There was action everyday on this edition: attacks, counter-attacks, splits, echelons, team attacks, and bad luck.
I didn't expect that. I had in memory Britain / Yorkshire Tours where there were breakaways of small teams (very small Contis that I basically wasn't seeing anywhere else, but races like Tour of Greece perhaps) almost everyday, with sprint finishes, and then the fate of the Tour was decided on the only day where they had found a hill and even then, with time bonuses.
🇬🇧 😍 🇬🇧
I recommend this race especially for Grégoire🇫🇷's crash. He ended up standing on the right shoulder of the road without his bike. It looked like someone robbed it from under him 🙂. In fact, when he crashed in a dense peloton, his bike was hit by a rider, the shock propelled it forwards and leftwards, and the same happened with another rider, and again, and the bike ended up on the left shoulder and at a distance. Luckily, I think no one else hit the ground (one rider 'fell' on his feet, meaning that his bike went to the ground but not him).
This week will be easier than the previous ones. Difficulties will be concentrated on Friday and especially Saturday. There isn't a single Mountain point offered before then.
Rankings after stage 15
General time classification
In top-5, riders just switched 1 place; behind, 3 riders appeared in top-10 thanks to breakaways, as the ones holding those ranks didn't care about protecting them, and Mühlberger crashed.
Points
Pedersen and Laporte withdrew. Romele and Coquard are trying a bit. The whole peloton is riding for Van Aert, therefore:
Mountain
Buitrago is the only one going for it (except the big green thing). Nobody even entered top-5...
Stages
Stage 16, Tuesday 8
181 km, D+ 1900m
A sprinters stage. A km-0 breakaway of small teams riders will pretend to have a chance during the first hilly part.
Stage 17, Wednesday 9
185 km, D+ 900m
Another sprinters stage. No one should even try anything. Or could those stages be windy?
Stage 18, Thursday 10
32 km, D+ 150m, Time Trial
The only top-10 rider who may be at ease on this hopelessly flat TT is Roglitch. Others will be judged on their ability to limit damage.
Stage 19, Friday 11
210 km, D+ 4000m
This long stage present a set of medium climbs in its middle, followed by a big nothing (40 km of descent and flat), and then a very long final climb.
Stage 20, Saturday 12
187 km, D+ 4800m
For the first time in this Tour (except the Andorran stage in a way, but this one is much longer), there will be a succession of hard climbs, with a final on top that isn't any easier than the 3 previous climbs.
Stage 21, Sunday 13
187 km, D+ 4800m
The Vuelta ends in Granada this year, and after a flat first half, enters a circuit with a single but significant hump rider will have to climb 4 times. A little bit like the Montréal circuit, but flatter between the (harder) climbs. Th finish line is 8 km from the top.
Stage 15, Sunday 6
190 km, D+ 3300m
To finish the week, we alternate again with another hilly stage. A bit of flat at the start, a bit of flat at the end in Cordoba, and 150 of hills in between.
Stage is shortened by 80 km
As there was a loop in the middle of the stage, I assume they cut it off, which would mean that the part between 50 km and 130 km of the original trace/profile is deleted.
This is supposed to be against the heat, about which riders have expressed growing concerns (just before deciding to go full speed for 150 km...). But it is the same stupidity we already saw elsewhere: in order to keep the same arrival time, the riders will start at 14:50 and thus enjoy the hottest hours of the day.
Stage 14, Saturday 5
155 km, D+ 4100m
Back to a (short) mountain stage with a finish on top. There is no other difficult climb before that, but there is no flat at all, just uphill and downhill false-flats everywhere, with a couple of medium smooth climbs and a few little walls here and there.
The breakaway was even larger than yesterday (45 vs 30); it included climbers from yesterday, but not the Uno-X or most Visma riders who later broke away behind the peloton. Talking about Visma, Laporte🇫🇷 withdrew today; so he won't get his chance tomorrow or in 3^rd^ week now that his leaders are replete.
There was little action. Buitrago (🇨🇴 Bahrain) got the points of the first climb, but was surprised to see 2 Astana riders and Berthet (🇫🇷 FDJ) battle for the 2^nd^ climb. The reason probably was that today the time bonuses were attributed on the top of that pass, instead of being on the Intermediate Sprint that was at the bottom of the climb, and Berthet and C. Rodriguez (🇪🇸 Astana) were very close in GC.
In the descent of the first pass, Vermaeke (🇺🇸 UAE) went ahead solo; he gained 1 minute, perhaps 1′30″. After many miles, he was joined and dropped by an EF rider.
In the last climb, there were a succession of attacks at the front of the breakaway. I'll name a few: Aparicio (🇪🇸 Burgos), then G. Martin (🇫🇷 FDJ), Buitrago🇨🇴. In the end, a double group of 2 + 2 detached for good: Buitrago🇨🇴 and Brenner (🇩🇪 Tudor), C. Rodriguez🇪🇸 and I. Sosa (🇨🇴 Kern Pharma); V. Paret-Peintre (🇫🇷 Soudal-QS) was part of it, but not in the final stage.
The peloton had let the gap grow up to 8 minutes at some point, and nobody came to help Movistar, not even the teams concerned by the presence of Berthet🇫🇷 and C. Rodriguez🇪🇸 in the breakaway, who were only 11 minutes behind in GC this morning, as they had already won 2 minutes in yesterday's breakaway. As a result, those two guys gained around 4 minutes over GC top boys, and more over the rest. It means that they are now ahead of Kuss and Tejada, right on the heels of the 7^th^, Skjelmose (🇩🇰 Lidl-Trek).
Attacks were rarer in the peloton (well, the small group of GC guys). In the end, we find about the same results as usual; today, Gall🇦🇹 and Mas🇪🇸 didn't separate, and Roglitch🇸🇮 lost a little bit in the end. Not much but enough so that the Austrian is now 2^nd^ in GC, for just 4 seconds before the Slovenian.
🫒🏜🫒🏜🫒 Boy am I fed up with garrigue and olive trees! 🤣 And I suppose the remaining 7 stages won't differ much 😭
By chance, we may see Yorkshire at the same time 🙂 🥬 🌦 🍏
GP of Industry and Arts&Crafts 🇮🇹 6/9/2026 (1.Pro)
https://ciclismolarcianese.it/edizioni/48-gran-premio-industria-e-artigianato-anno-2026/
All the climbers and punchers who aren't in Spain appear to go to Italy: T. Pidcock, L. Martinez, M. Rondel, Storer, Jegat, R. Grégoire, Scaroni, Aranburu and others still.
They will perform various loop around Larciano, Tuscany. The climbs are located in the Monte Albano, the low mountain (or rather, hill) range that separates Lucca from Florence.
Stage 13, Friday 4
193 km, D+ 3300m
Once again, a stage with a climb at a distance from the line, 40 km here, before a flat finish. The originality is that first half of the stage is however pretty hard. If it were still to finish in some sort of a sprint, the last half-mile is uphill.
Mühlberger (🇦🇹 Decathlon), best and very close lieutenant of Gall🇦🇹, 9^th^ in GC, had to withdraw due to a crash early in the stage 😞
Sivakov (🇷🇺🇫🇷 UAE) also crashed and withdrew (or did he not crash? anyway he withdrew). How many UAE riders are still on the race?
A. Laurence (🇫🇷 Ineos) hit the ground in a street corner while he was leading the breakaway (classical Ineos style of losing the front wheel in curves taken too fast). No apparent damage on the rider, but the bike won't work and his car was still behind the peloton...
Van Aert (🇧🇪 Visma) once gain went to take the points of the 1^st^ KOM before Buitrago🇨🇴.
He and Brennan🇬🇧 were in the first 2 groups, and once again, the Brit had to race so that the Belgian could finally win his own stage. It was absolutely whatever, both were always either pulling or chasing, or attacking, for 40 km, they had got good vitamins in their breakfast. Now that he's got his stage victory (on top of the Green jersey and a podium for the Polka Dots jersey), perhaps will he be less of a PITA for other riders?
Wait, I see that Lutsenko (🇰🇿 NSN) finished 4th? I never noticed him! 🤣 I remember he was on TV at some point, but in my idea, it was somewhere else, not among the last survivors, it couldn’t be… 😄
And this morning, he is DNS according to PCS ❓❓❓
Did he write a clause in his contract saying that if he scores a top-5 in a WT stage, he can retire at once? 😀
Stage 12, Thursday 3
167 km, D+ 4500m
Parts of this stage look similar to the one won by Leknessund on the 1^st^ week. However there are a few more serious slopes here, in the beginning of the Velefique Pass and then in the beginning of the Calar observatory's climb . Between 2 easier stages, the GC leaders will certainly battle again here. Will it be for stage victory too, or simply far behind a breakaway?
So, there was breakaway of 30 riders. Sivakov (🇷🇺🇫🇷 UAE) tried to join it, but while the other 2 members of his counter-attack group succeeded, he didn't. Van Aert (🇧🇪 Visma) once again disputed all of the first 3 KOM to Buitrago (🇨🇴 Bahrain), and because there are so many 'flat climbs' in this 2026 Vuelta, beat him each time. 🙄 Then nobody disputed him the Green jersey points...
The peloton quickly let the breakaway go, and the gap grew up to 7′30″, which meant that the young Omrzel (🇸🇮 Bahrain) got on the virtual GC podium. Movistar was just pacing around, and it was a bit strange that teams from the other top-5 guys were not acting in any way.
Movistar accelerated a bit in the first big climb. The only attack was Carapaz' (🇪🇨 EF) doing, when the slope got easier: he quickly gained 20-30 seconds, but then the gap stabilised and he was caught before the summit.
In the second, they kept on accelerating, reducing the peloton to a small number. Then Decathlon prepared Gall🇦🇹's attack. It didn't work well, as Mas🇪🇸 and Roglitch🇸🇮 rather easily stuck or came up back to him. It was a bit more difficult for Carapaz🇪🇨 and Onley🇬🇧. Onley🇬🇧 had undergone a crash 20 km after the beginning of the stage, and he was dropped later: after one attack too many, his little group of 3 came back without him (a bit like Sivakov earlier in the race).
The breakaway fought for victory, as the best riders there had enough of a gap over the peloton to be safe. From the breakaway, the 2 Movistar riders and the 1 Decathlon rider dropped at calculated times to help their respective leaders behind: it was unusually well executed (it probably helps that unlike in Pogatchar/Vingegaard case, their leaders are not 3 legs above them).
Urko Berrade (🇪🇸 Kern Pharma) was the last rider able to follow Omrzel🇸🇮, after Buitrago🇨🇴 and Bisiaux🇫🇷 were dropped. He was dropped a bit later too, and had a hard time preserving his 2^nd^ place.
Behind, Mas🇪🇸 left Gall🇦🇹 and Roglitch🇸🇮 stunned when he attacked. His advance quickly grew, he also got the support of R. Garcia🇪🇸 coming from ahead, and reached perhaps 40-45 second. On the line, it was down to 30 seconds, Mas🇪🇸 was getting tired; we can confirm that by the fact that he couldn't follow the sprint of Vansevenant (🇧🇪 Soudal-QS) whom he had caught a bit earlier.
Overall, it was a confirmation of the levels riders exposed in previous mountain stages. The small differences today were:
Buitrago🇨🇴 could score max points in the climb before the final one, even though an attack by his own teammate Omrzel🇸🇮 followed by Bisiaux (🇫🇷 Decathlon) endangered him. Luckily, the French rider didn't relay. And he also
Wait, I see that Lutsenko (🇰🇿 NSN) finished 4^th^? I never noticed him! 🤣 I remember he was on TV at some point, but in my idea, it was somewhere else, not among the last survivors, it couldn't be... 😄
I also see that Vine (🇦🇺 UAE) withdrew today.
Bottles resupply have become a farce. Basically nobody makes an effort any more to go and get bottles; they get them from cars which come up to where the riders are, they get them from standing suppliers in a ton of places, they get them from motorbike without even leaving their position in the group for a second. We can now see riders getting a bottle 4 times in just 1 kilometre... They just press them twice to moisten their jersey, throw them right away and ask fo another one. They throw them anywhere. Bottles are flying anywhere, they don't care, a ton of them end up where there is no one (of course outside of 'litter zones'), in buses, in fields. In urban or semi-urban areas, they bounce off walls and gutters and come back inside the pelotons. There are more and more incidents with suppliers.
Today, commissars finally started giving a few penalties and fine. But that's still ridiculous compared to the number of offenses we can witness (and the number of offenses we can witness is most likely ridiculous to the number of offenses that are performed).
Stage 11, Wednesday 2
151 km, D+ 1400m
Contrarily to the previous day, today the elevation is concentrated in one main climb. Its slope isn't steep and there are still 30 km to go after its summit. We can note that the first 15 km are designed to create a breakaway. But the whole profile shouldn't be very hard to control.
Visma and Cofidis rode all day, they even caught the breakaway very early.
Van Aert (🇧🇪 Visma) went to 'rob' 1 Mountain point from Buitrago (🇨🇴 Bahrain) at the top of the climb, I don't know why.
Coquard (🇫🇷 Cofidis) was left alone by his team in the last miles, but he managed to stay hidden, except for 2 repositionings, one by the left side, to get back into the 'ball', and a second one by the right, to put himself right in the wheel of Brennan (🇬🇧 Visma), which he didn't leave for the last mile. It was a bit funny, because unlike many other races, everybody played it gently, accepting to share a wheel at times: there were no shoulder hits to stay exactly in someone's wheel, they all accepted to have only half the shelter at times.
So, Brennan🇬🇧 wins again, and Coquard🇫🇷 finishes juste behind him.
Coquard🇫🇷 also did the I.S., just behind Van Aert🇧🇪 (I didn't see that section of the race, just the results). So it seems that we may finally get a bit of competition for the podium of the Points classification, if not for the Green jersey itself.
Perhaps the failure by Brennan on the previous sprint played a role too.
But yeah, the obvious, classic, strategy on a profile like yesterday, would have been to have Van Aert attack somewhere in the humps between 5 and 30 km from the line, and keep Brennan for the sprint in case the Belgian didn't succeed in getting away in a group or alone, while teammates would have rested in the peloton and stay fresh to help Brennan in the last miles.
Meanwhile, Laporte never seems to get a chance (so far), either working for Brennan or for Van Aert. He looks fine to us, but perhaps they think he isn't that much, and we cannot see his limits because he 'just' has to work for others and call it a day.
You may wish to watch the 1^st^ stage of the Tour of Britain which took place today. It was raced as a true classic.
A new Vuelta started this week-end with the withdrawal of its leader Pogatchar. A very hilly week awaits the riders.
Standings after 9 stages
General time classification
There is a gap after rider #8.
Points
Is Visma the only team going for it?
Mountain
Buitrago went for it on Sunday.
Stage 10, Tuesday 1
185 km, D+ 2700m
No big climbs, no steep climbs, but a number of them again. The finish may be decided by small hump 5 km from the line, and the survival over the following 4 km long uphill false-flat that brings the riders to the line. Who will win, a puncher? a false-flat sprinter? a breakaway?
Stage 11, Wednesday 2
151 km, D+ 1400m
Contrarily to the previous day, today the elevation is concentrated in one main climb. Its slope isn't steep and there are still 30 km to go after its summit. We can note that the first 15 km are designed to create a breakaway. But the whole profile shouldn't be very hard to control.
Stage 12, Thursday 3
167 km, D+ 4500m
Parts of this stage look similar to the one won by Leknessund on the 1^st^ week. However there are a few more serious slopes here, in the beginning of the Velefique Pass and then in the beginning of the Calar observatory's climb . Between 2 easier stages, the GC leaders will certainly battle again here. Will it be for stage victory too, or simply far behind a breakaway?
Stage 13, Friday 4
193 km, D+ 3300m
Once again, a stage with a climb at a distance from the line, 40 km here, before a flat finish. The originality is that first half of the stage is however pretty hard. If it were still to finish in some sort of a sprint, the last half-mile is uphill.
Stage 14, Saturday 5
155 km, D+ 4100m
Back to a (short) mountain stage with a finish on top. There is no other difficult climb before that, but there is no flat at all, just uphill and downhill false-flats everywhere, with a couple of medium smooth climbs and a few little walls here and there.
Stage 15, Sunday 6
190 km, D+ 3300m
To finish the week, we alternate again with another hilly stage. A bit of flat at the start, a bit of flat at the end in Cordoba, and 150 of hills in between.
We start heading South. Pogatchar (🇸🇮 UAE) has already crushed the race: with 2 victories in ~~-4-~~ 3 stages, he leads the 3 classifications...
Rankings after stage #4.
General time classification
Points
Mountain
Stages
Stage 5, Wednesday 26
173 km, D+ 1700m*
Whith the hills that start 60 km from the line and end 20-30 from it, this should be a game of sprinters vs punchers. Therefore we should see punchers-sprinters having their day.
NB: the profile exaggerates the steepness of the slopes.
Stage 6, Thursday 27
177 km, D+ 3000m*
Another mountain stage, another Pogatchar day. To make sure of it and remind him of his 3 Stade Bianche victories in a row, there will be 2 km on a gravel road at 12% near the summit of the last climb. Shall the first group to ride down towards the finish line be a one-man group or shall he get a few companions?
Stage 7, Friday 28
150 km, D+ 3600m*
I am not sure how to name this stage. There is quite some elevation, but the vast majority of slopes are smooth. Probably a day for breakaways, coming after an UAE stage.
Stage 8, Saturday 29
172 km, D+ 1300m*
I assume this stage is designed to create a fight between punchers and sprinters. However it didn't work on Wednesday, as everyone wanted a sprint; and this time the slope may be insufficient to get rid of all sprinters.
Stage 9, Sunday 30
188 km, D+ 5000m*
A mountain stage fo finish the week. All sorts of climbs, steep or smooth, short or medium-length, precede a 22 km long final climb. This stage will be very hard, there is no flat section and it is rather long.
The Tour of Spain (Vuelta a España) starts tomorrow Saturday. In Monaco...
As we can see on the general map, despite starting in France and its dependent principalities, most of the tour will happen in the South of Spain, which is rather unusual (I believe?). In fact, there is not a single mile of stage in the Spanish Pyrenees, their foothils, or the Cantabrian Range!
Riders
The coming of Pogatchar (🇸🇮 UAE) leaves little hope about the final victory to other riders (and spectators), unless something bad happens to him. Gall (🇦🇹 Decathlon) will try to get his second 2^nd^ place in GC this year after the Tour of Italy. Will Skjelmose (🇩🇰 Lidl-Trek) and Carapaz (🇪🇨 EF) aim for the podium, after taking part in the Tour of France?
Therefore, most teams will aim for stage victories, and bring the personnel accordingly. Van Aert🇧🇪, Laporte🇫🇷, Brennan🇬🇧 and Kuss🇺🇸 for Visma! M. Pedersen🇩🇰 for Lidl-Trek. Bora brings Roglitch🇸🇮 for his vacation package.
The first 4 stages
Stage 1, Saturday 22: 🇲🇨Monaco🇲🇨
9,4 km, ITT
The distance is barely over the limit for a prologue, and they managed to avoid any sort of climb.
Stage 2, Sunday 23: 🇲🇨Monaco–Manosque🇫🇷
214 km, D+ 3000m
The first of the two French stages proposes a very hilly course, over a distance longer than any of the Tour de France stages this year. The finish may be (I don't know) the same we often see on the Tour de la Provence in the beginning of the season, where it is usually won by sprinters who can handle punchy courses or strong uphill false-flat finishes.
Stage 3, Monday 24: 🇫🇷 Gruissan–Font Romeu🇫🇷
175 km, D+ 2600m
After a very long transfer along the French Mediterranean coast, this stage arrives already in the Pyrenees. Amusingly, the destination is basically the same as where the Tour de France entered France from Spain in July. Most of the approach is made of unbearable dozens of kilometres of a slightly then strongly uphill false-flat highway road. The final climb is pretty much the same.
Stage 4, Tuesday 25: 🇦🇩Andorra la Vieja–Andorra la Vieja🇦🇩
105 km, D+ 3000m
Familiar climbs with a finish at the bottom. The first half of the course consists of climbing the Envalira pass and coming back, which involves a lot of false-flat both ways. Riders better be ready for a direct, fast start over the uphill false-flat.
This ProSeries race takes place on the scorched by the sun plateaus around the city of Burgos in Castile.
This year, it doesn't look like there will much space for sprinters on this punchy race, the GC of which goes to a climber. The first stage is the traditional hectic finish in Burgos (sprinters-punchers have a chance there together with punchers-climbers), and the last one the traditional mountain finish at the lakes of Neila.
The official website is very thorough, and the technical guide even more: for example, for stage #1, it contains over 100 photos of the various curves, crossings and even of the manholes covers and cracks in the road!! 👍 👍
Riders
This is Gaudu's comeback to actual (?) competition. Since May, he's only started the National Championship in June, and the San Sebastian classic on Saturday, for 2 DNF... Let's see if he can put out this week something that justifies a bit of his salary...
There are quite a number of rather high profile contenders! F. Gall (🇦🇹 Decathlon), J. Vine (🇦🇺 UAE) if he can survive the usually stressing finishes of the first days without crashing, G. Ciccone (🇮🇹 Lidl-Trek), Pellizzari (🇮🇹 Bora), M. Rondel (🇫🇷 Tudor).
As outsiders, P. Sivakov (🇷🇺🇫🇷 UAE) already won the race, A. Eulalio (🇵🇹 Bahrain) will try to find his crazy Giro legs, J. Nordhagen🇳🇴 and B. Tulett🇬🇧 will defend Visma's chances, L. Bisiaux (🇫🇷 France) will supplement Gall, and M. Beloki (🇪🇸 EF) has just won the (much, much weaker) Tour de l'Ain.
Stages
Stage 1
165 km, D+ 1500m
The traditional punchy finish on the castle hill in Burgos, after the flattest stage.
Press to see the map
Stage 2
177 km, D+ 2300 m
A finish for long punchers on this murito.
Press to see the map
(yeah, I know, the less important climb got a larger picture 🙂)
Stage 3
183 km, D+ 3200 m
This stage and its almost-on-top-finish will very likely start sorting GC favourites. They won't be able to hide on this difficult Puerto del Escudo (a new one on this race, but it was apparently ridden a few times on the Vuelta).
Stage 4
178 km, D+ 1900 m
Can sprinters make it through this one in a front group? Otherwise, it looks like a good chance for breakaways, between 2 mountain stages.
The 'climbs' are not terrible at all today:
Finnish profile: 
Stage 5 (last)
137 km, D+ 2900 m
The usual decisive finish on top.
Press to see the map
The third and last week stays in the Alps – that we already reached on Sunday, except for the last day which suddenly 'jumps' to Paris.
Standings after week 2
General Classification:
Unless he undergoes an accident, the race is already won for the Slovenian rider. The battle for podium is however still open, after the unfortunate withdrawal of Vingegaard🇩🇰. The top-10 didn't change much, but it 'stretched', and Pidcock and Jegat entered it.
5 other riders follow close to Jegat, at less than 25 minutes, and can thus hope to enter top-10: Voisard🇨🇭, Carapaz🇪🇨, Van Wilder🇧🇪, A. Yates🇬🇧, and Piganzoli🇮🇹 (Visma) who will have to make up for Vingegaard's withdrawal. The rest is farther than 40 minutes.
Points classification (Green jersey):
Merlier🇧🇪, who was in 4^th^ position, couldn't finish the race in time on Sunday and withdrew. Philipsen did the best 2^nd^ week.
Mountain (Polka Dots jersey)
Those who try to fight for points cannot seem to be able to beat Pogatchar who doesn't, and other GC guys aren't far either. Martinez didn't go for points this week, and Baudin disappeared.
Stages
Stage 16, Tuesday 21
26 km, D+ 500 m, Individual Time Trial
This ITT presents an unusual profile, with an horrible 4,5% strongly uphill false-flat right from the start which lasts for 10 km (!), then a steeper descent and only finally a flat section.
Press to see the map
Stage 17, Wednesday 22
175 km D+ 2400 m
This stage will probably be disputed between a breakaway which could leave in the small/medium climbs of the first 60 km, and sprinter teams. Perhaps Pedersen will attempt to go into the breakaway.
Press to see the map and the finish profile
Stage 18, Thursday 23
186 km, D+ 3900 m
Many climbs, long and short, but never too steep. There is a finish on top, but it might still be good for breakaways if GC guys wait for the 2 harder stages which follow.
NB: the way the profile is drawn makes it look almost flat, but there is almost 4000 m of total elevation to climb, it is really a medium mountain stage.
Press to see the map
Stage 19, Friday 24
128 km, D+ 3600 m
The first Alpe d'Huez stage presents climbs in the beginning and in the end, with smaller and smoother hills in the centre part. It is short. A breakaway might succeed if Pogatchar doesn't want the stage (who else would ride for it after the withdrawals of Vingegaard and Lipowitz?).
Press to see the map and the profiles of Noyer Pass and Alpe d'Huez.
Stage 20, Saturday 25
171 km, D+ 5600 m
Another finish at the Alpe d'Huez after 3 Hors-Catégorie climbs for the main and last mountain stage. As the stage also starts from the bottom of the Alpe d'Huez, I fear about the crowd being too important, as it will also be compacted on this reduced version of the climb, and those risks come on top of the race staying 2 days in the same place and this stage being on a week-end.
Stage 21 (final), Sunday 26
133 km, D+ 1600 m
Last year's experiment is renewed: 4 laps of Champs-Élysées only (7 km) and then 3 longer (16 km) laps including the climb to Montmartre and its somewhat scary downhill. The finish is located a bit farther from the last top: 11 km instead of 6, which may cause more regrouping and favour punchers a little bit less.
Special regulations: if the streets are deemed slippery, times shall be taken on the 1^st^ crossing of the finish line, or any later crossing of the line. Riders must complete the full distance in any case. Only one car per team is allowed on the circuits.
The race restarts on the National Day, and it will be as hot as the first week which cooked many riders who will spend Monday in an ice pool. The temperature will not decrease until Thursday perhaps, or Friday more surely, when it will not even be cool but just 'more normally' hot.
Weeks are shorter now, 6 days only. This one starts with a medium mountain stage, then presents 2 easy days, before getting harder over 3 mountain days, with a finish on top on the two week-end stages.
Standings after week 1
General Classification:
While the Slovenian detached a bit already, there are still many contenders (8) for the podium, and they all are expected favourites.
Points classification (Green jersey):
Mountain (Polka Dots jersey)
Few points were scored so far.
Stages
Stage 10, Tuesday 14
167 km, D+ 3800 m
The stage in the Massif Central looks a bit like the previous (Ussel) stage, but the climbs are significantly more substantial and there is even less flat for recovery, so a breakaway of climbers more than punchers can be expected (if UAE doesn't decide to win it from the peloton).
Press to the finish profile
Stage 11, Wednesday 15
161 km, D+ 1100 m
This is a sprinters stage.
Press to see profile and map
Stage 12, Thursday 16
179 km, D+ 1400 m
This one is a bit more hilly than the previous one, but those hills look far from enough to prevent another sprinters stage.
Press to see profile and map
Stage 13, Friday 17
206 km, D+ 2300 m
After 2 days of sprint, we are progressively getting back in business with this pilgrimage into the land of Pinot. Because the following two days will be finish-on-top stages, this one is likely to be granted to a breakaway. As always these days, it means that a ton of riders will try to join it. The two (not very difficult) climbs only start after 150 km of slightly hilly terrain, and this is the longest stage in this Tour.
Press to see the map and the profile of the main climb (Ballon d'Alsace)
Stage 14, Saturday 18
155 km, D+ 3900 m
This Alsatian mountain stage is a loop in the Vosges. It climbs again the same side of the Ballon d'Alsace that was climbed the day before. The almost final Haag Pass is basically a different road to get to the same point as the Grand Ballon climbed early in the stage.
Press to see the map and the profile of 2 climbs (Grand Ballon & Haag)
Stage 15, Sunday 19
184 km, D+ 4100 m
This weeks ends up as this year's Dauphiné did (when Del Toro (🇲🇽 UAE) beat badly the rest of the field). The final climb is the same but the whole course which starts in the Jura mounts, before bypassing Geneva by staying on the French side, is very different, much more varied.
Press to see the map and the profile of 2 climbs (Croisette Pass & Solaison Plateau)
It was a fall classic but not a classic fall. 😜
Here it was (in Italian): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-gfu2UT76A
The Grégoire épisode starts at 27:00 (32,3 km), when we discover him walking on the road side, then there are multiple replays from 2 or 3 angles.