No Team Time Trial in the 2007 Tour
[26.10 13:44] On the day of the presentation of the route for the 2007 edition of Tour de France there was great disappointment in the Team CSC camp, as it - for the second year in a row - did not include a team time trial.
As most people already know Tour de France 2007 begins in London with a prologue and first stage with finish in Canterbury, after which the peloton gets ready to tough it up in the second stage moving through the landscape on the mainland and away from the coast line.
"There are some good stages at the beginning, when we reach Belgium and the North of France, where the riders have to face cobble stones as they fight their way through the countryside. The peloton also has to cross some of the “Great Walls” we all know from the Spring Classics, which is very good news for some of our guys - like Fabian Cancellara for instance," says Team CSC's Operations Manager Carsten Jeppesen referring to the Swiss rider's victory in Paris-Roubaix.
Not long after the riders reach the Western part of France, where they face some fairly hilly stages ahead of the seventh stage, which is the first of a total of six mountain stages - three in the Alps and three in the Pyrenees.
The first of these finishes in Le Grand Bornand after a descent from Col de la Colombiere, and the eighth stage finishes in Tignes following a 17.9-kilometer 5.5% climb. During the ninth stage the riders will be crossing Col du Lautaret on their way to the finish line in Briancon.
"After the Alps there are a few good in-between stages, one of which finishes in Marseille and fits riders with stamina like Jens Voigt and Kurt-Asle Arvesen quite well. After that there is a time trial in Albi, where Bjarne Riis once won a stage after a long break away," continues Jeppesen.
The 14th stage sees the beginning of the Pyrenees with the first finish line at Plateau-De-Beille (15.9 kilometer – 7.9%) and the following day the riders cross Col de Port, Col de Portet d'Aspet, Col de Menté, Port de Balès and Col de Peyresourde before reaching Loudevielle, after which they will travel to Pau to rest on Tuesday three weeks into the race.
Following the day of rest they will take on Col de Larraut, Col de la Pierre Saint-Martin, Col de Marie-Blanque and finally Col d'Aubisque (16.4 kilometers – 7.7%), which is the 16th stage as well as the final mountain stage.
As tradition dictates the 19th stage on the second last day of the race is a 55-kilometer time trial.
"The riders have to cross a lot of the famous climbs well known by many cycling fans. The only thing lacking for this to be a truly classic Tour is the team time trial. In 2006 we won four out of four team time trials, so of course we're extremely disappointed not to be given the opportunity to win one in next year's Tour. Apart from that it's a good route without any big surprises. Some of the in-between stages mentioned earlier look quite tough and should fit our riders well," concludes Carsten Jeppesen.
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