Tour de France 2015 preview: The route

The route for this year’s Tour de France features a time trial to kick things off, some cobblestones as the riders move south, a hilly team time trial, and the final climb of the Tour on the famous Alpe d’Huez to decide who will wear the yellow jersey on the Champs-Élysées.

The first couple of days of the race are in the Netherlands, as the race rolls out from Utrecht. A prologue individual time trial will greet the riders there on the first stage over a distance of 13.8km.

It’s a flat time trial, going no higher than five metres above sea level, but it’s an important day in terms of the final prize. Seconds won and lost here can alter the race deep into the third week and all the general classification contenders will look to put in a massive performance.

Stage 2 is one for the sprinters, however being an offshore finish the wind could effect the peloton. This will make everyone a bit nervous with the very real potential for splits and time gaps.

Stage 3 sees the race come through Belgium and to the famous Mur du Huy, the finish line of the spring classic La Fleche Wallone. It features a couple of hills, and the last time the race visited Cadel Evans had a great day out on his way to winning the Tour. Based on last year, it could also be a day for Vincenzo Nibali, who made significant gains on the way to Sheffield in the 2014 Tour.

Stage 4 will be the day giving everyone in the peloton, apart from maybe Fabian Cancellara and Niki Terpstra, a cold chill. Whatever you do, don’t remind Chris Froome about what happened last time he competitively rode on the cobblestones. As the race crosses back into France, seven sectors of pavé await, six of those in the last 40km, ensuring a strong man will win the stage. For the GC riders, it’s a case of ‘you won’t win the race here, but you sure as heck can lose it’.

Stage 5 should be a chance for everyone to take a breath, with a bunch sprint the likely conclusion. Stage 6 to Le Havre is the punchy sort of day on which a rider like Philippe Gilbert could shine. Stage 7 is flat but lumpy and while it should favour a bunch sprint, a breakaway could take it if given enough of a gap.

Stage 8 and 9 will see the race heat back up. The former is 181.5km to the Mur de Bretagne. What will make the final ramp up the Bretagne even harder is that the rest of the stage is completely flat. Attacks will fly and a real sorting out of the GC should occur before stage 9’s team time trial. The TTT is one of the hardest in recent memory – 28 hilly kilometres, the final 2 uphill.

Following the first rest day in Pau the race has its first Hors category climb, to La Pierre Saint Martin. With only three category 4 climbs before, the peloton will be fresh after the rest day and the sparks could fly on the final climb of 15.3km at a gradient of 7.4 per cent. However it is only the first day of three in the Pyrenees.

Stage 11 features some of the most famous climbs in cycling, with the category 1 Col d’Aspin and the Col du Tourmalet. While neither climb is the finish, a category 3 climb to the line with those climbs already be in the legs will feel like torture.

The final day of the peloton’s adventure in the Pyrenees will be possibly the hardest with two category 1 climbs before the finish on the Plateau de Beille – an Hors category climb. At 15.8km with a gradient of 7.9 per cent and being the last day in the Pyrenees, the riders chasing overall glory will leave everything out on the road through the final climb.

The four stages in the lead-up to the second rest day will have a mix of everything. Stages 13 and 15 look like they will be either for sprinters or breakaway specialists. Neither have many climbs but are traditional transition stages between the Pyrenees and Alps, meaning a breakaway could easily get the win as GC teams save themselves for the next set of bergs. Sprinters’ teams could well take up the chase, with their opportunities for stage wins few and far between.

Stage 14 ends with a category 2 summit before a 15km descent to the finish line in Gap.

Following the second rest day comes Stage 17 to Par Loup, finishing on a category 2 climb, however that comes after the category 1 Col d’Allos. A long-range attack looks to be the go on 17, with GC riders saving their energy for the final weekend.

Stage 18 looks a tactical nightmare, with five early category 2 and 3 climbs, before the hors category Col du Glandon with the summit reached 39km from the finish. Another category 2 climb comes 10km from the finish, and long-range attacks could cause reactions.

Stages 19 and 20 are both short and incredibly hard, opening up the potential for attacks to flow at any time, which will create awesome viewing. Stage 19 to La Toussuire – Les Sybelles is 138km and features a category 2 climb, an hors category climb of Col de la Croix de Fer, and two category 1 climbs of the Col de Choussy and the finish and La Toussuire. The final climb is 18km at 6.1per cent, however I expect the main battles to be played out on Stage 20.

The Alpe d’Huez, one of the most famous climbs in cycling will be the last of the Tour – this is where the final yellow jersey should be decided. The stage is similar to that of 2011, with the Col du Telegraphe first up on the menu. Following that is one of the longest climbs anywhere in the Col du Galibier, however it is being ascended from the shorter side meaning an 18km climb before a descent of about 40km. The descent takes the riders to the bottom of the Alpe D’Huez, with its fearsome hairpin bends, 13.8km at 8.1 per cent.

Anyone who has lost a lot of time on GC and has energy in the legs could well attempt a long-range attack from the Galibier and this will make for intriguing viewing.

Stage 21, as per tradition, will be a parade stage into Paris before the sprinters’ final chance for glory.

So there it is, a complete summary of this year’s Tour de France route. It’s an incredibly difficult race, with the sprinters needing to take whatever opportunities they can. The pressure will be on the general classification riders from day one, and it promises to be a cracker.

Tomorrow, we take a look at who the real entertainers and animators of the race could be.