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What’s better than Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogačar, Primož Roglič, and Remco Evenepoel squaring off at the Tour de France?
Watching the “big four” go full “royal rumble” on a course as spectacular as that on tap for 2024, that’s what.
ASO last week uncorked a “more is more” route for the 2024 Tour de France.
Tracking from Florence to Nice, it’s got more short n’spicy mountain stages and less sprint finishes than ever, the most TT kilometers since 2018, and even more climbing than the Giro d’Italia.
Oh and it’s got some gravel, too.
Also read:
From the stupid-hard first stage to the showstopper final TT, the 2024 Tour should be a stunner.
Here are five must-watch, GC-deciding stages for next summer’s “Lap of France”:
Stage 1: The hardest start ever?
- Florence – Rimini
- Distance: 205km
- Gain: 3,800m+
That’s right, this ridiculous seven-climb monster is the very first stage of the Tour de France.
The peloton has only 35km to spin out its nerves before its hit by a battery of lower-cat climbs in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna. Accumulating some 3,800m of gain over its arduous 205km course, this is the hilliest opening stage the Tour has ever seen.
Stage 1 of the Tour is always a twitchy affaire because the peloton pecking order hasn’t yet been established, so expect for stress from the flag drop.
Given that one of the “big four” of Pogačar, Vingegaard, Roglič, and Evenepoel might end the day in the maillot jaune, this stage into Rimini will make even the explosive Basque départ of 2023 look like a coffee ride.
Stage 9: Gravel beefs galore: ‘It’s the day when you can lose the Tour’
(Photo: ASO)
- Troyes – Troyes
- Distance: 199km
- Gain: 2,000m+
Here it is, the day that’s got the peloton in a beef and the mechanics on red-alert.
“It’s the day when you can lose the Tour,” Vingegaard grumbled on seeing this stage at the route presentation.
The first block of racing of the 2024 Tour ends with ASO’s-own gravel fondo. The lumpy, looped course around Troyes loads 32km of dirt roads into 14 sectors that could decimate the hopes of a GC contender.
Some of these stoney strips were used in the inaugural Tour de France Femmes and chaos ensued on the unpredictable surface.
The grade of gravel varies wildly over the course of the Tour’s diversion off-tarmac. Fist-size rocks mingle with innocuous pebbles, any of which could cause a calamity.
All-eyes are on Strade Bianche and Tour of Flanders-winner Pogačar to animate the race for yellow on this trip around Troyes.
Whether it’s “Pogi” lighting it up or someone else, expect fireworks, all day long.
Stage 14: Severe pain on the Pla d’Adet
(Photo: ASO)
- Pau – Saint-Lary-Soulan/Pla d’Adet
- Distance: 152km
- Gain: 4,000m+
Sure, stage 14 isn’t the hardest mountain stage you’ve ever seen, and the Pla d’Adet summit finish isn’t the most mega-monster climb on ASO’s menu.
But there’s more to this Pyrénéan punisher than meets the eye.
The notoriously nasty climb to the “Pla” comes after 80km of continuous climbing and descending in a back-loaded stage that packs the most elevation per kilometer of the whole Tour de France.
And more importantly, this stage needs to be seen in the context of the entire three weeks.
It’s the first mountaintop finish of the Tour, and the opening instalment of a Pyrénéan double that could rip apart the race for yellow. Any cracks seen here on stage 14 will be ruthlessly exposed the next day in a five-climb stage 15 slog that racks up some 5,000m vert.
Expect more than one GC hopeful to wave goodbye to yellow in the Tour’s weekend in the Pyrénées.
Stage 20: One last gallop for the climbers
(Photo: ASO)
- Nice – Col de la Couillole
- Distance: 133km
- Gain: 4,850m+
Stage 20: It’s short, it’s very spicy, and it’s going to make the sprinters shake in their cycling shoes.
Expect to see riders on turbo trainers all through the start paddock ahead of this four-climb gallop through the southern Alps.
None of the day’s four ascents are over-arduous, but after a day of high-altitude climbing on stage 19, only those with the strongest legs and steeliest mettle will survive this penultimate stage of racing.
It’s the type of day where former favorites could find themselves in the gruppetto and where the yellow jersey could switch shoulders.
At 133km long, this stage will last little more than three hours. But the damage might be counted in many, many minutes.
Stage 21: No procession onto the Promenade des Anglais
(Photo: ASO)
- Monaco – Nice
- Distance: 33km
- Gain: 700m+
The last time the Tour de France finished with a time trial was 1989, and we all know how that turned out. Greg LeMond snatched yellow from Laurent Fignon in what was the tightest Tour victory in history.
Will there be a similar showstopper finale in the 2024 race into Nice?
The Tour’s final time trial will bring a bit of everything to keep “couch peloton” on the edge of its seat until the very end.
The tricky ramped climb to La Turbie will put the favorites straight into the red before a super-fast descent toward Nice city center. If the GC remains tightly poised, both the uphill and downhill will prove crucial in this 33km test of power, poise, and perfect bike-handling.
This fiendishly tricky finale is hilly enough to prevent Evenepoel dominating with his TT talents, and technical enough to stop the climbers crushing the aero experts.
Expect a winning time of less than three-quarters of an hour and the potential for the favorites to be split by yellow jersey-deciding seconds on this final day of racing.
It couldn’t get much further from the traditional Paris procession.
Also don’t miss:
Stage 4 – Mountain stage over the Galiber: A downhill finale for those who dare.
Etape 4 / Stage 4 – #TDF2024
Pinerolo – @valloire 138 km
⛰ The Tour takes to the heights with its first giant on the road: the Galibier and its 2,642 m!
⛰ Le Tour prend de la hauteur avec un premier géant sur sa route : le Galibier et ses 2.642 m ! pic.twitter.com/gIPuTcEQdN
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) October 25, 2023
Stage 7 – A 25km “wine trial”: Racing the clock … and into the yellow jersey?
Etape 7 / Stage 7 – #TDF2024
Nuits-Saint-Georges – Gevrey-Chambertin 25 km ITT⏱
An ITT in the vineyards, just like in 2021, but in Burgundy this time!
Un chrono dans les vignes, comme en 2021, mais en Bourgogne cette fois ! pic.twitter.com/g1Etsh49u7
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) October 25, 2023
Stage 15 – Multi mountain-pain in the Pyrénées: 4,850m climbing to crush everyone’s quads.
Etape 15 / Stage 15 – #TDF2024
Loudenvielle – Plateau de Beille 198 km
6 climbs and . m of vertical gain on Bastille day!
6 ascensions et . m de D+ au menu en ce jour de fête nationale ! pic.twitter.com/Vm9lQi7n5M
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) October 25, 2023
Stage 19 –A thin-air interval session: Old-school high altitude climbs wedged into a spicey 145km course.
Etape 19 / Stage 19 – #TDF2024
Embrun – @Isola2000_06 145 km
The ultimate giant is back on the Tour: the Cime de la Bonette and its . m of altitude!
Le géant ultime fait son retour sur le Tour : la Cime de la Bonette et ses . m d’altitude ! pic.twitter.com/PqnLUjsnO2
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) October 25, 2023