Tour de France 2014 - Alps?

BigDarbs
BigDarbs Posts: 132
edited August 2013 in Pro race
Any thoughts on when the 2014 TdF may be in the Alps, there is a general thought that with a Yorkshire start, and a stage to commorate the battlefields of WW1 in Northern France, the race will run clockwise, putting it in the Alps in the 2nd week (commencing 14th July), then the Pyrenees on the final week.

Has anyone got any other possibilities?

Comments

  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    It's a good bet as in general it alternates between Alps first and Pyrenees first. So if you're making a bet on accomodation etc I'd agree with the above.
  • avoidingmyphd
    avoidingmyphd Posts: 1,154
    You would have thought so, it has to be sometime that week. But note that the bulk of the rumours in the french press seem to point to the race arriving in the alps only towards the end of that week - say Thurs 17th into Haute Savoie, then out through Hautes-Alpes over the weekend of 19th-20th.

    Looks like a long time to get from Yorkshire to the Alps to me, with the pyrenees still to fit into week 3, and the rumours are unreliable at this stage. Better than nothing though if you're gambling on your holiday dates or accommodation.
  • BigDarbs
    BigDarbs Posts: 132
    Yes, through a friend we have the option of a large holiday house in Bourg d'Oisans, at a discount rate, but the deal is we need to book now. So we are going whatever happens, but it seemed to make sense to have a go at it coinciding with the TdF being in the local (ish) area. (Anywhere within an hours drive will be local-ish!)
  • Richmond Racer
    Richmond Racer Posts: 8,561
    There's a French fella who does a pretty good job of predicting the next route, ahead of the ASO bash in Oct. Leaks in the media get more and more prevalent through Sep
  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    edited August 2013
    It would obviously be great if there was a stage on the Alpe again (although I don't see it happening), but even if that doesn't happen, it's a great place to be with a bike for the week anyway. Lots of great climbs in that area.
  • knedlicky
    knedlicky Posts: 3,097
    From what I’ve read, the current rumours about the Tour are that, after 3 stages in England and a couple of days in NE France (the TTT at Le Touquet, and 1-2 stages around the Lille area), it will head to the Vosges for another finish at La Planche des Belles Filles. That might be stage 7. Then a rest/transfer day (12 July).
    Then follows a possible stage to end near Thorens-Glières north of Annecy, and one to finish at Chamrousse near Grenoble, then a stage Grenoble – Risoul (stage 10).

    If that all proves to be the case, then from Bourg d’Oisans you’ll have the chance to travel and see the Tour finish at Chamrousse on 14 July and maybe it even pass by where you’re staying when it's en route to Risoul on 15 July (a stage finish at Risoul seems currently to be one of the only 2 definites yet known, the UK stages and Paris apart. The other definite is Saint-Lary-Soulan in the Pyrenees).
  • suspectdevice
    suspectdevice Posts: 263
    Richmond Racer wrote:
    There's a French fella who does a pretty good job of predicting the next route, ahead of the ASO bash in Oct. Leaks in the media get more and more prevalent through Sep


    The website is http://www.velowire.com/article/672/en/ ... --uk-.html and you are right he is normally very good with rumours.

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