From Florence to Nice, passing through four mountain ranges and twelve new stopover towns, the Tour de France 2024 starts this Saturday for three weeks which promise to be busy. Among the 21 stages, here are at least five that should not be missed.
Saturday June 29: Florence – Rimini (for the entrance elevation)
It’s a first for the first: never before has the Tour de France offered such a difference in altitude for its inaugural stage, so for that alone, the start in Italy, in Florence, will be worth a look.
Until Rimini, between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna, the peloton will be entitled to more than 3,600 m of ascent, and will have to overcome seven difficulties from the start. The last, the coast of San Marino, will not be the most digestible, and the descent towards the shores of the Adriatic already allows us to recall the adage according to which “you do not win the Tour during the 1st stage, but we can lose it.”
And the “surprise” for the Tour de France passing through Orléans is…
Thursday July 4: Mâcon – Dijon (for the nap)
There will be others, but for us, this will be the one. Because the Tour de France would not be the Tour of France without stages conducive to a nap, the 163.5 kilometers which will link Mâcon to Dijon seem conducive to exercise. It will just be a matter of waking up for the final sprint.
And if the date doesn’t suit you, there will be two other flat stages, or almost, to make up for it. We think of Orléans – Saint-Amand-Montrond, Tuesday July 9, or Gruissan – Nîmes, a week later.
Wednesday July 10: Evaux-les-Bains – Le Lioran (because Auvergne!)
The first week will end on the white paths of Champagne, via 14 sectors and around thirty kilometres of stones and dust, and we can well believe that it will be nice to watch. But out of pure Auvergne chauvinism, we will rather concentrate on the 11th stage, and the climb towards Lioran.
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In Cantal, the peloton will be entitled to the Col de Néronne, the Puy Mary, the Col de Pertus then that of Font de Cère before reaching the Cantal station. 4, 3, 2, 1: all categories will mark a stage of 211 kilometers. And which promises to be, logically, volcanic, as Romain Bardet mentioned, during the reconnaissance of the last 50 kilometers that he carried out a month ago.
The peloton’s passage through the heart of the Volcans d’Auvergne park last year kept all its promises. This was also the case during the previous arrival at Lioran, in 2016: in a copy-paste finish from that of 2024, Greg Van Avermaet was the strongest to wear the yellow jersey.
Nivernais Lenny Martinez will be at the start of the Tour de France!
Romain Bardet reconnoitered the last 50 kilometers of the Lioran stage a month ago (photo: Jérémie Fulleringer).
Sunday July 14: Loudenvielle – Plateau de Beille (for the fireworks at altitude)
There will be no shortage of high-mountain stages for this 2024 Grande Boucle, but if we only have to remember one, we choose the densest. In addition, it will take place on July 14.
From Loudenvielle to the Plateau de Beille, the fireworks promise to create some real sparks, with four first category passes (Peyresourde, Menté, Portet-d’Aspet and Agnes), before the “HC” climb up to the climb final and its 15.8 km at 7.9% average… In total, it will be almost 200 km with 4,800 m of elevation gain!
In the same vein, we cannot fail to talk about the other uphill finishes, and in particular the one which led the peloton to Saint-Lary-Soulan the day before. We also think of the finishes at Isola 2000 and the Col de la Couillole, just before the end of the Tour. But we’ll talk about it again later…
Romain Bardet and DSM-Firmenich will aim for stage victories in the Tour de France
Sunday July 21: Monaco – Nice (for a unique finale)
It’s hard to choose a particular day in the last three of the 2024 edition of the Tour. Not content with not rallying the Champs-Élysées for the usual parade in the capital, the organizers took advantage of the relocation imposed by the Paris Olympics to completely review their conclusion this year.
After the Col de Vars, the Cime de la Bonette and the climb towards Isola 2000 on Friday, after the succession of three first category passes on Saturday, the Tour de France will end with an individual time trial in the the Nice hinterland, departing from Monaco. Nearly 34 rugged kilometers, with La Turbie and the Col d’Eze on the menu before descending towards Place Massena.
premium The boss of the Tour de France promises: “The Lioran stage will be one of the hardest” of the 2024 edition
And here we are dreaming of a finale as improbable as the one the Tour had the last time it ended with a “CLM”, 35 years ago. Is it necessary to recall that Laurent Fignon, in the lead at the start of the final stage, had let the final victory slip away to Greg Lemond, by eight short seconds?
Of course not.
Laurent Calmut
