2023-10-24 16:54:55
The Grande Boucle 2023 is only ending as we are already planning for the next edition, which will be a little special. The Paris Olympic Games will notably shake up the usual Tour de France program slightly, since they will start only five days after the last stage. And for the first time since 1904 the arrival will not be in Paris, on the Champs-Élysées, but in Nice. The last two stages are already known, with mountains on Saturday between Nice and the Col de la Couillole and a time trial on Sunday between Monaco and Nice.
It will be 35 years since the Tour de France ended with a stopwatch. In 1989, Greg LeMond took advantage of the 24.5 km between Versailles and the Champs-Élysées to win 58 seconds ahead of Laurent Fignon, depriving the Frenchman of a coronation by just eight seconds. To date, this is still the smallest gap in the general classification at the end of a Grande Boucle.
Unprecedented arrival in Nice
To find a final finish outside Paris, we have to go back even further, to 1903 and 1904. The runners then arrived in Ville-d’Avray. Since then, the French capital has always been the scene of this last stage, with arrivals at the Cipale velodrome or, since 1975, on the Champs-Élysées. Next summer, the most beautiful avenue in the world will already be busy with preparations for the Olympic fortnight and will therefore not be accessible.
It was ultimately Nice which was chosen to become the apotheosis of this Tour de France. The city of Christian Estrosi was to host the Grand Départ in July 2020, before this edition was postponed due to Covid-19. The Tour finally began on August 29, without the usual popular success. Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France, said to himself that it would be a great gift for Nice.
Hilly start in Tuscany
The Grand Départ of the Grande Boucle 2024 will also be unique. For the first time since its creation in 1903, the Tour will start from Italy, and more precisely from Florence. Three stages are planned in Italian territory. The first will connect Florence to Rimini, the second Cesenatico to Bologna and the third Piacenza to Turin. A triptych already slightly indigestible for the runners since they will take rather hilly roads, with 13 climbs in total.
This ground could already be the scene of a big battle between the favorites. Jonas Vingegaard, now double title holder, will want to achieve the hat-trick but will have to watch over a vengeful Tadej Pogacar, who always gets back up after a disappointment. A third thief could join the race for the Yellow Jersey: Remco Evenepoel. The Belgian world champion, who won the 2022 Vuelta before giving up during the last Giro because of Covid-19, will participate again in the Tour of Spain in September. It will then be time for him to take on the biggest race in the world, the Tour de France. With, already, very high ambitions.
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