The 100th Tour de France Presentation on Wednesday revealed some special aspects of the parcour that will be sure to challenge riders, and be fantastic for the public at the race and watching all over the world.
The most important aspects: The 3,360km Tour Grand Depart is in Corsica for the first time, legendary Alpe d'Huez will be climbed twice during the 168km Stage 18 (July 18, 2013), and the final stage will begin in Versaille and end on the Champs Elysees — but instead of during the day, the finish will be in the early evening for a beautiful nightfall show.
"This edition of the Tour de France is more for the climber," OPQS Sports Director Wilfried Peeters said. "The earlier parcour could be good for us and our riders, not necessarily for the GC riders. However, there are things for the peloton to be nervous about. The first day in Corsica will probably end in a sprint, which is good for us, but the next two days will be difficult with narrow roads, ups and downs with not much flat. We will have to watch out to avoid crashes and problems that can happen at the beginning of the race."
"The Alpe d'Huez being climbed twice in a day during the final week will, for sure, be a great show for the public," Peeters continued. "Then there will be a difficult 204km Stage 19 followed by a short, but challenging, 125km 20th Stage. There are two GPMs so for sure, it is short, but this will be more for the teams fighting for the yellow jersey. The finish in Paris will be spectacular."
There are also three time trials in the 100th Tour, which pleases Tony Martin. There is the Stage 4 25km TTT in Nice, the Stage 11 33km ITT, and the Stage 17 32km ITT.
"I am especially happy about the two ITTs and one TTT," Martin said. "The first ITT in Mont-Saint-Michel is more for my skills. It is a flat and fast TT so it's for a guy like me. The second ITT in the last week is more demanding, but I will try to do my best to be a protagonist. It's a TT and I love all those kinds of challenges. The TTT is nice. We are the World Champions of that discipline. We will try to do our best, and maybe it is a good day to fight for the yellow jersey. It depends on what happens the first three stages, but why not try anyway? For sure it will be one of our goals and we will try to fight for the victory."