I’m Baaack!

Perhaps you noticed that I was unable to create my full complement of blogs for the 2014 Tour de France.  Ironically, I was in France.  Suzanne and I were serving as volunteer office staff in the France Lyon Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints   I did manage to break away one afternoon long enough to watch Stage 12 as it passed through the outskirts of Lyon.  But we were too busy to be able to post as many blogs as I have done in previous years.  Well, 

we are home now, and I plan to pick up where I left off.

The Route for 2015

The First Week:

For the first nine days the Tour will move from Holland, through Belgium, and then along the Channel coast of France into Normandy.  This is the reverse order of the liberating Allied armies of 71 years ago.  Back then, the entire area was a bleak, black-and-white, crater-pocked moon-scape – as if color had not yet been invented.  Today, it is a vibrant colorful region of flowers, forests and farms; of big bustling cities and quaint villages.

This field of Lupins growing in the area of this year's Tour de France opening week represents the 20,000 tons grown annually in France.  The seed is as nourishing as peas.  The plants are so hardy they do not require insecticides.  

The Tour begins with two stages in Utrecht, Holland.  First, a short individual time trial – 13.8 km (less than 9 miles).  This should favor the power-house riders more than the endurance ones.   The second stage from Utrecht to Zeeland will be long and flat, and will likely end in a bunch sprint to open the competition for the Green Jersey.

Stage 3 goes from Antwerp past Brussels to Huy (all in Belgium) and ends with a short-but-steep climb – 1.3 km at 9.6%.  Stage 4 cuts back across Belgium from Seraing (near Liège) to Cambrai (France), and incorporates more than 13 km of the brutal cobblestones from the one-day Classic Paris-Roubaix.  One mistake on the cobbles can cause an early exit from the Tour, even for the favorites. 

The next three stages are flat ones (ideal for the Green Jersey sprinters), and follow the Channel coast southwest into Normandy.  Stage 8 from Rennes to the Mûr de Bretagne (heart of Normandy) is also flat, but ends with another vicious climb: 2 km at 6.9% avg – max 15%  This will certainly spread out the peleton, and may give a clue to the contenders for the final Yellow Jersey.  The final stage of this first portion of the Tour will be a team time trial. 

As the first rest day arrives, the General Classification (GC – Yellow Jersey) competition will still be wide open.  No victor will yet be certain, but there may be some certain losers.  This can be the result of accidents/injuries, illness, or poor results in the time trials or on the two hill-top finishes.  

This is Omaha Beach, one of the landing beaches for the Allies on D-Day, June 6 1944.  Today, sail-cars race on the beach, and the turmoil of long ago is only a memory.  These racers can reach speeds of up to 140 miles per hour!  The 2015 Tour de France will pass near this location during its first week.  

This is the lighthouse of Tévennec, located near the finish of Stage 8 of this year's Tour de France.