LEEDS, England (AP) – With more mountain stages, only one time trial, and cobblestones on the menu, there’s an exciting smorgasbord of routes in store on the Tour de France.
The three-week race, which starts on Saturday in Leeds, features only 54 kilometers (33.5 miles) of time-trialing, all on the Tour’s penultimate stage between Bergerac and Perigueux. This could disadvantage defending champion Chris Froome of Britain, who beat his main rival, Alberto Contador, in both of last year’s individual time trials.
“Given the structure of the Tour this year and the diversity of all the different challenges – we’ve got the cobbles, we’ve got these tricky stages up here north, and we’ve got 5 summit finishes, we’ve got a 54-kilometer time trial – it’s not possible to say that this guy is going to win,” Froome said on Thursday.
Here’s a look at five stages where the Team Sky leader and other contenders could win, or lose, the race:
STAGE 5: Wednesday, July 9, Ypres, Belgium, to Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, France: At 155.5 kilometers (97 miles), this stage is not particularly long. But it features nine patches of cobblestones, many of them familiar in the joint-jarring Paris-Roubaix one-day race. The key for the big guns will be to stay at the front of the pack to avoid crashes on a treacherous and dusty terrain usually tackled at a frenetic pace. Punctures are also frequent on cobblestones, and can end a rider’s hopes of winning the race. Both Froome and Contador have carefully reconnoitered the stage, with the Spaniard having a final workout on the 15 kilometers (10 miles) of cobblestones this week. “Sensations over the cobbles have been very good,” Contador said.