Tour de France: Week II
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This is the second week of the Tour De France race and marks the beginning of the mountainous Alps region. By the end of the tour the cyclists will have changed elevation equivalent to climbing up and down Mount Everest three times. One note-able improvement in the race’s history has been the road conditions in the mountain regions. When the race was originally run there were no paved roads and riders often had to push the bicycles up hard packed dirt roads. The roads were eventually paved but the conditions were still treacherous with potholes and small rocks. This debris often caused accidents and injury. Today the roads are clean and smooth which helps with high speed lightweight bicycle frames. This week also has one of the two of the two built in rest days of the race, the first on Monday the 16th.
Saturday 14th Bourg-en-Bresse to Le-Grand-Bornand 197 km
Sunday July 15th Le-Grand-Bornand to Tignes 165 km
Monday July 16th Rest day in Tignes
Tuesday July 17th Val-d’Isère to Briançon 161 km
Wednesday July 18th Tallard to Marseille 229 km
Thursday July 19th Marseille to Montpellier 180 km
Friday July 20th Montpellier to Castres 179 km
Saturday, July 21st Albi to Albi 54 km
Bourg-en-Bresse is in the eastern part of France near Lyon, it is well known for it’s Gothic style structures and churches. Tignes is built on the ruins of an older city. The original Tignes was buried during the construction of dam, although it’s note-able church was recreated in the new city. Briançon is a picturesque village nestled in the French Alps, this area was of military importance and the surrounding area has several fortifications that still exist. Marseille is the second largest city in France and has the countries busiest sea port. It’s a very modern city with modern culture, music, and night life. Montpellier France is along the southern coast and has a long rich history. The city has one of the oldest universities from 1220, several note-able cathedrals and churches and a botanical garden that was established in 1593. Castres along the southwestern coast is home to the Goya Museum with one of the most famous collection of Spanish painters in the world. Albi is a very old city first settled by the Romans in 51 bc, you can visit the Sainte Cécile cathedral, and the old bridge, a stone bridge that has been in constant use for over 1000 years!
Tags: travel, tour+de+france, tourdefrance, france