The Stage
The opening salvo of the Race To The Sun, taking place around France’s capital city itself as we take a trip via the outskirts to head from on suburb to the other, via a 115-kilometre diversion.
The Route
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Chatou, the scene of the Grand Depart for this race and the first stage, is one of the more affluent Paris suburbs and rest of the Siver Seine. After the flag drops, the riders will head straight towards Saint-Germain, known for being the home of Paris-St-Germain the world-famous football club. It’s then down to a series of D roads, first starting with a right hander for the D907 at Villepreux before exchanges at the D109 before a change to the D119 travelling to Reynes.
The first intermediate sprint of he day comes at Les Mesnuls, just 31 kilometres into the race. Several D-Roads lead to a sharp turn into Bullion – the first point outside Paris that the race will reach today. Up past the D149 and D202 to head back into the city, and then two climbs in a short space of time – the Côte des 17 tournants (1.3kms at 6%) and the Côte de Méridon (1.4km at 5.2%). With 38.4 kilometres left to go, we have the second intermediate sprint of the day at Les Mensules. The route back into the city takes a long stretch of the D36 before changing to the D127 as we head into suburban Paris.
The Finish
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All about the last 2 kilometres, where the road goes uphill, and very sharply. A sharp chicane will lead the rides from the Rue Gonoud to the Rude Daily, where a roundabout – the first of two before the finish – and out of the exit there’s also a tunnel to be negotiated. The riders will exit onto the Rue Troyon which lasts for about a kilometre before the road begins to rise very sharply just after 2 kilometres to go.
The climb takes in the Rue de Vaurigard, before going bolt upright towards the Route des Gardes and a final right-hander before the last 500 metres on the Avenue du Chateau. The climb averages about 6%
The Winner
Will be someone who can climb and sustain a proper effort at least. Uphill sprinters will have a serious challenge to stay with the punches; Those with ambitions of winning the overall will also have to make sure they don’t lose crucial seconds – and of course there are time bonuses to boot.
The Favourites
This is one for the punchers on face value, although overall contenders will be sure to make sure they don’t miss out.
Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step) is both and this finish has his name written all over it. He has been in fine form showing very well through the Abu Dhabi Tour, and the support of Quick-Step is an obvious added bonus. He’s the favourite to take the stage and yellow jersey. Ninth in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Arnaud Demare was then second in Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne and the FDJ man is clearly carrying strong form ahead of this race, However, this is a long closing stretch for him.
Tim Wellens will love this finish and was deeply impressive in taking overall victory in the Ruta Del Sol, beating Mikel Landa to get to the top of the race’s sharpest finish. The Lotto Soudal man ought to find this a lot more suitable than Omloop however and only needs to worry about his positioning coming to the climb as he quite possibly has the best form in the race.
We’ve only seen Dan Martin once this season (in terms of stage races) for UAE and that was against a good field in Portugal where he showed up well on the long climb to Fóia, when he was behind Michal Kwiatkowski, Bauke Mollema and Geraint Thomas – pretty elite company. He loves such finishes and should be fitter now. Matteo Trentin had an exceptional end to last season and has only just begun to settle into life away from Quick-Step, but one can expect a better showing here and he remains a serious danger – he was fourth in the World Championship and took Paris-Tours, whilst he also carries a great deal of positioning know-how from his Quick-Step days.
John Degenkolb (Trek) has won Trofeo Palma and shown up well in the Volta ao Algarve, finishing third on the main sprint stage. This is a long effort for him, however, but he’s not to be underestimated.
A deeply impressive time trial performance brought AG2R’s Tony Gallopin Etoile de Bessèges glory and the Frenchman is made for such a finish. He has always thrived over sharp terrain and whilst this is a long effort, he was ninth at the Grand Prix de Quebec and sixth at the Grand-Prix De Montreal before a 13th at the Worlds and now fit, a big effort is surely coming.
