After three bunch sprints and a team time trial, the 2018 Tour de France has changed its tone on the rolling roads of Brittany. Wednesday’s ‘Ardennes-esque’ stage to Quimper saw a nervy peloton stretched on narrow roads and sharp inclines, but the first true test in the battle for the yellow jersey comes on Thursday on the Mûr-de-Bretagne, also known as the Alpe d’Huez of Brittany.
Of course, the 2km climb bears little resemblance to the 21 hairpins and near-2,000-metre altitude of that mythical Alpine ascent, but it nevertheless stands out in Brittany – both literally and figuratively. Cycling is part of the fabric in this region in the north-western corner of France, which has its own culture and a strong sense of regional identity and pride among its people, the Bretons. With no real mountains in sight, Mûr-de-Bretagne has become something of an icon.
“We have our own Alpe d’Huez in the Mûr-de-Bretagne,” said Warren Barguil (Fortuneo-Samsic) in Tuesday’s L’Equipe, in a group interview with the Bretons present at the Tour. “If one of us wins there, he’ll be royalty, much more than if he wins at Alpe d’Huez or Mont Ventoux.”
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Like the double ascent of Alpe d’Huez in 2015, Thursday’s stage 7 will take the peloton up Mûr-de-Bretagne twice in the final 20 kiometres, the first ascent taking the riders up to and over the finish line before a 14km loop round to take it on again in what will be a lung-busting grind to the line.
The climb starts out on a wide country road that somewhat disguises the severity with which the road pitches uphill. The gradients hit 10 per cent and pretty much stay there for the first kilometre, before easing slightly in the next few hundred metres and then becoming more gentle in sight of the line. The official figures are 2km in length with an average gradient of 6.9 per cent.
“It’s a tough climb, but above all very hard at the bottom,” Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R La Mondiale) tells Cyclingnews, the Frenchman having been victorious the last time the Tour finished at Mûr-de-Bretagne, in 2015.
General classification hit-out
Bonus seconds and yellow jersey
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/tour-de-france-peloton-braced-for-shake-up-on-mur-de-bretagne-preview
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