tuesday 23 October 2018 at 22h04
initially published on 24 September at 1.28AM, updated on 25 September at 11.14PM, 1st of October at 4.10PM and 2 October at 11.53PM, 3 October at 9.11AM, 5 October at 0.31AM, 7 October at 7.58PM, 14 October at 7.03PM, on 17 October at 10.14PM, on 20 October at 3.17PM and on 23 October at 10.05AM and at 10.04PM
While the official announcement will only take place on Thursday 25 October in the Palais des Congrès in Paris, you know that velowire.com is your place to be if you want to find the first rumours about the race route of the Tour de France to come, in this case the Tour de France 2019 which will take place from Saturday 6 July till Sunday 28 July 2019. Even though it's a bit later than usual, we keep up with these good habits to discover, over the next few days and weeks, in this article the whole race route of the 106th edition of the Tour!In this article you'll sometimes find mentions of rumours which might develop further or become obsolete later on but on the map at the bottom you'll only find the stage which really seem to get confirmed. Little by little, the article will get completed and provide - at least I hope so - the complete race route before 25 October ... What shows up so far is a race route which goes south from Belgium and off to the east of France, before it continues to the Pyrenees and end up with the Alps just before the transfer to Paris.
As far as possible, I'll also share any rumours about the "Etape du Tour 2019", the cyclosportive organised on the race route of one of the Tour de France 2019 stages.
What's sure: the Grand Départ in Brussels in Belgium
In May 2014 velowire already announced the Grand Départ in Brussels in Belgium,The programme of the Grand Départ of the Tour de France 2019 is a classical programme with:
For the rest, things are more uncertain and that's where we get to the usual activity of velowire.com in September and October ...
Soon you'll find exclusive and detailed maps on velowire.com, Google Maps/Google Earth like, of these two first stages of the Tour de France 2019.
What follows in the Tour de France 2019: the rumours about the stage cities of the 106th "Grande Boucle"!
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3/ Monday 8 July 2019 - Binche (BE) > Epernay Reims
Starting at the 3rd stage, it's where we get to the non verified informations, the famous rumours which are the goal of this article which tries to get them all together in order to try and build up the puzzle of the full Tour de France 2019 race route.A Belgian newspaper, La Dernière Heure, was the first to bring up the information about the supposed start and finish cities of this 3rd stage. Indeed, according to the newspaper, this stage would start in Binche, known of the Binche - Chimay - Binche cycling race also known as the Mémorial Franck Vandenbroucke, in honour of the Belgian rider with a troubled history, and would end at the finish line which would be drawn in France, in the city of Reims. This way, the Tour de France 2019 would thus come back to the city in Champagne after its last visits in 2002 (stage finish coming from Metz), 2010 (stage finish after a start in Cambrai) and 2014 (stage finish coming from Arras).
Contacted by the newspaper L'Union, the mayor of Reims - Arnaud Robinet - didn't want to confirm or invalidate this information. He did however remind that the city is a candidate for the venue of the Tour by saying: "It's the wish of the city to receive the Tour de France as finish or start city. But, as you know, every year, there are so many speculations".
UPDATE 14 October 2018 at 7.03PM: Based on L'Union's information, the duo Epernay and Reims would make its comeback in the Tour's race route in 2019, but this time in reverse order, with a finish in Epernay and a start in Reims, contrary to what we've seen in previous editions. According to the newspaper, the precise localisation of this finish is not known yet but it could well be that the final part of this stage will be quite difficult with one or more small climbs, thus allowing a puncher to get rid of the sprinters teams to win this stage.4/ Tuesday 9 July 2019 - Rethel Reims > Chambley / (close to) Nancy Thionville
Again, the newspaper L'Union went to see someone representing the city, in this case Éric Ulpat, the deputy mayor responsible for sports, who was timidly optimistic: "There are some rumours going around. We have not yet received information directly from ASO, so nothing's official, we have to wait for the confirmation. There's a lot of speculations around the race route. We'll wait until the end of the holidays and start up the engine again in September". This was again discussed in an interview with the mayor, Guy Deramaix, in an article by the L'Union newspaper which discussed the news for the city of Rethel. Concerning the Tour de France 2019 the mayor simply declares: "That's an exceptional event with a huge impact on international level. It would be a big publicity to promote the city. Before all, it would be a première for us.
UPDATE 14 October 2018 at 7.03PM : According to the latest article from L'Union it would finally thus not be Rethel but Reims which will be the start city of this stage, with a fictive start in the city center, maybe close to the "halles de Boulingrin" where a big parking could offer enough space for the start village and with a start towards the kilometer zero via the "Hôtel de Ville" and the Cathedral.UPDATE 5 October 2018 at 0.31AM: if we believe Le Républicain Lorrain, the finish of this stage would finally not be in Thionville because, according to this publication, the Tour de France 2019 will not visit the Moselle department. This information has been communicated by Patrick Weiten, President of the Conseil départemental de la Moselle who apparently got it from Christian Prudhomme himself and if this information is correct this would thus put Thionville and Metz out of the game. According to the hotel reservations indicated by CYRILLE95, hotels would have been booked both in and close to Metz and in Nancy. Apparently A.S.O. has now thus decided to put the finisyh of this stage and the start of the next one in or close to Nancy.UPDATE 7 October 2018 at 7.58PM: for the finish of this stage, Vosges Matin takes the risk of mentioning a possible stage finish at the aérodrome of Chambley (which is actually on the territory of the neighboring village Hagéville), but in the publication of its big sister (both newspapers are part of the same group) Républicain Lorrain the night before there's a mention of this project being studied... for 2020 and the project in question would in that case be a joint candidature with the lac de La Madine ...UPDATE 14 October 2018 at 7.03PM : Est Républicain mentions in an article it published this week that the city of Nancy could be the finish of this stage and the start the next day, reminding however that the "Métropole" and the city have asked the Tour to come in a common candidature. Knowing that the "Métropole du Grand Nancy" also contains another city which has already received the Tour de France, for example in 2014 when the finish was in Nancy and the start the next day in Tomblaine.
5/ Wednesday 10 July 2019 - Metz Nancy Saint-Dié-des-Vosges > Colmar or Mulhouse /Belfort/La Bresse ???
UPDATE 17 October 2018 at 10.14PM: according to the "VosgesInfos.fr" publications like Saint-Dié Info today, the start of this stage would be in Saint-Dié-en-Vosges. This would be a very first for this city in the Tour de France 2019 because the Déodatiens have never before seen the Tour stop by here. Vosges Matin also took over this information early tonight!UPDATE 23 October 2018 at 10.05AM : However ... France Bleu Alsace takes a turn on a finish in Mulhouse again ...
Destination of this stage? Unknown for now, but it'll probably be close to Belfort or Mulhouse ... UPDATE 7 October 2018 at 7.58PM : Belfort is by the way again mentioned by L'Est Républicain but apparently the newspaper doesn't have any specific real indications at this point ...
UPDATE 7 October 2018 at 7.58PM: according to Vosges Matin it is sure that the finish will not be in La Bresse because the newspaper indicates that the Tour de France 2019 will simply not visit the Vosges department ... after having checked the different possibilities (the newspaper seems to have checked Epinal, La Bresse, Gérardmer and even Vittel).
UPDATE 14 October 2018 at 7.03PM : according to the latest article from l'Est Républicain this stage would thus finish in Mulhouse.
UPDATE 17 October 2018 at 10.14PM : LAlsace.fr mentions both Colmar and Mulhouse as possible finish cities for this stage, but seems to insist more on Mulhouse for the stage start the next day than for this day's finish. The "VosgesInfos.fr" publications like Saint-Dié Info only mention Mulhouse while Vosges Matin only mentions Colmar. For now I thus retain the last mentioned possibility.
In any case this stage will go discover the Vosges mountain area because between Saint-Dié-des-Vosges and Colmar there's only about fifty kilometers while Mulhouse is only about one hundred kilometers away from the start.
6/ Thursday 11 July 2019 - Mulhouse ??? > Planche des Belles Filles
As usual now since several years, the employees of Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O.) who work on the elaboration of the Tour de France 2019 race route from time to time publish tweets giving some information and/or photos which are often impossible or at least very hard to map back on a precise location, or information which have no direct link with the start or finish of a stage but just some point in between. On 23 August however, Stéphane Boury, Commisaire Général responsible for the finishes, has published a tweet, mentioning "an exceptional finish in the TDF 2019... with a trunk up to 24%... At 100 m from the finish line" with a photo of his notebook next to a small wooden stump. Quite difficult to guess from there what location that could be ... or not?!.@LeTour ... Ici sera jugée une arrivée inédite sur le TDF 2019... passage à 24%... A 100 m de la ligne... il va y avoir du spectacle pic.twitter.com/k0Es5JUDXU
— Stephane Boury (@StphaneBoury) August 23, 2018
Not for David Malle and Jean-François Fernandez, journalists of France Bleu, who reproduced the photo with their own notebook ...
INFO FRANCE BLEU : le Tour de France 2019 arrivera à la Planche des Belles Filles, avec une arrivée inédite https://t.co/8s8Yju16rA #TDF2019 @LeTour #twittcyclos #FBSport pic.twitter.com/7bWQXQt98c
— France Bleu Besançon (@bleubesancon) August 24, 2018
... after having retraced the exact finish location indirectly mentioned by Stéphane Boury, at La Planche des Belles Filles.
Indeed, after the previous stage finishes in 2012, 2014 and 2017 in the ski station, another finish would thus be planned in 2019, but this time it would be a finish like we've never seen before, wherein the difficult climb would be extended after the finish line which was used for the 3 previous editions. Straight ahead immediately after that location and turning slight left on a gravel road, usually used as a hiking path in summer and as a ski slope in the winter, which allows an access to the real summit of the climb.
The day after France Bleu's publication, Est Républicain came back on this hide and seek game, publishing other photos which indeed seem to prove that the identified location is indeed the same as in Boury's photo. The article also includes some quotes from people interviewed locally.
France 3 Bourgogne-Franche-Comté did the same, with this video topic:
Finally, after having published an article indicating that the president of the Conseil Départemental de la Haute-Saône clearly stated that there will be no concrete nor tarring of the hiking path which leads to the highest point of the Planche des Belles Filles, France Bleu more recently discovered that road works took place to make the path smoother and thus more adapted for an exceptional Tour de France 2019 stage finish. It has however not been tarred completely and it's thus still a "path"! Other photos of these roadworks can be found in the latest article of L'Est Républicain.
UPDATE 17 October 2018 at 10.14PM: For the start of this stage, the different publications LAlsace.fr, "VosgesInfos.fr" like Saint-Dié Info and Vosges Matin all agree on announcing it in Mulhouse!
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7/ Friday 12 July 2019 - Luxeuil-les-Bains Belfort > Chalon-sur-Saône
The day after the finish on La Planche des Belles Filles, the stage start could take place UPDATE 20 October 2018 at 3.17PM: Finally it'll not be Luxeuil but Belfort which will receive the start of this stage. Indeed, that's what Vosges Matin indicated in its article about the start in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, just like L'Est Républicain, which also officially announced that Luxeuil has received a letter on 10 October stating that the Tour 2019 will not stop there.Concerning the destination of this stage, Le Journal de Saône et Loire mentions Chalon-sur-Saône and the date being announced, based on hotel reservations, corresponds to this stage while the distance between these two cities seems to be fully credible for a stage in line. Finally, the newspaper indicates that some representatives of the city have been invited for the official presentation next month and reminds of the previous visits of the Tour de France in Chalon, in 1959, 1961, 1975 and 1988.
8/ Saturday 13 July 2019 - Mâcon > Saint-Etienne ???
While the start location of this 8th stage starting this second weekend of the Tour de France 2019 remains unknown so far, the finish would - according to Le Progrès - be in Saint-Etienne, via Montbrison. This finish doesn't seem to be completely sure however (see hereunder) ...Concerning the start of this stage, Le Journal de Saône et Loire previously mentioned Mâcon as the finish location of the previous stage, where the race would make its comeback for the first time since 2012 when they had a stage start, towards Bellegarde-sur-Valserine. And what if this would finally be the stage start of this stage???
UPDATE 14 October 2018 at 7.03PM : That's also what Le Journal de Saône-et-Loire seems to be confirm when they mention the Tour de France coming back for a stage start, 7 years after the previous stage start!9/ Sunday 14 July 2019 - Saint-Etienne > Brioude
On 4 September, the different publications of the Centre France group, like L'Eveil de la Haute-Loire, announced a stage finish on Saturday 13 July 2019 in Brioude, the city where Romain Bardet was born. In almost exactly the same article which was published the next day, these publications once again come back on this finish, giving as extra information the fact that this finish would take place in the Avenue Léon-Blum, after a difficult final part, for which the newspaper mentions in its two articles some nice short climbs in the Livradois-Forez park for a stage which could well be won by a breakaway rider going on till the end. But maybe the difficult final part will go over the col du Béal or its neighbour Peyra Taillade, which became famous thanks to the Tour visit in 2017.Concerning this stage's start, according to Radio Scoop it would be most probable that this would take place in Saint-Étienne, where the Grand Départ of the Critérium du Dauphiné 2017 was organised, as well as a time trial in Paris-Nice in 2018. This information has furthermore been confirmed a bit later by France Bleu Saint-Etienne Loire which presents it as "exclusive information". In this article the only thing which is mentioned is however a stage start and there's no mention about a stage finish the day before, so the finish still remains to be confirmed!
Anyway, Gaël Perdriau, the mayor of Saint-Etienne, has announced on his Facebook account he has been invited to the presentation of the Tour race route on 25 October, which more or less explicitly confirms that the name of Saint-Etienne will be on the Tour de France 2019 map:
By the way, in an interview with France Bleu radio, Alexandre Cipriani, the president of the Union des Métiers et Industries de l'Hôtellerie de la Loire, has confirmed the big number of hotel bookings in Saint-Etienne for the night of 13 to 14 July:
According to France Bleu Pays d'Auvergne, this stage could go over the Col du Béal. In another article by France Bleu the Col du Béal is again mentioned, as well as a visit of the Forez area close to Ambert (candidate since a long time to receive the Tour), this time in a context wherein it should (...) give to Romain Bardet a terrain which pleases him, that is hilly, in order to allow him to succeed the quest for a French victory on the 14th of July, day of the national bank holiday, for the local rider.
UPDATE 20 October 2018 at 3.17PM : In cas it wasn't clear yet, 7 Jours à Clermont reminds about the finish in Brioude, confirmed according this publication by Gérard Cabantous, the president of Vélo-Sport Brivadois where Romain Bardet started riding a bike at 10 years old.
10/ Monday 15 July 2019 - Saint-Flour or close to Aurillac > Albi
France Bleu Pays d'Auvergne and France 3 confirm the stage Saint-Étienne > Brioude the day before that. They do not however agree on the question whether the start of the 10th stage would be the next day (which would indicate that the first rest day of the Tour de France 2019 would be on Tuesday 16 and not on Monday 15 July) or the day after. France 3 chooses a start on Monday while France Bleu seems to keep both options open, indicating that the Monday of the second week usually is the one of the first rest day. This is indeed correct, but it would certainly not be the first time that the first rest day is planned on a Tuesday. Anyway, they agree on the start location of this stage, more precisely Saint-Flour. According to France 3, this stage would go towards the "gorges" of la Truyère, of Chaudes-Aigues and of the Aveyron for a possible stage finish in Albi. France Bleu also confirmed this finish city.The publications of the Centre Presse group, like L'Eveil de la Haute-Loire also choose a stage start in Saint-Flour on Monday 15. The logical explanation this press group provides for the start in Saint-Flour is the fact that ASO needed to find a credible start location after the birth city of Romain Bardet, and get the peloton of towards the Pyrenees. Knowing that Mende already received a stage finish this year, and Millau a stage start ... Saint-Flour was the logical solution.
UPDATE 23 October 2018 at 10.04PM : Despite the hotel reservation down to Aurillac, by the organisor of the Tour de France, for the night which precedes this stage, it turns out that the stage start will be in Saint Flour anyway!
L'Eveil de la Haute-Loire also indicates Albi as the stage's destination, mentioning a possible visit of the gorges de la Truyère or the plateau de l'Aubrac, which would be a great publicity, juste one year after the creation of the regional natural park.
In the middle of the week, France Bleu Occitanie came back once again on the finish in Albi and on the fact that the finish on Monday most probably indicates that it'll not only be a stage finish but also the rest day and maybe even a stage start! Indeed, France Bleu indicates that hotel bookings for 3 nights, from 15 till 17 July 2019 have been made.
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R1/ Tuesday 16 July 2019 - rest day in Albi
It would thus also be in Albi that the riders will enjoy the first rest day which they'll have had to wait for during 11 days!L'Eveil de la Haute-Loire even dedicated an article to the fact that the rest day would be on Tuesday, which is certainly not impossible, especially because it has already been the case several times in the past (for example in 2014 and in 2012 most recently, but also in 2008).
Getting to the Pyrenees
Considering the location where the race will be at this time, we'll be getting closer and closer to the Pyrenees and La Nouvelle République des Pyrénées and radio 100% mentions the obligation to visit the "Hautes Pyrénées" during the Tour de France 2019 and a possible visit of the Col de Beyrède in one of the stages in this department. However, the newspaper and the radio apparently don't have much more information about the start and finish locations of these stages. The radio station however adds that there will be "two stages and two stage starts". We'll discover hereunder whether that gets confirmed ...11/ Wednseday 17 July 2019 - Albi ??? > Toulouse
While the other sources already announced it last Tuesday, La Dépêche announced on Wednesday exclusively (sic) there will be a stage finish in Albi ... The local newspaper adds that We're not sure yet whether this city will also be the start location the next day or will receive the rest day but it's quite probable for the rest day ... remains to be seen for the stage start ...UPDATE 3 October 2018 at 9.11AM: according to La Dépêche it would also be in Albi that this 11th stage would start.
Anyway, .. as of today, we're not 100% sure what the destination of this 11th stage will be, but based on hotel bookings it's most probable that it'll be in Toulouse. According to La Dépêche, the city would like to receive both a stage finish and a stage start.
12/ Thursday 18 July 2019 - Toulouse > Col du Tourmalet Bagnères-de-Bigorre
Toulouse would also be the stage start following the finish in the "pink city". Still according to La Dépêche, the mayor would have confirmed that the city has asked for this start to be organised in the Bagatelle district, thus making a dream come true for the association Média Pitchounes, as we can see in their slogan "Le Tour au pied des tours" (the Tour at the foot of the towers), as a reference to the tower buildings of the district.The Média Pitchounes association, present in the Tour de France since 9 years already, with children from prioritary districts who get a first experience as a journalist in the biggest cycling race of the world, has never hidden its wish to get the Tour de France to Toulouse, and more precisely "at the foot of the towers" in the Bagatelle district. In its press file for the Tour de France 2018, the association mentioned about a possible stage start like this that "including these districts in the Tour would allow not only to learn positive values to the children but also to awaken their interest for this monument of French history" ... and what if this dream comes true this Thursday 18 July 2019 ?
Concerning the destination of this 12th stage, it's again La Dépêche which provides the information, mentioning - talking about Emmanuel Macron, the President of France - a finish in the thermal city of his grand-mother. Indeed, Macron's grand-parents on his mother's side originally come from Bagnères-de-Bigorre and it would thus be in Bagnères that the stage finish will be judged after the start in Toulouse.
If we consider the consequences of the date being anounced by the same newspaper for a start in Tarbes (see below), we discover that the Tour would finish in Toulouse on Thursday 18 July 2019 and thus for the 12th stage and not one day before. However, that doesn't fit with the hotel bookings in Toulouse and it's thus most probable that there will be an intermediate stage before the start in Tarbes.
UPDATE 2 October 2018 at 11.53PM: it seems however that there's been a mess-up of informations in the sources of the local newspapers because with the time trial in Pau (see below) and based on the dates of the hotel bookings in Foix, there's one stage too much in what is presented in these newspapers ...
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13/ Friday 19 July 2019 - Pau > Pau - individual time trial
UPDATE 2 October 2018 at 11.53PM: TADAAAAAAAAAA ... while certain media already announced that the Tour de France 2019 would have crossed out the city of Pau in 2019, that finally doesn't seem to be the case. Even better, Pau would be the backdrop of an individual time trial this Friday 19 July 2018! What's unknown for me for now is the destination of this timed stage: will it be Pau as well where each rider will indindividually cross the white finish line or will it be drawn elsewhere? That remains to be confirmed ...14/ Saturday 20 July 2019 - Tarbes > Foix / Prat d'Albis Col du Tourmalet
UPDATE 2 October 2018 at 11.53PM: The day after the time trial there would thus be a stage which would allow to go on towards Foix. After having spent one night in Pau, and since Tarbes is thus subject tu rumours with a visit there by A.S.O., one could imagine that after the time trial in Pau, the start would be in Tarbes the next day.The newspaper inducates that this would be the occasion to celebrate the 100 years of the Tour de France, but that information is incorrect: the one hundred years of the Tour were celebrated in 2003, 100 years after its creation in 1903, and the 100th edition in 2013, two editions in which there was no finish on top of the Tourmalet!
UPDATE 23 October 2018 at 10.04PM : In the end, with the confirmation I received about the fact that I was correct with the time trial in Pau but that the stages planned in the Pyrenees would indeed have a stage finish in Bagnères-de-Bigorre first, it turns out that the finish on top of the Tourmalet will be on 20 July and that it'll thus be a stage between Tarbes and the Tourmalet.
15/ Sunday 21 July 2019 - Limoux > (près de) Nîmes ?? Foix / Prat d'Albis
UPDATE le 25 septembre 2018 à 23h14 : hier soir, L'Indépendant publiait un bref article indiquant que Limoux serait sur les rangs du Tour de France 2019, en tant que ville départ d'stage. Sans plus d'informations cet article aurait presque pu passer inaperçu mais La Dépêche publiait ce jour un article bien plus complet évoquant principalement une arrivée d'stage à Foix autour du 20 July. Dans ce même article il est indiqué qu'il s'agirait d'une stage dont le départ serait donné à Limoux. Une stage donc entre deux villes éloignées seulement d'un peu moins de 70 kilomètres, mais le parcours sera forcément plus long que cela, on découvrira ça le 25 octobre prochain ... Si les autres dates sont justes, il se peut que cette stage ait donc lieu le Sunday 21 July 2019 mais ça pourrait très bien être le 19 aussi ...Ce qui semble toutefois surprenant c'est qu'avec le départ de Limoux on se rapproche de la transition vers les Alpes qui pourrait passer du côte de Montpellier et/ou Nîmes et qu'au final cette stage retournerait à Foix. Il aurait semblé plus logique dans ce cas d'avoir une stage avec une arrivée à Foix suivi par exemple par un départ le lendemain de Limoux ...
UPDATE le 23 octobre 2018 à 22h04 : Avec le remaniement des étapes dans les Pyrénées, on m'a confirmé que ce "retour arrière" va quand même avoir lieu sur le Tour de France 2019 et qu'au départ de Limoux on partirait donc quand même à nouveau vers l'ouest !
From Limoux the riders will go off towards Foix, even though the finish could take place uphill at Prat d'Albis : UPDATE 1st of October 2018 at 4.10PM : In a new article, La Dépêche indicates that this finish would not take place in the city of Foix itself but at a higher surrounding location, and more precisely at the Prat d'Albis. This would be a first time visit for a visit of the Tour de France, of this location which is usually used for free flights, for mountain biking or for pedestrian mountain trails at a bit above 1,200 meters of altitude, part of the city of Prayols.
The newspaper even goes further indicating what could be the race route of this stage, indicating that the riders will climb the col de Montségur at the foot of the castle with the same name and come back to Tarascon-sur-Ariège, go on towards the Port de Lers (1 517 m altitude) and descend towards Massat and to come back via the famous mur de Péguère, 1 375 m altitude and some nice portions up to 16 and even 18% steepness!
Pas le temps de souffler pour les coureurs qui plongeraient pour une descente technique vers Foix avant d'enchaîner avec l'ascension du Prat d'Albis sur une route étroite et sinueuse.
R2/ Monday 22 July 2019 - repos à Nîmes
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16/ Tuesday 23 July 2019 - Nîmes > Nîmes
Après le deuxième jour de repos on se dirige en toute logique vers les Alpes, où le programme reste pour l'instant plutôt flou.UPDATE le 1er octobre 2018 à 16h10 : selon le Midi Libre de ce jour, l'stage au lendemain du premier jour de repos devraient se dérouler avec un départ à Nîmes et une arrivée à ... Nîmes. Il s'agirait toutefois d'une stage en ligne, dont le parcours reste à préciser ! Selon Objectif Gard néanmoins, il s'agirait d'un contre-la-montre avec un possible passage à l'intérieur des arènes comme pour la Vuelta.UPDATE le 2 octobre 2018 à 23h53 : puisque nous aurons en toute logique donc un contre-la-montre quelques jours plus tôt du côté de Pau, il semble se confirmer que l'stage Nîmes > Nîmes se déroule effectivement sous forme d'une stage en ligne !
UPDATE 20 October 2018 at 3.17PM: Objectif Gard even goes on stating that the Pont-du-Gard backdrop will be admired by the riders twice during the Tour 2019, at the start the next day and during this stage ...
17/ Wednesday 24 July 2019 - Pont du Gard > Gap ???
Il est question dans un article du site Le Sport Dauphinois d'une arrivée d'stage dans le Vercors (à Lans en Vercors comme sur le Dauphiné 2018 ou à Villard de Lans) et d'un départ de Grenoble. Ce site se baserait sur des informations du journal Le Progrès, mais je n'ai pas trouvé l'article original de cette publication.
Par ailleurs, nous avons plusieurs publications de "DICI" : une première du 30 July qui évoquait une arrivée et un départ à Gap, complété d'une stage événement et un autre départ depuis le plan d'eau d'Embrun. Et une deuxième publication le 30 août dans laquelle il est annoncé une arrivée à Gap le 23 et le 24 July et un départ d'Embrun le 25.
18/ Thursday 25 July 2019 - Embrun > Valloire
UPDATE le 3 octobre 2018 à 9h11 : selon les informations du Dauphiné de ce jour, on retrouverait la Savoie en conclusion du Tour de France 2019. Plus précisément, pour cette stage le journal annonce une arrivée à Valloire et ça correspond aux informations que j'avais reçu comme quoi elle se dirigerait vers la Maurienne.19/ Friday 26 July 2019 - vallée de la Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne > Tignes
UPDATE 5 October 2018 at 0.31AM: concerning the finish of this antepenultimate stage there has not been much .. what do I say .. any information which got out so far. I can not tell you who's my source in this case, but it seems to be that this stage will have a mountain top finish and more precisely the white finish line would be drawn in the ski station of Tignes. Tignes would thus be reunitded with the Tour de France for the first time since 2007 when a stage which started in Le Grand Bornand saw the victory of Michael Rasmussen. In that Tour this was the most difficult Alps stage and Rasmussen not only took the stage victory at this occasion, but also the yellow jersey and the polka dot jersey of the King of the Mountains classification! The stage mainly contained the climbs of the Cormet de Roselend, of Hauteville and finally the mountain top finish in Tignes. In 2019, a race route via the Col de l'Iseran would already have been planned!
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20/ Saturday 27 July 2019 - Albertville > Val Thorens
UPDATE le 3 octobre 2018 à 9h11 : toujours selon le Dauphiné de ce jour, l'avant-dernière stage du Tour de France 2019, celle qui mettra fin à tout le suspense, se déroulerait entre Albertville, la ville olympique qui recevrait alors le Tour de France pour la 4ème fois en 7 ans et même deux ans de suite du coup (2012, 2016 et 2018), et une arrivée au sommet dans la station de ski de Val Thorens, qui n'a plus vu le Tour depuis 1994 et une victoire de Nelson Rodriguez après un départ du Bourg d'Oisans au pied de l'Alpe d'Huez.
UPDATE 7 October 2018 at 7.58PM: according to the paper version of the Le Dauphiné newspaper, this final stage of the Tour de France 2019 could well also be the L'Etape du Tour 2019, the stage which is reserved for amateur cyclists for whom the roads are privatised during one day in order to allow them to do one of the stages of the Tour in real conditions.Indeed, the newspaper reminds of the fact that its configuration (a stage finish not far from the start), its number of kilometers and its stage profile make it a perfect stage for such an event. Maybe there'll thus be 15,000 amateur cyclists who will put down their luggage in order to do this stage and .. maybe even wait there to see the real stage of the Tour de France 2019 a few days later?!
UPDATE 23 October 2018 at 10.05AM : And the date of l'Etape du Tour would be on 21 July 2019, as it seems to be confirmed by an article in Le Dauphiné about the French Championships jeu de boules ...
21/ Sunday 28 July 2019 - Rambouillet - Paris Champs-Elysées
Souvent il est très difficile de trouver la ville départ de la dernière stage du Tour de France à venir. Si on doit en croire 78actu ce sera néanmoins pas le cas cette fois-ci car selon cette publication le départ de cette dernière stage se trouverait dans les Yvelines et plus précisément à Rambouillet, ville d'où la dernière stage du Tour était déjà partie en 2012 !L'Echo Républicain a repris cette même information une dizaine de jours plus tard (tout en la présentant comme une exclusivité ;-)), avant de revenir dessus le lendemain avec une interview de Gaël Barbotin, adjoint aux sports à Rambouillet, qui a notamment indiqué que le départ ne serait pas au même endroit qu'en 2012 quand cette ville des Yvelines avait déjà connu le départ de la dernière stage du Tour de France. En effet, Monsieur Barbotin indique que si le départ aura effectivement lieu à Rambouillet, la ville souhaite pouvoir le placer autour du château et d'en faire quelque chose de grandiose, aussi dans le contexte des 100 ans du Maillot Jaune.
Je profite d'ailleurs de cette remarque de Monsieur Barbotin pour rappeler que le premier porteur du tout premier Maillot Jaune, en 1919, était Eugène Christophe et que celui-ci était alors habitant de la ville de Malakoff dans les Hauts-de-Seine (voir pour plus de détails mon article Le maillot jaune du Tour 2012 pour Brad Wiggins, son premier porteur s'appelait Eugène Christophe). Dans cette ville figure une plaque de commémoration sur un square qui porte son nom, près de l'arrêt de métro Malakoff-Plateau de Vanves. La ville de Malakoff annonce que cette plaque sera restaurée d'ici la fin de l'année et les 100 ans du premier Maillot Jaune pourraient être une très bonne raison pour y faire passer la dernière stage du Tour de France 2019 !
Le tableau des stages du Tour de France 2019 sur la base des rumeurs
Voici donc la liste des stages qui pourraient former le parcours du Tour de France 2019 selon toutes ces rumeurs. Comme d'habitude, pas la peine de copier le tableau et de le reproduire ailleurs car seul ici ce tableau sera mis à jour régulièrement dès que de nouvelles rumeurs surgissent ! Toute copie du contenu (même partiel) de cet article est d'ailleurs strictement interdit.| # | date | départ | arrivée | remarques |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | sa. 6 July 2019 | Bruxelles (BE) | Bruxelles (BE) | 192 km |
| 2 | di. 7 July 2019 | Bruxelles (BE) | Bruxelles (BE) | 28 km - CLM par équipe |
| 3 | lu. 8 July 2019 | Binche (BE) | Epernay | |
| 4 | ma. 9 July 2019 | Reims | Nancy | |
| 5 | me. 10 July 2019 | Saint-Dié-des-Vosges | Colmar | |
| 6 | je. 11 July 2019 | Mulhouse | Planche des Belles Filles | |
| 7 | ve. 12 July 2019 | Belfort | Chalon-sur-Saône | |
| 8 | sa. 13 July 2019 | Mâcon | Saint-Etienne ??? | |
| 9 | di. 14 July 2019 | Saint-Etienne | Brioude | |
| 10 | lu. 15 July 2019 | Saint-Flour | Albi | |
| R1 | ma. 16 July 2019 | repos à Albi | ||
| 11 | me. 17 July 2019 | Albi | Toulouse | |
| 12 | je. 18 July 2019 | Toulouse | Bagnères-de-Bigorre | |
| 13 | ve. 19 July 2019 | Pau | Pau | contre-la-montre |
| 14 | sa. 20 July 2019 | Tarbes | Col du Tourmalet | |
| 15 | di. 21 July 2019 | Limoux | Foix / Prat d'Albis | |
| R2 | lu. 22 July 2019 | repos à Nîmes | ||
| 16 | ma. 23 July 2019 | Nîmes | Nîmes | |
| 17 | me. 24 July 2019 | Pont du Gard | Gap | |
| 18 | je. 25 July 2019 | Embrun | Valloire | |
| 19 | ve. 26 July 2019 | Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne | Tignes | |
| 20 | sa. 27 July 2019 | Albertville | Val Thorens | |
| 21 | di. 28 July 2019 | Rambouillet | Paris Champs-Elysées | |
La carte du Tour de France 2019 sur la base des rumeurs
Comme d'habitude, j'ai élaboré une carte du Tour de France 2019 sur la base des rumeurs afin de rendre l'ensemble du parcours plus compréhensible. Là aussi, pas la peine de copier la carte et de la reproduire ailleurs (cela est d'ailleurs formellement interdit, tel qu'indiqué sur la page copyright) car seul ici, cette carte sera mise à jour régulièrement dès que de nouvelles rumeurs voient le jour !(pour agrandir la carte, cliquez dessus quand la petite loupe s'affiche puis cliquez sur les flèches en bas à droite pour l'afficher en taille réelle)
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this publication is published in: Tour de France | Tour de France 2019
by Bernard over 
by Bernard over
In an article dedicated to the race agains the clock for the organisation of the Grand Départ of the Tour de France 2019 in Brussels, the RTBF republishes a video which was originally published at the occasion of the official presentation of this Grand Départ and which explains in detail the symbolic links in the race route of this first stage of the Tour de France 2019 in honour of Eddy Merckx, 5 times winner of the Tour de France. Indeed, early in the stage the riders will visit Molenbeek-Saint-Jean and Anderlecht, two football clubs of which he's a fan while - when going back to Brussels - the riders will visit Tervuren and Woluwe-Saint-Pierre which remind the history of this great Belgian rider, who grew up in Woluwe but who also took his first Yellow Jersey there, while he lived in Tervuren in 1969 ...
Apart from that, the riders will find on the route of this stage the Mur de Grammont at km 43, before they go down south to Charleroi and get on a cobble stones section before they go up to Brussels again.
This second stage will take place as a team time trial, over a distance of 28 kilometers. The start will take place in front of the Palais Royal in Brussels and the image at the finish of each team will show the famous Atomium, built for the universal exposition in 1958, in the background.