Thursday, November 7, 2024
HomeCyclingThe Tour's left-field flip: sampling stage 9 of the Tour de France

The Tour’s left-field flip: sampling stage 9 of the Tour de France


Being the Tour de France race director should give Christian Prudhomme various stressed nights. Within the small hours of a September morning – weeks earlier than the next yr’s route is introduced to a clamouring crowd of riders, journalists and boulangerie proprietors – I think about a panic-stricken Prudhomme coming to from a nightmare that includes the identical previous mountains and TT kilometres because the earlier dozen editions. For a Tour de France route to be heralded successful, a extra eclectic set of phases is required – France must be properly and really toured. As many stones as potential have to be turned. And for this yr’s route, the race director had a bona fide eureka second. 

OK, I’m not suggesting that the race director awakened at some point screaming ‘GRAVEL!’ on the high of his lungs – however for the needs of this function, let’s run with it – as a result of as an evidence of 1 explicit stage, it matches the parcours completely. Barely out of his pyjamas, then, and lengthy earlier than the boulangerie proprietors, half of the professional peloton and a cluster of journalists had the prospect to investigate as to what on earth he was raving about, stage 9 of this yr’s Tour had been signed, sealed and delivered. Quick-forward to mid-Could 2024 and our CW staff – me, my brother James and photographer Richard – had been en route to search out out for ourselves simply what wild imaginative and prescient entered Prudhomme’s thoughts that fateful evening.



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