Category: Previews

The final stop in terms of Tour de France prep is here, it’s time for the 85th edition of the Tour de Suisse. This year sees the usual mix of brutally hard “sprint” days, two big mountain stages and a flat 25km TT to finish us off. I would say the route is significantly harder than...

Saint-Chaffrey > Vaujany 134.6km The mountains are calling, and what a stage we have ahead of us. As usual in the Dauphiné, we get a little taster of what the Tour de France will offer, this year it’s a similar day to stage 12. We have the Galibier, followed by the Croix de Fer, but...

Rives > Gap 196.4km The final sprint stage of the race, but will we see another sprint? There is 2757m of climbing in the day and finishing in Gap will give the break hope, we’ve seen plenty of breakaway success in this town. Weather Lots of sunshine and a nice tailwind for much of the...

Thizy-les-Bourgs > Chaintré 162.2km Stage 5 and the day that BikeExchange have been waiting for. They will be delighted to see this stage doesn’t contain a nasty cat 2 climb with 50km to, just a couple of cat 4 efforts in the final 30km. This is a stage they need to seize with both hands....

Montbrison > La Bâtie d’Urfé 31.9km ITT It’s time for the race against the clock, with a relatively long TT. The flat route, and lack of corners, is terrible news for the skinny climbers, this is a day for the powerhouses of the peloton. Weather I’ve checked five different forecasts and they all say different...

Saint-Paulien > Chastreix-Sancy 169km We have a new yellow jersey, Alexis Vuillermoz rolled back the years with a stunning win from the break. In the closing kilometres we saw the other teams trying to lean on Jumbo-Visma, which I found rather strange as they already have a stage win, whereas the other teams do not....

Saint-Péray > Brives-Charensac 169.6km After Van Aert took the yellow jersey, the second stage offers another opportunity to the fast men who can climb. It’s got more climbing in it than today, and a big cat 2 climb will ensure that Groenewegen and Bauhaus have an restless night. Weather Cloudy sun and nice temperatures. The...

La Voulte-sur-Rhône > Beauchastel 191.5km It’s not often you get a stage which has three outcomes, all of which seem quite probable when you consider them. Hats off to the race organisers, this is the perfect route for an opening stage of a race. Weather Hot and sunny, which means a real risk of thunderstorms....

With the Giro behind us, the focus now falls on the Tour de France. The Dauphiné offers up its usual mix of stages, a mini-Tour for those who want a lazy description. With many riders coming here straight from altitude camp, we’ll have to see who’s been training hard up in the mountains. Stage 1 ...

Verona 17.4km ITT The race finishes with a 17.4km ITT around Verona. Despite its length, there’s only around 8km of flat, the route is dominated by the climb and descent, making it an interesting looking time trial. Grand tour races that end with a TT can throw up a surprise winner, it’s all about who’s...