The city of Muscat in the Sultana of Oman, Eddy Merckx and Dirk De Pauwhave found an agreement in order to organise a new road cycling event, fromthe 14th to the 19th of February 2010 for which the technical organisation willbe entrusted to Amaury Sport Organisation, organisers of the Tour de France.
The technical and sporting details of the first edition of the Tour of Oman will
be revealed during a presentation that will take place in Paris during the month
of January.
© A.S.O.
© A.S.O.
The awards for the decoration competition for cities and villages, organised in partnership with Doublet, were handed out during the Mayors of France Congress. Vatan and the Indre Department were rewarded.
Followers of the Tour can testify: being a gracious host is a quality found throughout France. Each year, the Tour de France passes through nearly 600 communities. Hamlets, villages, towns and cities get into the spirit of the event by decorating roundabouts, squares, balconies as well as churches. Sometime it is discreet but always underlines the link between the Tour de France and the large number of bicycle enthusiasts.
For the 2009 Tour, the jury presided over by Bernard Hinault paid particular attention to the decorations that adorned the route. And it was the village of Vatan, situated in the Indre Department that stood out head and shoulders above the rest. The tiny commune that hosted the start of stage 11 was rewarded during the Mayor’s Congress, where Christian Prudhomme was on hand along with Bernard Hinault on Wednesday morning. The Indre Department, which was also traversed during stage10 was particularly inventive and convincing, because three of its communes swept the podium for the 2009 Tour.
The classifications of the 2009 Tour Decoration Competition
1. Vatan (Indre)
2. Saint-Aout (Indre)
3. Issoudun (Indre)
4. Junay (Yonne)
5. Brignoles (Var)
© Presse Sports
The centenary of the first appearance of high mountains on the program of the Tour de France will be celebrated during the passage in the Pyrenees. The riders will be climbing twice the famous Col du Tourmalet.
Over 4,000 spectators were present this morning at the official presentation of the 97th edition of the Tour de France that will be held from the 3rd to the 25th of July 2010. In the presence of the Mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb, and the two former Dutch winners of the Tour, Jan Janssen and Joop Zoetemelk, Christian Prudhomme firstly rejoiced with anticipation at the welcome the peloton will receive in the Netherlands, land of cycling. The fifth Dutch Grand Départ in history, that naturally invites to a visit to Belgium before heading to the French territory, allowed to design a dense program as soon as the first days for the race favourites who will immediately have to be careful. “In just forty-eight hours, we will have a mini Liège-Bastogne-Liège and a mini Paris-Roubaix”, enthusiastically explained the director of the Tour in reference to the two stages that will partly take place on the roads of the great spring classics.
For several years now, the Tour de France is careful at exploring all kind of mountains, by focusing on the contours of medium mountains. Indeed, the Alpine part, marked by two prestigious stages ending at Morzine-Avoriaz and at Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, will be preceded by a excursion in the Jura mountains heading to the resort of Les Rousses, and followed by a stop in the Massif Central, where the demanding climb of Mende should offer a spectacular explanation.
But the teams of the Tour de France were mainly inspired by the centenary of the first high mountain stage. In 1910, a decisive turning point occurred in the history of cycling, when riders were sent off to climb the Pyrenees roads heading up to the Col de Peyresourde, Aspin, Tourmalet and Aubisque. All that in a same stage designed between Luchon and Bayonne, with 326 kilometres of effort to be covered. For the 16th stage of the 2010 Tour, the distance will be reduced with a finish decided at Pau, but as a tribute to Octave Lapize, Gustave Garrigou or Eugène Christophe, the climbs will be done in the same order: a feast for climbers. After a rest day, a last altitude finish will take place at the Col du Tourmalet, where only Jean-Pierre Danguillaume had the honour of lifting his arms in triumph, back in 1974. The battle for the yellow jersey could witness a final episode in the Bordeaux vineyards on the occasion of an individual time-trial of 51 kilometres between Bordeaux and Pauillac, on the eve of the finish in Paris, on the Champs-Élysées.
At the heart of A.S.O’s activities, cycling mobilises the energies all along the year with 18 races organised in 2010. While the Tour de France is the main event, efforts also go to all the categories of cyclists.
Ladies first, for the opening of the season of A.S.O’s cycling events, 2010 indeed starts with a ladies’ competition that will kick off the long week of races in Qatar with the 2nd edition of the Ladies Tour of Qatar, followed by the men’s Tour of Qatar, ninth edition. The specialists of stage races will then gather at the start of Paris-Nice. Then the Classics’ season will witness two strong moments with Paris-Roubaix for the cobbled-stone specialists and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, for enduring punchers.
During the Tour de France, while the attention mainly focuses on the battle for the yellow jersey, the amateurs from around the world will also have their day of glory: with the Etape du Tour Mondovélo, over 9000 amateur cyclists will take on one of the mountain stages designed for the champions. Affection for the historical heritage of cycling drove to a recent implication in the organisation of the Vuelta a España. At the same time, A.S.O wishes to support major races in the youth calendar like the Tour de l’Avenir, but also Paris-Tours et Paris-Roubaix Under-23 (in partnership with the VC Roubaix), the Classique des Alpes Juniors or the Kilomètre de Paris-Tours.
The 2010 calendar of A.S.O cycling races.
Palais des Congrès, Paris© Presse Sports
There are more and more cycling fanatics following the Tour on the official website during the month of July. From 4.8 million unique visitors in 2007, the live coverage registered an audience of 6.3 million users in 2008 before reaching 11.6 in 2009.
Since last year, the web users now have the possibility to see the official presentation of the course, broadcasted live on the www.letour.fr website, from the Palais des Congrès of Paris. The course of the 2010 edition will be unveiled on Thursday the 14th of October. Between Rotterdam, host city of the Grand Départ, and Paris where the finish will be staged on the Champs-Élysées, the riders will have the possibility to celebrate the one-hundred years of the first stage finishes at the top of mountains, in the Pyrenees.
In order to allow all to discover in detail the stages at the same time as the 2,500 guests present at the Palais des Congrès, the ceremony will be completely broadcasted in video streaming, in French and in English, as of 11:00 AM.
Raymond Juan, Bernard Hinault© Cesqar Vidal
Bernard Hinault received in the name of the Tour de France, an award given by the professionals of tourism in Andorra.
The passage of the 2009 Tour in Andorra will forever leave intense memories to Brice Feillu who managed an impressive solo performance that gave him his first professional success at the top of the climb up to the Arcalis resort. On the day of stage 7, the footage of that audacious victory spread on the TV screens around the world, as well as the mountainous Andorran landscape. With the start set the following day in Andorre-la-Vieille for a stage heading to St-Girons, the principality was once again at the heart of the sporting event of the moment. The association of tourism professionals (club Skal), impressed by the spotlights set on their area, chose to give its annual trophy to the Tour de France. Bernard Hinault therefore returned to the Pyrenees on the 27th of September to receive that award during the world tourism day in Andorra.
A. Schleck - A. Contador - L. Armstrong© Presse sports
At 26 From the very beginning of the 96th Tour de France, Alberto Contador demonstrated that he is the leader of a new generation of cycling.
He may have missed out on the opportunity to defend his title last year after the omission of his Astana team but the Spaniard who won both the yellow and white jerseys in 2007 started the 2009 race in fine style. He was beaten in the opening time trial by Fabian Cancellara, a master of the discipline, but by the end of the race the 27-year-old proved that he has all the ingredients to be a champion for many years to come. “He’s strong,” said his Astana team-mate Lance Armstrong, who finished third in his comeback Tour. He’s a complete rider who can climb, who can time trial… I think there are some weaknesses but I’m not going to talk about them. I’ll keep that to myself and maybe we can explore them another time.” The Texan proved that his return to the Tour was one full of intent. But he finished third overall, five minutes and 24 seconds behind the Spaniard.
Both men have had to overcome life-threatening issues before their first victory in the world’s biggest bike race. Armstrong beat cancer and Contador survived a brain hemorrhage that knocked him down during the Vuelta a Asturias in 2004. He returned to racing at the Tour Down Under in Australia in January the next year and won a stage. It heralded the beginning of phase two of what has become a remarkable career.
Contador won his first title at the age of 24. Under the guidance of Johan Bruyneel – the mastermind behind Armstrong’s seven successes – he won a mountain stage and swapped his white jersey for the yellow a day after the final major climb of the 2007 edition.
In 2009 he was even more dominant. Instead of winning by just 23 seconds, as he did two years earlier, he dominated the race. Second on the opening day, victory in the team time trial, and into third place overall. Cancellara would lead for a week; Contador would attack all his rivals – including Armstrong – on the road to Arcalis in stage seven but the yellow jersey would have to wait. It wasn’t until his first solo stage win since 2007 that he could once again get the taste of leadership in the Tour. His victory at the top of a mountain in Verbier put him in the yellow jersey and the win in the time trial around Lake Annecy ensured that he would retain it all the way to Mont Ventoux when the final assault came from Andy Schleck.
The young Luxembourger tried with all his might to pull back the four minutes he lagged behind after 19 stages but Contador was able to respond to every attack. With his fourth place atop the Giant of Provence, victory was assured; all he had to do was finish. On the final day, he accepted the accolades from virtually everyone in the peloton and crossed the finish line of the 3,459.5km race with an advantage of over four minutes. Schleck was second, Armstrong third. Things are expected to be a lot different next year, but for now it’s time to hail the 26-year-old King of the Tour.
A. Contador - L. Armstrong - A. Schleck© Presse sports
The opening time trial in Monaco provided a setting for the favorites for the general classification of the 96th Tour de France to show their form. And they didn’t disappoint.
Alberto Contador was back in the race after a year’s absence and he rocketed up the first climb and demonstrated that he was fast… but not as fast as Fabian Cancellara in the closing kilometers. The ‘Swiss Spartacus’ claimed the first yellow jersey of the 2009 edition and he would retain it all the way to the first mountain top finish.
The resurgent Lance Armstrong came to within 0.22 seconds of the overall lead after a three-year absence after his Astana troops demolished all challengers in the team time trial in Montpellier. This proved to be a critical stage as all riders in the top nine overall at the end of the race were from teams that finished in the top four of stage four – only the best Frenchman, Christophe Le Mevel of the Francaise des Jeux team, was able to find a remedy for lost time in the TTT. He finished 10th overall, in a year when the defending champion and two-time runner-up wouldn’t figure in the top order of the general classification.
Carlos Sastre started strong but never managed to find the legs to challenge the likes of Contador, former team-mate Andy Schleck or Armstrong. He finished 17th while his Australian rival from 2008, Cadel Evans also suffered a severe blow in Montpellier. Down the rankings after day four, he tried to attack the other GC hopes but one bad day in the Alps put him out of contention. He rolled into Paris ranked 30th.
By the time the crucial stages for the general classification rolled around, Contador had to contend with only a few rivals: the fabulous Schleck brothers and his team-mate Armstrong who was intent on finishing on the Parisian podium. Before the critical stage to Mont Ventoux, Armstrong had already announced that he would form a new team in 2010 and that a split from Astana was imminent.
Throughout the race the polemics within the team managed by Johan Bruyneel provided fodder for the media but the riders at the centre of it all remained focused on their job: trying to win the Tour. Contador went one better than Cancellara in the long individual time trial around Lance Annecy, winning his second stage and increasing the overall lead he took after claiming the mountain stage to Verbier, Switzerland.
Rinaldo Nocentini led the race from Andorrra to Switzerland and his AG2R La Mondiale team helped break the monotony of an all-Astana head of the peloton when sprints weren’t the likely conclusion of a stage. But really it was two teams that dominated the race from Monaco, east to Spain, north to Andorra and across France, into Swiss territory and onward to Paris.
Columbia-HTC had a taste of what it was like to lead the Tour 12 months earlier but this year the squad was committed to the cause of one man. Mark Cavendish. How can he be ignored? He is fast, very fast! Although the 2005 points classification champion eclipsed the Brit’s tally of points in the race for the green jersey, no rider was capable of beating ‘Cav’ in a sprint. He won a total of six stages and proved his ego wasn’t exploding last year when he declared himself to be “the fastest man in the world”. Indeed that is what he is, but the most complete rider is Alberto Contador.