Cruxpearl Posted October 22, 2008 Share From Cyclingnews.com 2009 route turns Tour de France upside downhttp://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2008/tour08/tour086/DV358487alt.jpg After what was widely described as a modest Tour de France parcours in 2008, the 2009 edition ? July 4 to 26 ? looks to be far more spectacular. Instead of the final weekend coming down to the usual individual race against the clock, the final showdown will be on the slopes of Le Mont Ventoux ? the last of four summit finishes ? on the day before the race finishes in Paris.It will also be the most international Tour for many years as ? as well as starting in the Principality of Monaco ? it will pass through the countries of Spain, Andorra, Switzerland and Italy before finishing on the Avenue des Champs-?lys?es in Paris."The objectives of the race designers nevertheless remain exactly the same: to provide a varied terrain, in terms of both sport and aesthetics, in order to fire the imagination of champions and thrill enthusiasts, and to stimulate interest and suspense throughout the event," said Tour Director Christian Prudhomme.The race will begin on July 4 with a 15-kilometre time trial around the millionaires' playground of Monte Carlo, which will include several iconic sections of the Monaco Grand Prix motor racing circuit, before heading west along the south coast of France. Despite this longer-than-usual first test though, the time triallists will once again feel slightly short-changed with only 55 individual kilometres against the clock.The team time trial returns, to replace some of those individual kilometres with a 38-kilometre stage in Montpelier before heading south and ? as leaks and rumours over the past months have indicated ? venture over the border with Spain for a stage between Girona and Barcelona, where the race will visit for the first time since 1965.As this will be the first time the Tour has started this far south since San Sebasti?n, Spain in 1992, the clockwise route will visit the Pyr?n?es before the Alps. The race will then head back into France via a mountaintop finish at Andorra-Arcalis.Two more Pyr?n?en stages ? including one over the Col du Tourmalet come ahead of the first rest day in Limoges. A diagonal dash to Burgundy and Alsace will come before hitting the Alps.The first Alpine stage will end with an uphill finish to Verbiers in Switzerland, where the race will have its second rest day, before heading back to France via Italy and the Cols de Grand Saint-Bernard and Petit Saint-Bernard.The final time trial of the race will be 40-kilometre around the lake at Annecy, but this will not be in its usual place on the final Saturday, as there will be one more test for the overall contenders before they reach Paris. The final blows in the battle for the yellow jersey will come on a stage from Mont?limar to the legendary Mont Ventoux, where the race returns for the first time since 2002."The stage is set for a dream of a landmark finale, exactly twenty years after the most extraordinary final in the history of the tour. Never, in over one hundred years, has a mountain been so close to Paris," said Prudhomme.Unusually, it will be the time triallists who will need to take time from the climbers before the final weekend instead of the other way around. StagesJuly 4, stage 1: Monaco ITT, 15kmJuly 5, stage 2: Monaco - BrignollesJuly 6, stage 3: Marseille - La Grande MotteJuly 7, stage 4: Montpellier - Montpellier, TTT 38kmJuly 8, stage 5: Cap d?Agde - PerpignanJuly 9, stage 6: Gerona - Barcelona, 167km (Spain)July 10, stage 7: Barcelona - Andorra-Arcalis, 224km (uphill finish)July 11, stage 8: Andorra-la-Vella - St-GironsJuly 12, stage 9: St-Gaudens - Tarbes (via the Tourmalet)July 13, rest day and transfer to LimogesJuly 14, stage 10: Limoges - Issoudun, 192kmJuly 15, stage 11: Vatan - St-Fargeaud, 200kmJuly 16, stage 12: Tonnerre - Vittel, 200kmJuly 17, stage 13: Vittel - Colmar (via col de la Schlucht)July 18, stage 14: Colmar - Besan?onJuly 19, stage 15: Pontarlier - Verbier (Switzerland) July 20, rest dayJuly 21, stage 16: Martigny - Bourg-St-Maurice (via col du Grand-St-Bernard and Petit-St-Bernard)July 22, stage 17: Bourg-St-Maurice - Le Grand Bornand (via 5 climbs, starting with Cormet de Roselend, finishing with col de la Colombi?re)July 23, stage 18: Annecy, ITT 40kmJuly 24, stage 19: Bourgoin - Jallieu-AubenasJuly 25, stage 20: Mont?limar - Le Mont VentouxJuly 26, stage 21: Montereau - Paris/Champs-Elys?esCruxpearl2008-10-22 06:53:06 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelz Posted October 22, 2008 Share sounds awsome. Cant wait. And next year ill have DSTV to watch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreZA Posted October 24, 2008 Share It just looks wierd on a map. http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/photos/races09/tdf09/tdf09-mapclose.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intern Posted October 24, 2008 Share I'm not going to watch those frauds...depresses me rather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intern Posted October 24, 2008 Share Mampara, love the new avatar. Is that a Buddychrist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted October 24, 2008 Share I'm not going to watch those frauds...depresses me rather. YOu say that now, dude... wait until 3 days in... You'll tune in, and zone out - just like all the other times... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreZA Posted October 24, 2008 Share Mampara' date=' love the new avatar. Is that a Buddychrist? [/quote'] I have no idea. Found it on another forum. But it's a good guy to have as a buddy, don't you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
APJ88 Posted October 24, 2008 Share i think the opening time trial in monaco should be just as good and even better as the start in london Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intern Posted October 24, 2008 Share Mampara' date=' love the new avatar. Is that a Buddychrist? [/quote'] I have no idea. Found it on another forum. But it's a good guy to have as a buddy, don't you think? Mmm depends. The parlour tricks with water are pretty neat, but I think Derren Brown's a bit more impressive... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intern Posted October 24, 2008 Share I'm not going to watch those frauds...depresses me rather. YOu say that now' date=' dude... wait until 3 days in... You'll tune in, and zone out - just like all the other times...[/quote'] I'm not falling for that. In this year's tour I found myself training less and less. It used to be inspirational before I realised it was all legerdemain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuctionLamb Posted October 24, 2008 Share my sister stays in Montpelier.....maybe a visit will be nice there in July for the Team Time Trial!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walk in da park Posted October 24, 2008 Share I'm not going to watch those frauds...depresses me rather. I agree brother...Every time I switch on for da tour ...I secretly wish, fignon, delgado, and the good old boys want to make a come back...it will be more fun watching them loose than to watch a tour like last year again!!...there is just no depth no intrigue no oomph like the past...all the real glory boys are gone...it's a pity...and if I hear one more guy calling ROBERT JAGTER a world class sprinter ,I am going to throw something at the TV...walk in da park2008-10-24 02:12:37 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAAD4 Posted October 24, 2008 Share Are you saying Fignon was a good guy? You must then think he lost all of his hair so young due to premature hair loss.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walk in da park Posted October 24, 2008 Share Are you saying Fignon was a good guy? You must then think he lost all of his hair so young due to premature hair loss.... Now you are opening a whole new can of worms....at least it was fun watching those guys , dont you think?...hairloss or not...but I know where you coming from... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willehond Posted October 24, 2008 Share Are you saying Fignon was a good guy? You must then think he lost all of his hair so young due to premature hair loss.... If you loose your hair when you are young it's called premature hair loss... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walk in da park Posted October 24, 2008 Share Are you saying Fignon was a good guy? You must then think he lost all of his hair so young due to premature hair loss.... If you loose your hair when you are young it's called premature hair loss... ...happend to me ...*** hey!!!....much beter than premature ejeculation though.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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