2015 Tour de France Route Revealed!

2015 Tour de France Route Revealed!

The 102nd edition of the Tour de France was revealed today at the 'Palais des Congrès', and OPQS rider Mark Cavendish was in attendance along with Sport Director Wilfried Peeters. The 2015 Tour de France includes a total distance of 3,350km. There are nine flat stages, three hilly stages, seven mountain stages (five summit finishes), one individual time trial, one team time trial, and two rest days.

"I'm quite happy with this Tour," Mark Cavendish said. "A lot of the starts and finishes we've done before at past editions of the Tour de France. It's a flattish first week, which is good for the sprinters. There are few good opportunities for the sprint in the first week, plus two more occasions in the last 2 weeks including the Champs-Élysées. I won on the Champs four times and I'm looking forward to trying again. The number of chances for a sprint at this Tour are outstanding for me. This route will still provide some good finishes for the GC guys. I think it's a very nice route. "

The 2015 Tour de France opens with a 14km time trial stage in Utrecht (Netherlands). There will be plenty of sprint opportunities in the first week, however there could be echelons due to cross winds. There is also a finish on the Mur de Huy (1.3km, 9.6% average gradient) in Stage 3 that will surely bring some early fireworks within the peloton. There is also the Mur de Bretagne (2km, 6.9% average gradient, ramps of 15%) as a finishing climb in the 8th stage.

"It's still going to be hard, we'll still be going full gas every day," Cavendish said. "If there are windy conditions in any stages that first week, we've got the best team in the world to handle that as we've shown in past Tours de France. Omega Pharma – Quick-Step is filled with strong guys that know how to animate races, particularly in crosswinds. I'm more excited about those possibilities than nervous. This Tour leaves good chances for sprinters and plenty for GC riders as well. We're going to focus on what I need to do, and what OPQS needs to do to win some stages. Last year my team did great even without me there, and I was in great form before I crashed. So, I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do at the 2015 Tour de France with this route, riding for a strong team like Omega Pharma – Quick-Step."

However, the peloton will not reach the high mountains of the race until after the first rest day. Stage 10, from Tarbes to La Pierre Saint Martin, will begin the big climbing of the Tour. There is also 42km of total time trials in the race, but the final fight for the yellow jersey will not be a time trial before Paris. The GC contenders will instead face the legendary Alpe-d'Huez , which includes 21 hairpin turns and an 8.1% average gradient in 13.8km of climbing, in the penultimate stage.

Tour race organizers also revealed a new points distribution for the nine flat stages of the race that might change the fight for the Green jersey.

"It will be a nervous peloton with this parcours," Wilfried Peeters said. "Every day something can happen, as is the Tour tradition. The time trial at the beginning is not so long and it will keep the door open to the sprinters or classic riders to try to get the yellow jersey, especially with the second stage at Zeeland, that can be conditioned by wind, and the days after in Belgium. The finish on the Mur de Huy can offer a lot of possibilities to the classic riders, as will the day after in the stage with the cobblestone sectors. Then there is a stage with the Mur de Bretagne that can be the first arrival for riders who target the GC. Though the high mountains don't start until after the first rest day, there can still be differences made in the first week. The team time trial will be important before going into the Pyrenees. The last week is hard as it is every year. Every day the situation can change. It's an interesting Tour de France without a lot of time trials. The new system of bonifications can also play a role in the race. On paper it will be a spectacular Tour de France."