October 22, 2014 – The 2015 Tour de France route was revealed this morning at the ‘Palais des Congrès’ in Paris in front of more than 4,000 spectators. It was designed with the intention of breaking away from tradition. The plains, mountains and time trial are clearly included in the 102th edition… but in unprecedented proportions and with nuances susceptible of upsetting pre-established plans.

It can still surprise! For it’s 102th edition, the Tour de France offers its riders a challenge that invites daring and will leave its television viewers in a state of uncertainty regarding the scenarios to consider. The premise of suspense and indecision has indeed been favoured; the questioning of non-written regulations that can often weigh on the race is gone. Also, the riders will only have 14 kilometres of individual time trial to show their stuff, making it the shortest distance since its systematic inclusion in 1947.

”The desire is to not hold up the race”, said Christian Prudhomme, getting rid of rules and dogmas of all kinds. When the first portion of the 2015 Tour takes the peloton from Utrecht and The Netherlands to the heart of Brittany, passing by the landmarks of the Spring Classics or along the Normandy coast, the Tour boss sees much more than a long week of flatlands: “Do not imagine that it will be a nagging procession. With arrivals like the ‘Mur de Huy’, the Paris-Roubaix cobblestones, Mûr de Bretagne or even the atypical team trial at Plumelec, the Tour de France can be played out anywhere”.

As in 2014, the ambitious will not wait for the highest summits to declare their intentions. However, they will need to confirm their strength and resist the attacks from another category of riders by attacking the demanding mountain programme. A new Pyrenean route will begin the festival of climbs, with an arrival at the Pierre-Saint-Martin ski station.

A series of attacks and counter-attacks could then emerge on the Plateau de Beille climb, which leads to the Mende airfield, then the entry into the Alps with a return to Pra-Loup, the reappearance of Maurienne that will feature the Montvernier switchbacks, while those of Alpe-d’Huez will be the last chance to shake up the final podium positions…24 hours before the end of the Tour.

The copious mountain programme, with notably 5 mountain top finishes, is a veiled reference to the arrival 40 years ago of the polka dot jersey in the peloton. The 1975 race will be particularly honoured because the finish at Pra-Loup precipitated the end of Eddy Merckx’s reign. The man responsible, Bernard Thévenet also became the first Tour winner to be crowned on the Champs-Elysées. The final bouquet will also be an anniversary bouquet.

Tour de France 2015 Stage Highlights

– 9 flat stages
– 3 hill stages
– 7 mountain stages with 5 altitude finishes
– 1 individual time-trial stage
– 1 team time-trial stage
– 2 rest days
– 6 new stage cities: Utrecht, Zélande, Livarot, La Pierre-Saint-Martin, Muret, Sèvres – Grand Paris Seine

Tour de France 2015 Stages

Stage 1 – July 4 – Utrecht (ITT) – 14km
Stage 2 – July 5 – Utrecht to Zelande – 166km
Stage 3 – July 6 – Anvers to Huy – 154km
Stage 4 – July 7 – Seraing to Cambrai – 221km
Stage 5 – July 8 – Arras to Amiens Metropole – 189km
Stage 6 – July 9 – Abbeville to Le Harve – 191km
Stage 7 – July 10 – Livarot to Fougeres – 190km
Stage 8 – July 11 – Rennes to Mur de Bretagne – 179km
Stage 9 – July 12 – Vannes to Plumelec – 28km

Rest Day 1 – July 13 – Pau –

Stage 10 – July 14 – Tarbes to La Pierre-Saint-Martin – 167km
Stage 11 – July 15 – Pau to Cauterets Vallee de Saint-Savin – 188km
Stage 12 – July 16 – Lannemezan to Plateau de Beille – 195km
Stage 13 – July 17 – Murut to Rodez – 200km
Stage 14 – July 18 – Rodez to Mende – 178km
Stage 15 – July 19 – Mende to Valence – 182km
Stage 16 – July 20 – Bourg-de-Peage to Gap – 201km

Rest Day 2 – July 21 – Pau

Stage 17 – July 22 – Digne-les-Bains to Pra-Loup – 161km
Stage 18 – July 23 – Gap to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne – 185km
Stage 19 – July 24 – Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to La Toussuire-Les Sybelles – 138km
Stage 20 – July 25 – Modane Valfrejus to Alpe d’Huez – 110km
Stage 21 – July 26 – Sevres-Grand Paris Seine Ouest to Paris Champs-Elysees – 107km

Ouest.