TDF 2022:- Stage 19: Castelnau-Magnoac - Cahors, 188.3Km ***Spoilers***

Stage 19: Castelnau-Magnoac - Cahors, 188.3Km

Start Time: 13-05CET

The sprinter's pay day for getting through the mountains, as the route goes north, away from the Pyrenees that dominated the previous days.
Nevertheless, 188 km at this point of the race could prove to be an high challenge, for them and their teams, so a breakaway has a chance. In addition, the finale is not pancake-flat.
The Tour’s sojourn in the Lot offers a nod back to the race’s opening days: the castle of Cayx, located close to Cahors, belongs to the Danish royal family.



The riders kick off in Castelnau-Magnoac, roughly 40 kilometres north of the Pyrenees. On flat to rolling roads the route heads northwards to cross the Garonne halfway. Then the parcours continues slighty more eastward in the direction of Cahors.
The route features two modest climbs in the last 55 kilometres.
The winner in Cahors succceeds another pure bred attacker. In 1994, Jacky Durand took the spoils in the only ever Tour de France finish in the medieval wine town.



The Climbs.





Final Kms.

The final kilometres are rolling, rather than flat. The last km is slightly uphill, with 700 meters at a 3,1% average.







What to Expect:

Odds are that we'll see a fast finishers showdown in Cahors, as they haven't had a whole lot of opportunities and nothing to contest for quite a while.
However, with so many teams still searching for an illusive stage win, (mostly thanks to Jumbo and Tadej Pogacar) I expect there to be quite a scuffle for the break, although it's unlikely to be too strong, when it forms.
The sprinter teams will look to control, however, often the peloton miscalculates, through exhaustion, in the last week of a Grand Tour.


Castelnau-Magnoac

Population: 800

Specialities: black pork from Bigorre, black Gascon chicken from Astarac-Bigorre, duck breast in a casserole, pigeon salmis, alicuit or alycot (poultry offal stew), massacanat (omelette enriched with onion rings and pieces of veal), millasson and spit-roast cake (pastry)

CASTELNAU-MAGNOAC, CYCLING AND.......ER.......RUGBY.

This small town of 800 inhabitants is better known in rugby circles than in cycling circles, as it is the birthplace of the little prodigy of the French national team and the Stade Toulousain, Antoine Dupont, whose family ran a well-known hotel in Castelnau. Although the Tour de France has never stopped here, it has nevertheless passed through its streets six times between 1954 and 2016. In 2005, Jean-Marie Leblanc and Bernard Hinault even stopped by for a visit to the museum of the Pommiès Corps Franc, a network of resistance fighters to which belonged cycle dealer José Alvarez, one of the great personalities of cycling in the South-West and at national level, and a friend of the greatest champions.
Castelnau-Magnoac, 36 km from Tarbes, the pivotal town of the Tour in the Pyrenees, was also inspired by its neighbour (15 km away), Trie-sur-Baïse, with a population of 1,000, which in 2018 organised the start of a stage to Pau, where Arnaud Démare won a bunch sprint finish. Trie-sur-Baïse is the village of the Sanders brothers, Gilles and Dominique, who both took part in the Tour de France.

Antoine Dupont, currently rated about the best rugby union player on the planet.



Massacanat


Millasson aux Framboises


Along the Route.

Km 134.5

Lauzerte (Pop: 1,500)
Listed as one of the most beautiful villages in France and a stopover on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, the perched village of Lauzerte overlooks the valleys and hills of the Quercy Blanc. Known as the Toledo of Quercy, this medieval bastide, founded in 1241 by the Count of Toulouse, has a superb cornered square at its heart, surrounded by old stone and timber-framed houses.
Place des Cornières
Location: lined with semi-circular arcades, in the shape of baskets on three of its sides and houses dating from the 15th century. In the 18th century, the square had a corner house which gave it the name of Cornière.



Cahors

Population: 19,950

Specialities: duck in all its forms, Quercy lamb, black truffle, Rocamadour (cheese), Quercy melon, walnuts, saffron, Cahors wines.

CAHORS AND CYCLING

The prefecture of Lot has appeared twice on the Tour de France route, only once for a finish, in 1994, when Jacky Durand won with the French champion's jersey on his back. That year, he was on the attack almost every day and had spent more than 300 km at the front of the race before this victory. "Dudu", who has become one of cycling's most popular consultants, raised his arms again in the Tour in 1995 and 1998.
In 2007, Cahors was also the start of a stage won in Angoulême by Sandy Casar.
Cahors was on the route of the Tour de l'Avenir in 1985 and the Route du Sud between 1985 and 1987, with victories by Laurent Fignon and Charly Mottet.
Among the riders linked to Cahors is Romain Bellenger, winner of six stages of the Tour between 1921 and 1925, who died in the town in 1981.



50 years of AOC

In the majestic setting of the Lot valley, Cahors, a city of art and history, is ideal for exploration. With its exceptional medieval historical centre nestled in a loop of the Lot and surrounded by hills, Cahors cultivates its southern art of living.
Cahors is of course a wine. Cahors is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its AOC.
The wines of Cahors :
. AOC area of 21,700 hectares
. 45 municipalities
. 350 winegrowing families
. 20 million bottles per year



Confit de Canard.