Cycle Hame Tour de France Alps week 2013

I mentioned in the last blog post a week ago that Anne, Aiden and I would be coming back to Scotland. Well that is exactly what we did arriving here last Wednesday evening. We were met at Edinburgh airport by Anne's parents, the weather was excellent with mild temperatures and clear skies. Since then however it has not been great, and for various reasons including the weather I have only managed to get out on the bike once. I did get kitted up to ride this afternoon but changed my mind as I watched the weather close in just as I was about to set off. No cycling does of course mean that we are managing to get a few jobs done, a good thing as our Winter season gets closer. We are also managing to gain about a kilo a day in weight, not such a good thing as our Winter season gets closer.  

The big news at the start of last week was all about drug use in the peleton and the fall from grace of Lance Armstrong, and unfortunately that stole some of the glamour from the 2013 Tour de France presentation. This week there is a bit of a shift as the TdF route for next year is analysed, it does look as though it could be a good course. Some people are complaining about the omission of the Col du Galibier and Col du Tourmalet from the centenary of the Tour de France, 2 classic climbs of the race. 

Personally I like the course, it seems well balanced and it might be difficult to choose a clear favourite for this one. I think the highlights for me are 

-The first 3 stages to be held on Corsica, the first time the Tour has been held there

-A time trial finishing on Mont St Michel is very cool

-A stage finish on Mt Ventoux, always a spectacle

-A stage that ends with a double ascent of Alpe d'Huez, slightly bonkers but we plan to be there

-Stage 19 is a long mountain stage taking in some of our own regular climbs

-Stage 20 will start in Annecy and finish on a climb not far from Annecy

-The final stage into Paris will be a night finish.

We plan to visit 3 stages on our Tour de France Alps Week including the stage that finishes on Alpe d'Huez, stage 19 when it comes over the Col de la Madeleine, and the Annecy stage. 

Here is a picture taken this year of some of the riders climbing the Col de la Madeleine, next year the race we be going in the opposite direction.

So I think this is a course we will look forward to, and to think there are only another 9 months to wait ...

The official presentation of the 2013 Tour de France will take place tomorrow in Paris but at the moment most pro cycling chatter appears to be focused on yesterday's decision by UCI (International Cycling Union) confirming that Lance Armstrong has been stripped of his 7 Tour de France victories. 

Seriously, all his titles from 1998 to now have been removed, as if he had not competed at all during that period. Lance who? 

It is difficult to say what impact this will have on the sport, many speculate that professional cycling will be able to move on and put an end to a crazy period of performance enhancing drug use. Of course there are still plenty of people convinced that this will never happen and that many of the competitors, or their doctors, will continue to cheat the system. Personally I prefer to adopt the "stick my head in the sand and hope it all goes away"  approach. This method works for most situations of this nature, in time people will move from this to discussing the TdF course for next year. 

Today Anne and I are not thinking about either the Tour course or the drugs charges as we have to concentrate on getting back to Scotland. We are scheduled to fly out of Geneva tomorrow afternoon but will be using an early morning train from Moutiers to get there. I am expecting a long day with luggage, a bike bag and a three year old in tow. By the time we get to Edinburgh airport it will be getting dark and I may be forced to cycle the 20 miles or so back to Anne's parents house as their car is too small for all of us and the road bike. The news gets even better as the forecast is for Baltic temperatures. Ooh I can't wait.

At least when we finally get there I can look forward to discovering the actual route of the 2013 Tour. As it will be the centenary of the worlds largest sporting event I am hoping for an interesting course, and looking at the current rumours it certainly shows some promise.

Tour de France 2013 - the rumours

At this time of year I start to spend too much time on the internet trying to follow the rumours surrounding the course of the Tour de France for the following year. I try to convince Anne it is important for us to know what direction the Tour is likely to take but I am not sure she buys into that. She does have a point as, in reality, we always have to wait for the official course to be announced before we can finalise our itinerary for the Cycle Hame Tour de France Alps week anyway.

The 2013 TdF course will be announced on October 24th, a little over 2 weeks from now and the rumour mill has gone into overdrive. It appears they now have a good idea for most of the course but there are a handful of stages they are struggling to work out, particularly in the final week when the race is expected to be in the Alps. The latest rumour is that the race will finish on Alpe d'Huez rather than the usual finish in Paris - ooh la la.

It is known that the race will start on Saturday 29 June with the first 3 stages taking place on Corsica and stage 4, a team time trial in Nice. This part has already been announced by ASO, the organisers of the Tour. From there it is expected to head West with 1 or 2 stages in the Pyrenees. The second week should start in Brittany and it is widely expected that one of the stages will be a time trial up Mont St Michel, I love that place and it should make a great stage setting. From there it will head back East through the centre of France, and on to Lyon by the end of the second week.

July 14 falls on a Sunday next year and it looks as though there will be a finish on Mt Ventoux for Bastille day. It all looks like a decent race so far.

Then we move into the final week and as I mentioned earlier the amateur detectives seem to be having the difficulty in deciding where it will go, here is what it looks like at the moment:

Monday - rest day
Tuesday - finish in Gap
Wednesday - not sure, possibly a time trial around Lac Serre Poncon
Thursday - the rumour is that the riders will finish the stage by climbing Alpe d'Huez ...twice!
Friday - finish in Savoie/Haute Savoie
Saturday - no idea but plenty of rumours including a stage around Annecy, a time trial from Annecy up to     Semnoz, and a stage from Annemasse to Dole
Sunday - traditionally this is the finish at the Champs Elysée but the latest rumours are for a stage finish on Alpe d'Huez.

Something will need to change, it is unimaginable that the race will climb Alpe d'Huez 3 times! At the same time we are expecting some sort of surprise as 2013 will be the 100th Tour de France.

You can take a look at the velowire website if you want to follow the rumours, most of the forum discussion is in French.