France TasteStages 18 and 19 of this year’s Tour de of the France look set to play pivotal roles in deciding the maillot jaune, with mammoth ascents, hilltop finishes and unfamiliar roads. Cyclist heads to the Alps in southern France to see what the pros have in store TourWords JAMES SPENDER Photography GEORGE MARSHALL 82 CYCLIST France here’s something rather wonderful about France, and it’s not just the landscape or the food – it’s the language. After all, where else would have an official public body to protect the gender assignation of a sandwich, or fine one of its companies €500,000 for publishing a software manual in English only? (That public body is the Académie Française, and among other things it seeks to safeguard the French language from Anglicisation. You say email, it says courriel.) And where else would you hear the delightful phrase Chacun voit midi à sa porte or the charmingly named road Les Lacets des Montvernier? The former translates as ‘everyone sees noon at his doorstep’, meaning that one’s subjective opinions are often incorrectly professed as fact, while the latter Mapping the Tour A mix of Stages 18 and 19, this is Cyclist’s homage to the 2015 Tour’s Alpine stages To download the route, go to cyclist.co.uk/38france. Begin in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, and head north out of town along the back roads adjacent to the A43. Turn onto the D77B, Les Lacets climb, and follow the natural path of the road through Montvernier to the top of the Col du Chaussy. Continue down the back of the col and follow the D99 towards La Chambre. Take the D927 south-west towards Saint-Etienne-de-Cuines and the Col du Glandon. Follow signs to the top, on to the Col du Croix de Fer, Saint-Sorlin-d’Arves and east towards La Saussaz. Head north to La Mollard and the D110, which will deliver you back to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne after 20km. Seek out Le Sun restaurant and eat. Le Chambre Col du Chaussy Les Lacets F R A N CE St-Jean-de- Maurienne Col du Glandon La Mollard Total distance: literally means ‘the laces of Montvernier’, a moniker given The hexagonal form of the Chapelle de la Col du Croix de Fer La Saussaz 100km to the stretch of tarmac that drapes and squiggles its way Workmen have been painstakingly Balme looks down Total elevation: from the village of Pontamafrey up to the tiny town of upon the winding 3,133m Montvernier. Right now, as Les Lacets’ 18 hairpins bask hairpins of Les Lacets tantilisingly in the early morning sun, this road certainly is filling and patching every wrinkle de Montvernier, whose 2,500m 18 hairpins traverse a noon at my doorstep. And the Tour hasn’t even got here yet. and pothole in the beaten up tarmac 400m cliff to the top. 2,000m Some serious civil Paving the way in preparation for the onslaught engineering 1,500m Before the world’s greatest sporting spectacle can tackle – the roads of France, however, preparations must be made. 1,000m For the Savoie region, in particular the towns of Saint-Jean of 422 skinny tyred wheels 0km 10km 20km 30km 40km 50km 60km 70km 80km 90km 100km de Maurienne, La Toussuire and Modane, that’s meant P – 84 CYCLIST CYCLIST 85 France Left: Halfway up the Col du Chaussy the road carves spectacularly under the mountainside Right and bottom: Chapels abound in this region. As do crosses We’re at the foot of Les Lacets, and hanging in the air is the unmistakable tang of drying bitumen. It turns out that far from snoozing, the workman and his crew have been painstakingly filling and patching every wrinkle and pothole in the beaten-up tarmac in preparation for the onslaught of 422 skinny-tyred wheels in a few weeks’ time. When those professionals arrive here they will have already covered 170km from Gap on Stage 18, but for riders vying for general classification supremacy, the last 15km of the stage will be fraught, as they battle up Les Lacets in search of crucial seconds. It’s here Froome’s trademark accelerations might just come into their own. For a moment it seems our own make-or-break time has come markedly earlier in proceedings, the gruff workman not looking too impressed at the thought of us riding up P paying Tour organiser Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) €300,000 apiece for the chance to host the start Plywood cutouts and finishes of Stages 18, 19 and 20, and bringing local The rider’s ride infrastructure up to the ASO’s exacting standards. Norco Valence SL, £3,000, evanscycles.com of cartoon racers It might seem like a hefty investment for three towns Weight and gearing were always going to be key factors for whose combined populations total less than 13,000, but this ride, so at 7.3kg (56cm) with a compact chainset and 11-32t painted in yellow, as Céline Guillermin from the Savoie Mont Blanc tourist cassette, the Valence SL seemed like a good choice for an Alpine board is now telling me, ‘The financial impact of the Tour assault, and I’m pleased to say it lived up to expectations. The on those towns is almost immeasurable. It will put them low-slung, compact geometry no doubt helps Norco keep green, white and on the map, you’ll see.’ frame-weight low while maintaining frame stiffness. That’s not to say the Valence is a sprinter’s delight – there are plenty With that, Céline revs the engine of her white Renault polka dot line front of stiffer bikes out there – but for an all-day ride with a lot of and speeds off to our first rendezvous, leaving my riding climbing, it’s a sound and very comfortable choice. gardens and balconies partner, Luciana, and me to gently wend our way through – the narrow, sleepy streets of Saint-Jean de Maurienne. As we leave the city perimeter Luciana remarks on how lucky his newly finished road, but after a bit of pointing and we are with the weather today, just blue skies and some some well-played hand-on-hip defiance, Céline brokers wispy halos around the tops of the mountains. I ask her a deal whereby Luciana and I are granted safe passage up what ‘please don’t jinx it’ is in French. She just throws Les Lacets, provided Céline promises not to drive up it. back her head and laughs. ‘Well, we are in the Alps. Three hairpins in and things couldn’t have worked out Anything can happen,’ she says mischievously. any better. Save for the waterfall carving its path through A few kilometres on, past a landscape that mixes the rock alongside us, Les Lacets is gloriously peaceful, industrial furniture, idyllic houses and babbling rivers, the towns below quietly fading away as we near the top. we spy Céline’s parked car. She’s in conversation with At 3.4km long and nudging 8% Les Lacets isn’t an easy a workman in a hi-viz jacket who looks like he sleeps in climb, but our fresh legs and gentle pace make for a relaxed the bucket of his digger, but as we get closer I realise why. ascent, and we soon find ourselves at the crossroads where P 86 CYCLIST CYCLIST 87 France Luciana, Cyclist’s ride companion, remarked on how lucky we’d been with the weather, not long before the clouds rolled in It’s only when I look down at my Garmin that I realise just how long I’ve been stood absorbing the view a spider has begun to spin its web across my handlebars– P Les Lacets becomes the Col du Chaussy. Céline is there Passing through Montvernier and onto the Col du to meet us, and explains that, while we might have to Chaussy proper, we’re left in no doubt what sporting event shoulder our bikes, a walk across a small grassy field to our is coming to town. Coloured bunting is strung from house right is a must for one of the best lookout spots in town. to house, and plywood cutouts of cartoon racers painted in We dutifully set off in the direction she’s pointing, yellow, green, white and polka-dot line front gardens and and after a less-than-surefooted scramble up a muddy balconies. The sweetly organic smell of cut grass carries bank and through some trees, we are indeed greeted by a on the breeze, as distant farmers scythe the hillsides and P postcard view of the valley below, and the hairpins we’ve just traversed. It’s a mesmerising experience. Only when I look down at my Garmin do I realise just how long I’ve been stood absorbing the view – a spider has begun to spin its web across my handlebars. Sadly it looks like it weighs a few grams and I reckon the drag coefficient of the ensuing web will be high, so I brush it off into the undergrowth. Chapeau, mon petit frère, et bonne chance. Combination conflation From here on our ride is set to become a hybrid of two Tour stages to incorporate Les Lacets from Stage 18 into a loop that takes in the best of Stage 19, namely the Col du Chaussy, the Col du Glandon and the Col de la Croix de Fer. The pros will finish Stage 19 with a climb up to the ski station at La Toussuire, but with our planned 100km route already packing 3,100m of climbing, I’ve decided La Toussuire might be a col too far.