lioran in the Massif Central, followed by one more flat stage. At this point, the sprinters will have had four of their seven chances for a stage win. Meanwhile, the GC contenders will have had to manage the Cherbourg hill finish, and the very hard route to Le Lioran.

Mont St-Michel, stage 1

None of the Massif Central climbs of stage 5 are particularly hard there are two third-cat climbs and two second-cats, before the final third-cat ascent and a short downhill to the finish. Its ambush territory, and the final 50km look intense, without being outrageously hard the kind of territory, in other words, on which the best bike racing happens. The Tour peloton is still getting used to the idea that hilly stages can be as good a place to win the yellow jersey as the high mountains but the 2016 route, and stages like this, are an ideal place to continue working on this project.

Read more:A quick guide to the Tour de France"s jargon

There are three nicely varied Pyrenean stages to follow: an easy one, and two more difficult ones. Stage 7 only includes the Col dAspin, near the finish.Meanwhile, stage 8 is an interesting mix of the traditional and the modern the classic Pau-to-Luchon stage is a Tour staple. But instead of running over the normal Aubisque-Tourmalet-Aspin-Peyresourde route on the D918 the Pyrenean Circle of Death the parcours has been tweaked to run along a parallel road to the south. Tourmalet-Hourquette dAncizan-Val Louron Azet-Peyresourde is not quite as hard, because the Aubisque has been sacrificed, but the Hourquette dAncizan, a minor-road alternative to the Aspin, is hard. Either way, its still one of the toughest stages of the entire race, followed the next day by the high point of the Tour, the summit finish at Andorra Arcalis, at 2,240m. This, finally, is a more traditional challenge the first true summit finish of the 2016 Tour.

If there is a theme for the middle week, its that there is no theme. Theres a stage for the baroudeurs the finish in Revel loops over the Cte de St-Ferrol, which in the past has been enough to kill the chances of the sprinters teams, although admittedly this was before Peter Sagan came along. Then a flat stage to Montpellier. After that comes the Bastille Day ascent of Ventoux, possibly the crux of the entire Tour.

Gorges de l"Ardche, stage 13

The stage 13 time trial is another key stage. The parcours tracks the scenic route along the sunbaked Gorges de lArdche. The Tour went through the Tarn Gorges last year, and the helicopter shots were spectacular. However, the D290 road which runs along the Gorge is not just a scenic Tour treat. The road through the Tarn Gorges is cut along the bottom, beside the river, but the D290 follows the cliffs at the top. It climbs a lot, and is extremely twisty. As the road leaves the gorges to pass the Pont dArc, a huge limestone archway cut by the river, there is a steep 2km descent, including tunnels, with a hairpin bend towards the bottom. Any riders distracted by the beautiful scenery are going to come a cropper here.

Then two more flattish stages sandwich another television highlight of the 2016 Tour, the climb of the Grand Colombier, one of Frances most scenic climbs, on the stage to Culoz. While some stages look more intimidating on paper, this one, the 15th, looks very hard to control. There are six categorised climbs, including one HC ascent, but the profile shows countless more significant uncategorised climbs along the way. The stage only breaches 1,000m once but it makes up in intensity what it lacks in altitude.

Mgeve, stage 20

The final week is more traditional Tour fare three mountain stages and a tough uphill time trial to Megve. The new HC summit finish at Finhaut-Emosson in Switzerland on stage 17 will see the beginning of the final battle and the St Gervais summit finish two days later will probably reinforce what weve already learned. But ASO have one final trick up their sleeve on stage 20, with the final mountain of the race, the Col de Joux-Plane. Its not just a very tough climb, but theres a 2km false flat at the top and a very steep, twisting descent to Morzine.

The Tour organisers appear to be saying that the biggest mountains might make for the hardest challenge, but that the smaller mountains of the 2016 race might make for a more interesting one.

This is an extract from an article originally published in Procycling magazine, which brings you the colour, action and drama of cycling every month. Subscribe and get five issues for 5.

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Source: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-07-02/tour-de-france-2016-the-ups-and-downs-of-this-years-route

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Tour de France 2016: A day in the life of a sporting director

Cérémonie de présentation des coureurs - Tour de France 2016

7.30am The alarm clock rings. In the first 10 seconds you try to figure out where you are. Being in a new hotel every day can be confusing.

8am Eggs and bacon

9am Visit each rider in his hotel room to clear tactics for the day before the team meeting, which will be held in the bus at the stage start. Tactics are agreed the night before; discussing them individually now means everyone is on the same page at the meeting. Sometimes the riders have better ideas than the SDs (sporting directors) Tony Martins Mulhouse stage win in 2014 came from an idea of Michal Kwiatkowski, and the SDs werent in favour at first.

10.30am The whole team takes off for the start; usually the mechanics drive the sports directors cars. Some SDs jump in the bus but I like to drive with my mechanic. A good mechanic could also make a good SD, because he will understand the race, tactics, radio Tour and the riders. The way we work is sort of like a marriage: we spend many hours together.

11am At normal races we calculate to be at the start area one hour before the off, and always keep 15 minutes in reserve for traffic. But at Le Tour we try to be there up to 1hr 45min before the start.

First we always have the team meeting usually this is about lead-out, the roads, the weather, maybe a pep talk. Sometimes the riders need to laugh rather than be pushed to the limit. If its going to be a bunch sprint, Tom Steels [an SD] will show a PowerPoint of the finish. The best thing is when a leader tells his team-mates how he wants them to ride: Cav [former team member Mark Cavendish] is brilliant at creating a winning mood. One rider, who I wont name, used to be on Facebook during meetings.

Then we speak to the press. Better results means more press; scandals also mean more press.

12.30pm The race starts, and in the neutralised zone some riders come back to the team car to adjust seatpost, handlebar, cleats etc. In the past every rider would drop by the mechanics every day to adjust their bikes but now they are more likely to spend their time on social media.

12.30-5pm The most important tactic is to say yes or no. I only use the race radio when I am 100% certain of something. The riders are stressed, tired and focused, so the last thing they need is an SD who cant make up his mind. Steels leaves 20 minutes before the race and feeds back info about the road conditions, the wind, and how fast the corners are in the last 10km; I pass it to the riders.

5pm At the finish we answer questions from the press. Sometimes I wonder how a journalist can wait at the finish for more than an hour and the smartest question he can figure out to Cavendish is: Are you out of shape? That gives Cav a Billy Idol lip or whisky mouth.

6pm After the stage there is usually a transfer to the next hotel. The mechanic drives and I write a race report for the management group of 12 people. The key thing is to write stuff our colleagues cant read on Cyclingnews.com or Het Nieuwsblad: why did something go wrong or what went well in the race? Did we screw up the tactic or was there a mechanical problem? Was someone ill or just tired?

Another golden rule: you fuel up the car before you get to the hotel.

7pm At the hotel: on most days this is about when we get to our rooms. Every two days I run 10km. Its good for the head and weight.

The SDs get together and start planning for the next day: tactics, logistics, guests. If things have really gone wrong we see the riders one by one or have an extra team meeting to solve any problems. The rule is to give the riders s**t collectively, and critical feedback individually.

Some SDs visit riders individually after each stage, but when I was a rider I hated having the SD in my room, because there is very little privacy in a Grand Tour. So Inever visit a riders room after a race. But all SDs are different and so are the riders. After a few years with a rider we know if he needs a visit or not.

8.30pm Dinner. In a good team riders arrive at the dinner table together and leave together. The good old days are over, and not many teams drink alcohol at the table any more unless we win or someone has a birthday.

Staff always eat half an hour after riders because they have to finish bikes and massage. Of all staff, the soigneurs are the hardest working: first out of bed and last into bed. They are alchemists, who turn the riders concrete legs into diamonds.

11.30pm Bedtime. I enjoy the silence because explosions are always waiting around the next corner (trust me). Every day brings something new: a great win, a horrible loss, a crash, a smashed car, a fight between staff. The job will never be boring, which is why we love it.

Last rule: always sleep eight hours, then we can solve all problems. Good night! Tomorrow we will smash everybody, Ijust know it.

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNH2Do0XDJKXyT6huAVP5FjsgJj9ig&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&ei=huZ3V-j6LYqQ3QG6pa6QCw&url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jul/02/tour-de-france-sporting-director-day-in-the-life

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