2005 Tour de France
|
|
The 92nd Tour de France will be held from July 2 to July 24, 2005. The first stages will will be held in the departement of the Vendée, for the third time in 12 years. The 2005 Tour was announced on October 28 2004. It will be a clockwise route, visiting the Alps before the Pyrenees.
The traditional prologue on the first day will be replaced by an individual time trial of more than twice the length of a standard prologue. This stage will cross from the mainland of France to the Île de Noirmoutier. The most famous route to this island is the Passage du Gois, a road that is under water at high tide. This road was included in the 1999 Tour. Several of the favorites crashed here, and ended that stage 7 minutes behind the peloton. Fortunately, this year they will take the bridge to the island.
Later in the race, there will be one more time trial, on the penultimate day. Also, there will be just three uphill finishes, (Courchevel, Ax-3 Domaines and Pla d'Adet) a lower number than in previous years. The finish line of the last stage will be, as always, on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
The Tour will commemorate the death of Fabio Casartelli. On the 15th stage the riders will pass the Col du Portet d'Aspet, were Casartelli died then exactly 10 years ago. The Tour will also commemorate the first time there was an official mountain climb in the Tour, the Ballon d'Alsace. During the 9th stage this mountain will be passed again, exactly 100 years after the first ascent in the Tour.
Stages
- Fromentine - Noirmoutier-en-l-Île, 19 km (individual time trial)
- Challans - Les Essarts, 182 km
- La Châtaigneraie - Tours, 208 km
- Tours - Blois, 66 km (team time trial)
- Chambord - Montargis, 179 km
- Troyes - Nancy, 187 km
- Lunéville - Karlsruhe (Germany), 225 km
- Pforzheim (Germany) - Gérardmer, 235 km
- Gérardmer - Mulhouse, 170 km (mountain stage)
- Grenoble - Courchevel, 192 km (mountain stage)
- Courchevel - Briançon, 173 km (mountain stage)
- Briançon - Digne-les-Bains, 187 km (mountatin stage)
- Miramas - Montpellier, 162 km
- Agde - Aix-3 domaines, 205 km (mountain stage)
- Lézat-sur-Lèze - Saint-Lary Soulan (Pla d'Adet), 205 km (mountain stage)
- Mourenx - Pau, 177 km (mountain stage)
- Pau - Revel, 239 km
- Albi - Mende, 189 km
- Issoire - Le Puy-en-Velay, 154 km
- Saint-Étienne - Saint-Étienne, 55 km (individual time trial)
- Corbeil-Essonnes - Paris Champs-Élysées, 160 km
between the 9th and the 10th, and between the 15th and the 16th stage there will be rest days.
External links
- Official site Tour de France 2005 (http://www.letour.fr/2005/presentationus/index.html)de:Tour de France 2005