INTERVIEW
A course that pays tribute to the south of France, presents some novelties, promises some extraordinary landscapes and, of course, sport: this is what awaits runners and spectators for the Tour de France 2020, whose route was unveiled Tuesday. The tour director, Christian Prudhomme, praised the merits of this 107th edition at the microphone of Europe 1. "There will be a show, certainly, because it will be very sporty, but also wildly aesthetic", he insisted .
"It climbs right from the start"
The riders will start from Nice. "It's only the seventh time we are from the South," says Christian Prudhomme. "Naturally, we take the opportunity to go very quickly in the Alps, then in the Massif Central and the Pyrenees, before going back to the Charente-Maritime and the islands of Ré and Oléron, then to switch to the Massif Central, the Alps again and the Vosges. "
Mountain lovers will be served. "It's climbing from the start with the Turini, which is a big part of the Monte-Carlo rally," explains Christian Prudhomme. "Then, in the big news, there will be a magnificent arrival at Puy Mary, in the Cantal, a very rough arrival also at the Grand Colombier in the Massif du Jura." And, the highlight of the show, which is for the director of the Tour "the collar prototype in the 21st century": the Loze Pass, above Meribel. In "the last 7 kilometers, the ruptures of slope are absolutely phenomenal, with a sight on the extraordinary Mont Blanc", promises Christian Prudhomme.
"We can not go anywhere"
This route, however, forgets a large part of northern France, which the director of the Tour assumes completely. "Formerly, the Tour was 4,000, 4,500, up to 5,700 kilometers.With the 3,500 kilometers of the TDF today, we can not go everywhere, but if you put the maps on top, you see that we are going everywhere. Five or six years ago, we had four stages in Brittany in 2018. We were further east in the summer, and we'll come back, of course. " And if some feel frustrated, Christian Prudhomme rather decides to take "the controversy on the good side: people want the Tour."