TDF 2024:- Stage 13: Agen – Pau, 165.3km ***Spoilers***

Stage 13: Agen – Pau, 165.3km

July 12th.

Start Time: 12-30BST.

The Tour moves from Agen to the base of the Pyrenees in the 13th stage. The rolling route is 165.3 kilometres long and features some hills in the final hour of action .Pau is finishing venue on the Tour de France for the 63th time, but the town has also hosted starts, 66 times. The last time that Le Tour finished in Pau was in 2019. It was the heyday of Julian Alaphilippe. Dressed in yellow, the Frenchman stormed to an ITT triumph. The intermediate sprint is at Nogaro, which hosted a stage finish last year.

Profile.

Map.

The Climbs.

Côte de Blachon (Cat. 4)

Côte de Simacourbe (Cat. 4)

Final Kilometres.

Two climbs that count for the King of the Mountains competition begin the final approach to Pau- Côte de Blachon (1.5 kilometres at 6.9%) and Côte de Simacourbe (1.8 kilometres at 6.4%). But they shouldn’t cause any problems for the fast men, as the summit of the last one is just under 30 kilometres from the finish.

What to Expect.

Chances are that the breakaway will be caught and that the stage will end in a bunch sprint. However, amidst the hilly terrain approaching the finish, the Blachon and Simacourbe climbs could pose a problem for those sprinters who don’t feel comfortable in the hills.

Agen

Stage town for the fifth time.

Prefecture of Lot-et-Garonne. 

Population: 32,500

Agen has only hosted the Tour de France on four occasions, and only once for a finish, in 1951, but it remains legendary. The first non-Italian to win the Giro in 1950, Hugo Koblet broke away with 135-km to go and went on to win by a margin of 2:35, despite a furious chase led by favourites Coppi, Bartali, Magni, Bobet, Geminiani and Ockers. The Swiss rider, who had already won the time trial in that year's Tour, made quite an impression: he won two more stages in the Alps and the Pyrenees lead Raphaël Geminiani by 22 minutes in Paris.

Specialities: Agen prunes, floc de Gascogne, tourin (garlic soup), tourtière (apple cake), ceps, salmis de palombe.

Agen prune

Prunes came from China along the Silk Road to Syria. It was the Romans who brought the cultivation and drying of prunes the Agen region. They planted several varieties, including the Saint-Antonin or Maurine plum, a small blue plum that produced a very black prune of small size. Other varieties of Damascus plum were later brought to the Agen from Syria by the Crusaders in the 13th century. The monks of Clairac, by grafting with local plum trees, selected this new variety of Prune d'Ente (in old French "enter" means "to graft"). This new variety, with its thin skin and beautiful mauve-blue colour, is well adapted to the terroirs of the South-West. The resulting new prune is large in size, with delicate flavours and aromas.

Pau

Stage town for the 75th time

Prefecture of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (64)

Population: 77,700

PAU AND CYCLING

Pau has featured so many times in Le Grand Boucle, that it is impossible to precis it's history.

Specialities: garbure, poule au pot, foie gras, magret and other duck and goose dishes, honey, coucougnettes du Vert Galant (roasted almonds coated in dark chocolate and raspberry marzipan), Verdier chocolates, Francis Miot jams, le Russe (almond cake with praline cream), ossau-iraty (cheese), wines (Jurançon, Madiran, Pacherenc).

The garbure

Garbure is a traditional Gascon dish made with cabbage and chunks of vegetables. It originated in Bearn and is often eaten in Pau. It was not until the mid-20th century that duck or goose confit was added to this essentially rural dish for the poor. Garbure was the daily fare of Gascon peasants. It varied from house to house, depending on the seasons and the resources of the kitchen garden and salt cellar. The principle of the recipe is to cook for a long time an assortment of vegetables and meats, usually preserved. Served as a soup or a main course, garbure can be adapted to suit individual needs.