Expect Suspense: Course Overview

This year’s course covers 3445 kilometers, visits a total of six nations (Monaco, France, Spain, Andorra, Switzerland, and Italy) and includes a team time trial for the first time since 2005.

Tour organizers have done their best to put together a course that will leave us on the edge of our seats until the final mountain stage on Saturday, July 25th. Instead of the usual prologue, things kick off with a full length TT (15.5k) that features almost 7 miles of climbing. The challenging first stage should begin to separate the men from the boys right off the bat.

Watch for Cavendish to come out swinging in the first week when the roads are relatively flat and his legs are fresh – Columbia-HTC will be eager to strike with early stage wins so that they can focus on supporting team leader and GC-contender Kim Kirchen as the tour hits the first of the mountain stages,

In Stage 7, the race heads into the Pyrenees mountains of Spain for three days where the race for the overall lead will begin to take shape. After returning to France, racers will enjoy a few more flat stages during week two before heading back into the mountains – the Alps this time - for a Stage 15 mountain-top finish in Verbier, followed by two more days of mountainous terrain.

The Alps will finish what the Pyrenees started.

For the first time in history, Tour organizers have left the final, decisive mountaintop finish until Stage 20, the penultimate day ahead of the finish in Paris. The infamous Mt Ventoux claimed British cyclist Tom Simpsons life in 1967 and is considered one of the most legendary climbs in the history of the Tour.

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Team Columbia-HTC Prepares to Attack the 2009 Tour de France

The roster is stacked, long training miles are banked and the boys of Team Columbia-HTC are headed to Paris. Poised to continue the impressive winning streak that has characterized their 2009 season, they’ll ride into the Tour de France boasting 49 wins (including 6 National Championship titles) already this year – the most of any team in professional cycling.

With a new co-sponsor added early this week (HTC, a designer of mobile phones), the pre-Tour excitement has reached a fever pitch. A new co-sponsor means new kits (team uniforms) so keep your eyes out for a fresh look just in time for the big show. They’ll reveal their updated spandex super-hero outfits in Monaco on July 3rd, the day before things kick off on Stage One.

Last year, the team managed to pull off a stunning debut Tour de France performance with 5 individual stage wins and 4 days in the yellow jersey as well as a host of other honors.

And we’re expecting them to go just as big for 2009.

The fastest man in the world?

Worried about whether you’ll be able to recognize the team in their new gear? Don’t be. If world-class sprinter and human land-rocket Mark Cavendish has anything to say about it, Team Columbia-HTC should be hard to miss during the opening stages.

Cavendish, whom many believe is the fastest man on a bike right now, won a remarkable four stages in last year’s Tour de France – and you can believe he has his sights set on a repeat. Having nabbed two stages of the Giro d’Italia this May (and a host of other major wins), the Englishman from Isle of Man looks primed to light things up when the finish line approaches – but in a field stacked with talented sprinters, he’s going to have his work cut out for him.

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 Source: le Tour de France

 

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