The way to History

The Grand Départ that will be held in Düsseldorf gives us, precisely, an opportunity to look back at the itinerary chosen by the Tour de France on which generations of riders expressed themselves. It indeed took a vision and a sparkling inspiration for Jacques Goddet and Félix Lévitan to decide to take the champions to the foot of the Berlin Wall in 1987. Jean-Marie Leblanc’s message was just as powerful when he decided the Tour would be launched from London in 2007. Midway, it was in Rouen, at the heart of the city of a hundred bell towers, the town of Jacques Anquetil, that the riders gathered together at the start in 1997. Must we remind that for this return to Germany, we will in our very own way be celebrating the 60th anniversary of the signature of the Rome Treaty in 1957?

Of course, we will certainly not neglect the “little story”: that of our jerseys and of our champions, that of our flabbergasting sprints and of our battles to the summits. In that domain, the mountains of the country will be tackled with the ambition to offer opportunities to the audacious. For the first time since 1992, the five main mountain ranges of France will be visited by the 2017 Tour, in an order that changes with usual habits. We will certainly not offend the glorious Col Izoard where a stage will finish for the very first time, or the demanding road the peloton will take on between Pau and Peyragudes, by mentioning that the toughest mountain stage of this edition will probably take place in the Jura, at the end of the first week! Extreme climbs will be offered to the riders and there will be enough of them to be exploited. It’s up to them to write history...