This Friday, backpackers finally have an opportunity to shine, between Vierzon (Cher) and Le Creusot (Saône-et-Loire). The longest stage of this Tour de France with 249.1 km on the menu. Departure is scheduled for 11 a.m. and arrival around 5.15 p.m.
The eye of Thierry Gouvenou, the technical director of the event
“Even if we favored a few fairly short flat stages, we did not prevent ourselves from a long stage, which ends with some difficulties. This is the case for this 7th step. It is the distance of a beautiful classic, with a very complicated final after all. 100 km of flat to start but the last 150 then there… We are in the Morvan and from Autun, it becomes difficult. The signal from Uchon, 18 terminals from the finish, is more than 5 km at 5.7% average. And we almost end up with the equivalent of the Huy wall! We hope that between the distance and the difficulty, something will happen. This is also why we added a little bonus point to Uchon’s signal. If there are some who have ants in their legs, this step may well reward them. “
Uchon’s signal had caused damage during a Paris-Nice
Almost sadistic, Thierry Gouvenou voluntarily chose the 2nd category ascent of the signal d’Uchon to spice up the stage. “In the 1970s, he remembers, a Paris-Nice was there. The runners had not imagined that it would be so hard, some had used the wrong gear, to the point of dismounting. This will not happen in 2021, but it will always climb as much! “
Le Creusot, first step online
This is the first time in the history of the Tour that the town of Le Creusot has welcomed the arrival of a stage in line. Admittedly, the city of Saône-et-Loire had been the finish of a stage in 1998. It was a time trial between Montceau-les-Mines and Le Creusot, won by the German Jan Ullrich . That day, the Italian Marco Pantani had kept his yellow jersey.
Our prognosis
You have to be a little crazy to embark on a breakaway on such a long stage. One man in the peloton has never been afraid of this type of challenge. Belgian Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal).
