2023-07-11 03:18:38
This step has been checked off by the whole peloton and followers for ages. Arriving at the direction of the Tour, Christian Prudhomme had a desire: to return to the Puy de Dôme. It’s done this Sunday: the Tour de France is back at the top of the volcano on the slopes where in 1964, Jacques Anquetil and Raymond Poulidor wrote the legend of the race. It is also from the village of “Poupou” that the stage starts to pay him a double homage.
Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat – puy de Dôme 182.4 km
Departure of the caravan at 11.45 a.m. – Fictitious departure at 1.30 p.m. – Expected arrival around 6.18 p.m.
Figure: 1988
His name is forgotten but the last stage winner at the top of the volcano is called Johnny Weltz. It was 35 years ago, in 1988, Pedro Delgado was in yellow and only a few riders in the 2023 peloton were born at the time. Even rarer are those who have had the pleasure of climbing this mythical slope. Fragile and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the sleeping giant is now off-limits to traffic, even on two-wheelers. This July 9 is the 14th time that the Puy de Dôme has been climbed.
Our favorites
Since the first ascent of the volcano in 1952, giants have raised their arms under the giant antenna at the top: Coppi, Bahamontes, Gimondi, Ocana, Van Impe, Zoetemelk. There will be another this Sunday but which one? Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar necessarily dream of attaching this monument to their prize list and we bet that they will be a mano à mano worthy of the Anquetil-Poulidor duel 59 years ago. “It will be like in 1964, imagine Cédric Vasseur, the manager of Cofidis. It’s certain. A great will want to win after 35 years without Puy de Dôme. A breakaway won’t stand a chance. Up there, the winner will be Vingegaard or Pogacar. Unless Mathieu van der Poel wants to mark the spirits in the footsteps of his grandfather.
Puy de Dome
The tracer’s eye, Thierry Gouvenou
“This is one of the most anticipated stages of this Tour. Already with the departure of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, the village of Raymond Poulidor which well deserved a tribute. But it is also the return of the puy de Dôme which has not been on the Tour program since 1988. Christian Prudhomme, the boss of the Tour, had long dreamed of returning there. We had to make a lot of concessions for this comeback. Already, we will not have spectators on the last four kilometers because the Puy de Dôme is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And you have to pay attention to the erosion of the road. At the top, we will also adapt our logistical system, which will be reduced because the road is very narrow. The arrival at the top will be very tough and I’m sure the best of the Tour have already ticked off this stage for a long time. These last kilometers are formidable and a little out of the ordinary. There are no laces. It’s a spiral climb. It looks like a permanent straight line. I can’t wait to see what it will bring. »
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