Paris (AFP)

Five stages (Le Grand-Bornand, Malaucène, Andorra la Vella, Col du Portet, Saint-Emilion) promise to be decisive according to the Tour de France 2021 map presented on Sunday:

The first passes:

8th stage Oyonnax - Le Grand-Bornand, 151 km: the peloton tackles the first passes the day after the longest stage of the Tour (248 km to reach Le Creusot).

After the Mont-Saxonnex coast, it is the Romme-Colombière sequence found in 2009 above the Arve valley.

A short descent separates the two severe climbs, classified in the first category.

At the top, the leading rider only has about fifteen kilometers of a wide descent without traps to reach the finish.

The Ventoux from all sides:

11th stage Sorgues - Malaucène, 199 km: two climbs of the Géant de Provence.

The first time via the Sault plateau (24.3 km at 5%), tackled after the Col de la Liquière in the first half of the stage.

A second time in majesty by the southern slope, from Bédoin (15.7 km at 8%).

The summit, where work is underway to favor pedestrian and cycling traffic, precedes the unprecedented arrival at Maulaucène by 22 kilometers at the end of a long descent on the northern slope of Mont Chauve.

The only incursion outside of France:

15th stage Céret - Andorra la Vella, 192 km: the southern Pyrenees, often neglected, are in the spotlight.

The race passes near Canigou, the emblematic mountain of the Pyrénées-Orientales, climbs to Font-Romeu and crosses the Col de Puymorens to enter Andorra 50 kilometers from the finish.

If the port of Envalira is rolling despite the altitude (2408 m, the highest point of this Tour), the slope is much steeper in the Beixalis pass which precedes the last 15 kilometers downhill.

The new giant of the Pyrenees:

17th stage Muret - Col du Portet, 178 km: the first of the two sections of the central Pyrenees, before Tourmalet and Luz-Ardiden the next day.

The long approach through the foothills ends in Luchon, the starting point for 65 kilometers without downtime.

Peyresourde and Val Louron-Azet, two first-class passes, precede the apotheosis of Portet, undoubtedly one of the hardest passes in France (16 km at 8.7%) inaugurated on the Tour in 2018.

In vino veritas for the last time:

20th stage Libourne - Saint-Emilion, 31 km: the second time trial of the event, 4 km longer than the first scheduled in the first week between Changé and Laval, decisive in establishing the hierarchy on the eve of Paris .

From one renowned vineyard to another, between the great Bordeaux wines, the level course differs from the "chrono" of La Planche des Belles Filles at the conclusion of the 2020 Tour. It will be the third time trial to arrive in Saint- Emilion after 1978 (Bernard Hinault) and 1996 (Jan Ullrich).

© 2020 AFP