Tour de France: Stage profiles

Cycling Weekly magazine examines the peloton's route to Paris for this year's Tour de France.

AT 3,282 kilometers the 2002 Tour de France is the fourth shortest in history. But with five mountain-top finishes, 118 kilometres of time trialling and two long transfers, it certainly will not be the easiest.

Starting in Luxembourg,the first nine stages take the race anti- clockwise around northern France and are perfect for a quick trip to see a stage or two. Finishes at La Mongie and Plateau-de-Beille in the Pyrenees, Mont Ventoux in the Massif Central and then Les Deux-Alpes and La Plagne in the Alps should more than make up for the flat first week before the final time trial crowns the winner for the finish on the Champs-Elysées.

PROLOGUE: SAT, JULY 6

The prologue course is both tough and technical with a fast 700-meter descent after two kilometers and then a climb up to the finish or the final 2.7 kilometers. It will need faultless bike-handling skills and the power to give it everything all the way to the line. Dutchman Erik Breukink won the prologue when the Tour started in Luxembourg in 1989. Lance Armstrong (US Postal) will be last rider off, wearing the yellow jersey as 2001 winner, but who will be wearing it on the first podium of 2002?

STAGE 1: SUN, JULY 7

First sprint of the Tour? Maybe, maybe not. The opening road stage over 192.5 kilometers has four small climbs which have points on offer and are perfect for launching breaks. However, the fight for the time bonuses will also influence the racing as the sprinters fight for the race lead. Watch out for crashes.

STAGE 2: MON, JULY 8

This quick visit to Germany could be the perfect way for Erik Zabel (Telekom)to celebrate taking the yellow jersey. There are two fourth-category climbs but the descent to the finish will help Telekom set up the sprint.

STAGE 3: TUE, JULY 9

Metz-Reims 174.5km Back into France for the start of the dash across the north. Djamolidin Abdoujaparov was the last sprinter to taste Champagne in Reims, back in 1991 when he beat Olaf Ludwig and Sean Kelly.

STAGE 4: WED, JULY 10

The first big day for the overall challengers and a spectacular stage to watch which always reshuffles the overall standings. Last year Crédit Agricole stunned the world with an impressive ride in the team time trial which gave them the race lead for the rest of the week. The course rolls through vineyards with a short climb after 25 kilometers making it a test of both riding skills and the need for speed. Riders have to work smoothly and efficiently while still giving it everything. Since the return of the team time trial in 2000, it has been the only chance for teams to take time out of Armstrong before he hammered them in the individual time trials and mountains. US Postal lost 1:26 to Crédit Agricole after waiting for crash victim Roberto Heras -- something they cannot afford to do with overall challenger Christophe Moreau now in the CA team.

STAGE 5: THU, JULY 11

The birthplace of Jacques Anquetil and the town where Chris Boardman won his second of three Tour prologues. Stage five to Rouen will celebrate the winners of the TTT in style. With no climbs it is perfect for the sprinters.

STAGE 6: FRI, JULY 12

Another flat transfer stage west and another chance for the sprinters. Take your pick from Erik Zabel (Telekom), Stuart O’Grady (Crédit Agricole), Tom Steels (Mapei), the Nazon brothers Damien (Bonjour) and Jean Patrick (La Française des Jeux) and Robbie McEwen (Lotto).

STAGE 7: SAT, JULY 13

Close to Mont Saint Michel, Avranches saw the decisive attack by General Patton as he broke through the German line in 1944. For the Tour it will see the sprinters’ teams trying to control the French teams, which will be desperate to show they deserved their wild card places.

STAGE 8: SUN, JULY 14

The stage starts in the home town of Tour announcer Daniel Mangeas and finishes in the cycling-mad town of Plouay, and all on Bastille Day, July 14. A Frenchman has to win to save the nation’s cycling honor and Laurent Jalabert (CSC-Tiscali) will be looking for a double after winning last year. The two fourth-category climbs in the final 30 kilometers and the short climb near the finish could help him.

STAGE 9: MON, JULY 15

No hiding today and the 52-kilometer time trial from Lanester to the naval submarine port of Lorient will surely torpedo someone’s chances of winning the Tour. The course is not completely flat but it will be the sidewind from the Atlantic which makes the big difference in the final 20 kilometers as the course curves back towards the finish in Lorient. Armstrong has not lost an individual time trial since he started dominating the Tour in 1999 and it is difficult to see who can get near him this year.

STAGE 10: WED, JULY 17

After a long transfer south and the first rest day in Bordeaux, the Tour finally heads to the mountains with a short 147-kilometer stage to Pau. David Etxebarria won in 1999 as the Tour headed to Paris, as did Irishman Martin Earley in 1989. The big names will be looking for an easy day before the Pyrenees and the two climbs near the finish might also help a break to go clear before the finish in the spa town.

STAGE 11: THU, JULY 18

This is it. The mountains start here and do not stop for another week. This short first stage has the legendary Col d’Aubisque (1709m) early on and then finishes in the shadow of the Tourmalet at the ski resort of La Mongie. The Aubisque will not affect the overall standings but will be terrible for the sprinters. They will be tired after the flat stages but will have to ride hard to avoid the exacting time limit. Armstrong won the first mountain finish of the 1999 Tour in Sestrières and then monopolized the yellow jersey all the way to Paris. On the slopes of the Tourmalet, the same thing could well happen again. The road rises up at an average gradient of 6.8 percent, perfect for solo attacks. Bernard Thevenet was the last winner here in 1970.

STAGE 12: FRI, JULY 19

Five major climbs followed by a 15.9-kilometer climb to the vast ski area of Plateau-de-Beille on the Spanish border. This is a tough one which goes up and down all day. The nine per cent Col de Menté will be an early wake-up call for the riders’legs and then the Col du Portet d ’Aspet, Col de la Core and the Col de Port continue the climbing before the 7.8 percent Plateau-de-Beille -- a painful sting in the tail. Marco Pantani won here in 1998 with one of his incredible lone attacks to take a Pyrenean double after winning the previous day’s stage in Luchon. Levi Leipheimer (Rabobank) won the time trial stage to the same summit during last week’s Route du Sud while the Spanish riders will also be out to win in front of the thousands of fans who cross the border to watch the Tour.

STAGE 13: SAT, JULY 20

A classic transfer stage which takes the Tour from the Pyrenees to the Mediterranean coast. A stage for the sprinters before the following day’s pilgrimage to Mont Ventoux.

STAGE 14: SUN, JULY 21

The sacred mountain of cycling. The bare and windswept slopes of Mont Ventoux make it the most feared of all the Tour de France mountains, making for a very special stage. Even though it is the only climb of the long day from Lodève, the 21 kilometers up to the summit will create big time gaps between riders. Once above the tree line, there is no escape from the burning sun and the 7.5 percent gradient always hurts. Pantani "outsprinted" Armstrong to win here in 2000, a result which ignited a war of words between the pair. The little climber is now suspended for doping. Ibanesto.com’s Russian discovery, Denis Menchov, won a stage of the Dauphiné Libéré here in June, beating Armstrong by 37 seconds. The American will want to put his name in the Ventoux record books this time.

STAGE 15: TUE, JUL 23

After the second rest day in the Vaucluse region, the Tour enters the Alps with the longest stage of the whole race to Les Deux-Alpes. At 226.5 kilometers with four big climbs it will be a long and very tiring day in the saddle. The Col de Prémol, Col de Grimone, Col d’Ornon and the climb to the finish at Les Deux- lpes are neither particularly long nor hard. However, stacked up before the climb to the finish at Les Deux-Alpes (11.5 kilometers at 6.1 percent), they will make a difference. Just ask Telekom’s Jan Ullrich: he lost the 1998 Tour here when Pantani attacked in the pouring rain and put nine minutes into him.

STAGE 16: WED, JUL 24

The last of the five mountain-top finishes and probably the last chance for any of the climbers to attack Armstrong. If the likes of Joseba Beloki (ONCE) and Oscar Sevilla (Kelme) have not gained time before the time trial, they will have little chance of beating the Texan. The climbs are all Tour classics, with the Galibier, Télégraphe and the Madeleine before the finish at La Plagne. These climbs have decided some of the greatest ever Tours. As the highest climb of this year's race, the first rider over the top of the Galibier will win the prestigious Souvenir Henri Desgrange prize. Laurent Fignon won in La Plagne in 1984 and 1987, while Alex Zuelle was the last winner in 1995 when he beat Miguel Indurain by two minutes in what was the Spaniard’s fifth and final Tour win.

STAGE 17: THU, JUL 25

Although there are four climbs, the 17th stage will be a gentle goodbye to the Alps with the finish close to Geneva and the Swiss border. The tree-covered climbs of the Col des Aravis and the Col de la Colombièr are old favorites, while the start and finish towns are new to the Tour. A perfect day for a long breakaway.

STAGE 18: FRI, JUL 26

Almost over. This stage will give everybody a chance to catch their breath before the final time trial. Whoever has made it this far should make it all the way to Paris.

STAGE 19: SAT, JUL 27

The final race of truth through the Beaujolais wine region, and a good way to raise a glass to the Tour winner. Against tradition, the final time trial is not flat but includes a six-kilometer climb at the very beginning. Vjatcheslav Ekimov won a road stage here in 1991, and will be back in the US Postal team this year, while Indurain won the following day’s 57-kilometer individual time trial. What odds against Armstrong this year?

STAGE 20: SUN, JUL 28

After 3,282 kilometers the 2002 Tour ends on the Champs-Élysées after a train transfer to Melun for the 147-kilometer promenade to Paris. A total of 144 riders made it here last year with Lampre’s Jan Svorada winning the sprint. Armstrong was in yellow,Zabel in green and Jalabert won the climber’s polka dot jersey.

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