Aurélien Canot, Media365, published on Monday July 1, 2024 at 12:15 p.m.
Having become a traditional and highly anticipated event each year on the Grande Boucle, the Etape du Tour de France will start this year (on July 6) from Nice (where the final finish will also take place, on July 21) to reach the Col de la Couillole. On this occasion, the record for the number of participants, which should exceed 15,000 amateurs in the running, could be broken.
Offering amateur cyclists the opportunity to experience the Grande Boucle in the same conditions as professionals and on the same route, the Etape du Tour de France has over time become one of the most anticipated events each year by cycling enthusiasts, including Tour boss Christian Prudhomme. During this 2024 edition (the 32nd in history) unique in its kind if only because the final arrival (July 21) will not take place on the Champs-Elysées in this Olympic year in the capital but on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, this Stage of the Tour has been scheduled for next Sunday July 7, with a departure from Nice and an arrival at the top of the Col de la Couillole. The experts will have understood: this is the same profile (over 138 kilometers) as that which awaits the runners on Saturday July 20th on the occasion of the 20th and penultimate stage.
Prudhomme: “Participants will have to be well prepared”
On the program for the competing cyclists, no more and no less than four passes: the Col de Braus (2nd category), the Col de Turini (1st category), the Col de la Colmiane and, therefore, the final climb that will take the riders to the top of the Col de la Couillole. Christian Prudhomme wishes the participants, some of whom have been preparing for this stage for eight months, good luck before the event. “While the mileage of this stage seems reasonable, it would be a mistake to think that this 32nd edition of L’Étape du Tour de France will be less arduous than those that have taken place in the Alps in particular. With four climbs for 4,600 m of elevation gain, descents where vigilance and concentration will have to be at their maximum and very few moments of recovery, the participants will have to be well prepared and above all manage their effort well.” Especially since the participants in question should be more numerous than ever to tackle these climbs that have brought joy to Louison Bobet, Egan Bernal and Primoz Roglic in turn. This 32nd edition could thus result in a record, with more than 15,000 runners present on the starting line in Nice on July 7.
