Sports Poets Society

183 km | Sunday July 19 | Start 11:00 – Finish 17:09 CET STAGE FACT The Port de l’Epervière, in Valence, is the largest river port in France. It is only a day trip from the Mediterranean. For the second successive stage, the previous day’s finish town is the stage start . Mende waves the peloton off towards an undulating first 125 km — including the ascent of the 8 km Col de l’Escrinet — before a fast and flat finish that will tempt the sprinters’ teams. Where are we? We’re in the Rhône-Alpes region though the finishing city of Valence, in the south of the region, has only ever been included in one edition of the Tour, back in 1996 when it was used as a finish and a start . The Rhône valley can be prone to wind so echelons may form alongside the vineyards and fruit orchards if conditions require them. What can we expect? The run-in along the river lends itself to a bunch sprint for the fast men although if the aforementioned wind blows up the valley from behind it could as...

Non era solo il Mandela Day, era anche l'anniversario della nascita di Gino Bartali. E forse non è un caso che questo 18 luglio e questa 14esima tappa siano entrati nella storia del Tour. Purtroppo, anche dalla porta sbagliata. Sarebbe stato bello celebrare la prima vittoria di una squadra tutta africana al Tour, la MTN Qhubeka, con il 34enne britannico Stephan Cummings. Bravo e furbo a sorprendere Thibaut Pinot e Romain Bardet, le grandi speranze del ciclismo francese, e a regalarsi il primo successo alla Grande Boucle, tre anni dopo la tappa alla Vuelta. E sarebbe stato bello festeggiare la 23esima maglia gialla - agganciato Bartali - di Chris Froome, che ha risposto agli attacchi di Nibali e Quintana, andandoli a riprendere e poi sprintando in faccia al Condor colombiano come in una volata per il ventesimo posto. Invece no, c'è stato altro: a inizio tappa uno spettatore a Froome ha urlato "dopé" (dopato in francese, ndr) e gli ha gettato in faccia un con...

178.5 km | Saturday July 18 | Start 12:35 – Finish 17:00 CET STAGE FACT Today’s route runs just a little bit north of that of the Tour de Mont Aigoual, the fictional race at which Tim Krabbe’s classic book The Rider is set. Alow-key airfield situated high above the Massif Central town of Mende is the unlikely location for repeat visits from the Tour. But they’ve kept coming back here every 5 years since the relatively local Laurent Jalabert sealed two Bastille Day victories here in 1995 and 2000 . In fact the Côte de la Croix Neuve climb up to the airfield has been semi-officially renamed in his honour .  What’s the Montée Laurent Jalabert like? It’s a second-category number, short and steep, averaging 10% over 3 winding kilometres . Joaquim "Purito" Rodríguez attacked to get the win last time the Tour visited in 2010.  What else is on the way? The roads are heavy going in the Massif Central, continually up and down . But then the race drops into the T...