TDF 2021:- Stage 1, Brest › Landerneau 197.8km **Spoilers**
blazing_saddles
Posts: 22,726
Stage 1, Brest › Landerneau 197.8km
26-6-2021Start 11-10am
The Tour de France 2021 gets underway in France's North-Western corner. It will be the first time since 2008 that the Tour has started in Brest. This year's route begins with a difficult stage that could suit a multitude of riders. The stage travels from Brest, through Locronan and Quimper, to Landerneau. Start and finish are only 20 kilometres away by road.
Frequent changes of direction and undulation will see the peloton riding in "Flanders mode". Also as the route runs close to the coast, the wind could be a major factor, adding to the general nervousness that is always present during the first week of the Tour. Although the route is constantly going either up or down, brutal climbs are not to be expected, as the highest points rises just 385 metres above sea level.
However, there are no fewer than six, minor category climbs, spread along the route.
The (main) Climbs.
With no yellow jersey or pecking order established, tensions will run high. Without a doubt, the breakaway will be reeled in by the time the peloton reaches the final 3kms. Most of the pure sprinters will have been distanced by that point. First, the road goes up at 9.4% for 500 metres before the following 500 metres still rise 8.2%. The route levels out a bit to 6.2%, after which the next kilometre rises at 4%. The last 500 metres are a false flat. So it should be a puncheur who comes out on top to take the stage and the first maillot jaune of this year’s race.
Favourites 1st stage 2021 Tour de France
***** Mathieu van der Poel, Julian Alaphilippe
**** Peter Sagan, Wout van Aert
*** Michael Matthews, Marc Hirschi, Christophe Laporte
** Alejandro Valverde, Greg Van Avermaet, Sonny Colbrelli, Alex Aranburu
* Omar Fraille, Aurélien Paret-Peintre, Benoît Cosnefroy, Magnus Cort
Brest
30 previous stages
Population: 140,000
Visited 23 times between 1906 and 1939 (Gustave Garrigou and Henri Pélissier each winning three times), Brest has been back on the map of the Grande Boucle since 2008 after a long 34-year hiatus. In 1952, it was the starting point of the first stage to Rennes, won by Rik Van Steenbergen. In 1974, it was Eddy Merckx who won the prologue of his last Tour victory. Finally in 2008, Alejandro Valverde won the first stage in Plumélec, starting from Brest.
Valentin Madouas and Olivier Le Gac, both riding for the Groupama-FDJ team, were born in Brest.
Cod à la Brestoise
Although Brest has adopted most of the Breton specialties (galettes, far breton, brandies and even strawberries from neighboring Plougastel), the city has a few typical recipes, the most famous of which is undoubtedly cod à la brestoise, which is as simple to make as it is tasty to eat. Leeks, potatoes and onions, all sliced like the cod itself, are necessary for this dish halfway between the gratin and the brandade, as tasty as it is hearty.
On the road
Km 60.
Locronan (Pop: 800)
Listed as a Historical Monument since 1924, Locronan is one of the most prestigious and most visited sites in Brittany, due to its architectural quality.
Locronan offers the particularitý of having alĺ of its electrical and telephone networks buried since the filming of Roman Polanski's Tess in 1979, which won the Oscar for best set in Hollywood.
Landerneau
Stage town for the 1st time
Population: 16,527
Created in 2009, the Landerneau music festival is called "Fête du Bruit dans Landerneau" (Make a Noise Festival).
The main cycling personality of Landerneau was Jean Malléjac, who wore the Yellow Jersey for five days in the 1953 Tour before finishing in second place behind another Breton, Louison Bobet. It is also the hometown of Perrig Quemeneur, who competed in four Tours de France between 2011 and 2017 in Jean-René Bernaudeau's team before retiring in 2019.
Kouign-Amann
If kouign-amann originates from Douarnenez, one of the best can be found in Landerneau, at Eric Pengam's Douceurs Chocolats'T pastry shop, awarded the prize for the best kouign-amann in 2019 and the best Breton cake in 2017.
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
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Comments
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For all the elevation over the stage most of those climbs are pretty minor. Surprised they categorised so many of them.0
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We've been mocking people leading the KOM with 2 points for years, can't blame them for wanting to fix that particular bug.Pross said:For all the elevation over the stage most of those climbs are pretty minor. Surprised they categorised so many of them.
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Same reason I fired up the LR thread earlier (plus parking my tanks on my own lawn, obvs).ddraver said:⭐🌟⭐WHOOP! WHOO-WHOOP WHOOOOP!!! ⭐🌟⭐
🎊🎉IT'S TOUR TIME, BABY!!🎉🎊
Feels good, doesn't it?
(and a pre-emptive thank you to BS for each day's stage threads - quite apart from what you add to them with the details, it makes a huge difference to the way the forum works that there's a dedicated thread for each day's action and that everyone understands when it's likely to be started)5 -
Yet again it's not been made easy by the ASO, but eventually I have found a profile of tomorrow mornings La Course which will load on the forum.
Definitely one for the early birds. I think coverage starts around 7am.
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.2 -
Am I the only one feeling like a kid at Christmas?
Admittedly I know it'll be followed by twenty-one Boxing Days when you've got to wait in and see your least-favourite grandmother who smells of wee and camphor oil, but this one day's always great, right?1 -
So, which of MvdP and Alaphilippe gets going first? ... MvdP training for mtb in the Olympics and riding his first tour, Alaphilippe must have yellow today as a major season goal, is no stranger to the stress of Tour opening stages, but just became a father for first time...
Wind looks to be too light to bother anyone and from NE. Bit damp though and temp around 13-14C, so pretty cool.
Surprise win for Fuglsang then?
Warning No formatter is installed for the format0 -
Watching La Course and it's not raining, just a flat grey sky that looks like any season but Summer."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0
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There's literally one man and his dog are watching the race, roadside. It's not exactly the crack of dawn now, either.
A pathetic turn out from the French public guaranteed, unless there's a huge caravan chucking out cheap tat coming past beforehand."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
I assume the women's finish line is the same as the men's? If so I may need to revise my PTP pick.0
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Why so, how is it different to your expectations?Pross said:I assume the women's finish line is the same as the men's? If so I may need to revise my PTP pick.
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Thought it was going to be a bit steeper and favour JA over MVDP. Don't know why as the profile posted clear shows the top half is fairly flat.kingstongraham said:
Why so, how is it different to your expectations?Pross said:I assume the women's finish line is the same as the men's? If so I may need to revise my PTP pick.
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Profile looks enough to cause some chaos and splits in the first 1.5km, and get rid of the sprinters, then the last 1.5km looks flat enough for a hard sprint.
Going to be fights to be at the front from the gc teams.0 -
The entry into that final climb is very tight, should be fun with a full peloton, feels a bit like going into one of the Bergs in RVV.0
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We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
- @ddraver0 -
Hard to see past MvdP . Alaphillpe has a better chance on the mur . How's the weather?"If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm0
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Vollering from Uttrup and Vos in La Course1
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Finish is basically flat, so whichever rider is there who has a sprint.0
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Advertising for this was weakMad_Malx said:Vollering from Uttrup and Vos in La Course
"If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm0 -
Everyone wants them tooddraver said:"If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm0 -
They can only wear them for the first day?
Come on UCI, play the people's game.
So, it's Rob Hatch who gets to open up proceedings. That's a change for the better.
Although Womack isn't going to be happy......Womack isn't going to be happy."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.1 -
And it's underway0
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And we get our first crash.
Ted Theuns down, Sagan involved."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
First crash. Ludicrous road layout for a cycle race there - if a break had already been allowed to go and it hadn't been strung out in the peloton that would have been chaos.0
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I went left field on my ptp picks ..I only play the tour so no real skin in the game ."If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm0
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Swift finally bridges across. Thought they'd done him over for a while there...0
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Geraint having a game of Tetris, no wonder he crashes so much0
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Are you suggesting he gets confused and tries to rotate himself ninety degrees?0
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A bit disappointing watching this stage and the next few days. When the route was announced it looked a perfect opportunity for a mini break to Brittany and taking in the racing0
