Paris (AFP)

Departure from Nice on June 27, arrived in Paris on July 19: between the two cities, the uncertainty before the veil officially rises Tuesday on the course of the 2020 Tour, in the continuity of the formidable edition of last summer .

Egan Bernal, the Colombian now on the list of the biggest race in the world, and Chris Froome, the British four-time winner, will discover Tuesday the 21 stages during this presentation on the stage of the Palais des Congrès in Paris. Just like Julian Alaphilippe, the blazer of July, and the other French, Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet, who had only knowledge of fragmentary elements, between confidences of elected and rumors.

Two stages are known: the first two, since the next Great Loop begins near the Bay of Angels and immediately visit the hinterland of Nice. The tone is given for a race that its director Christian Prudhomme wants especially animated and if possible breathless, full of twists.

"We took into account the lessons of 2019 and courses a little punchy," says Thierry Gouvenou, the "tracer" of the last Tours. To promote a runner? "No", cuts the race director, "for the interest of the race". So much so that the adage "+ the organizers propose, the runners have + has never been as true as this year.

"If the 2019 Tour was so beautiful, it's thanks to the riders," said Christian Prudhomme at the end of July, aware of the limits of his power in this area. A year earlier, the Breton stage of Quimper had given rise to skirmishes, despite the ground multiplying the pitfalls.

- Steep slopes -

"The main lines were decided before the last Tour," recalls Thierry Gouvenou. "At the end of June, we were at the level of cities at 90 percent, but we did not know if we would have 25 or 30 passes."

Towns ? some names (Sisteron, Privas, Millau) have been mentioned in the regional media, to draw a kind of Mediterranean arc in the foothills of the hinterland with an unprecedented arrival at Mont Aigoual, the weather observatory overlooking the Gard at the entrance of the Cevennes. The Pyrenees must be approached in the wake before the first stop near La Rochelle near the island of Ré.

Following the example of the Massif Central (undoubtedly at Puy Mary), the preserved natural scenery, the rugged and tricky roads favorable to a nervous race, the middle mountain takes all its place on the contemporary tracks. As well as the Jura and the Vosges, two other massifs that the organizers wanted to make the most of these last years, by the symbolic ascents of the Grand Colombier and the Planche of the Beautiful Girls.

But it is in the Alps, expected theater of the third week, that the biggest climbs are traditionally programmed. Grenoble could return to the Tour map after a break of several years. The hypothesis of a spectacular novelty has been advanced as well.

Everywhere, Christian Prudhomme and Thierry Gouvenou are looking for the new, to break with the routine and especially to defeat the teams and their defensive tactics. Most often, on steep slopes that serve as a springboard for attackers. Steep slopes? climbers, Bernal type, and even more punchers, model Alaphilippe, love it. Will they be satisfied on Tuesday, at lunch time?

© 2019 AFP