Tour de France 2010 kicks off with a prologue over eight kilometers in the largest port in Europe, Rotterdam in Holland. That was a fact when the Tour de France 2010 route was presented today in Paris where the world’s current and former cycling stars were gathered. This year’s overall second of the Tour de France, Andy Schleck represented Team Saxo Bank.
The presentation held good news from the race organizers. Next year’s Tour de France route favors the mountain riders on a larger scale than this year’s edition with six tough mountain stages, three of which end on top of a climb and fewer time trials. The field will be passing legendary climbs, Col de Madeleine, Col du Tourmalet and the Col de Peyresourde. On the other hand, the climbers will be tested on stage three where the field will be passing a total of 13 kilometers with cobblestone surface, spread over seven sections around the forest of Arenberg as a tribute to Paris-Roubaix. The last section is placed within the last ten kilometers of the stage.
The GC will probably be settled on stage nineteen’s 51 kilometer long time trial before the ceremonial parade to Paris the following day.
“There are some risky elements in the Netherlands and Belgium where we must be careful not to lose unnecessary time. However, it appears that the route is harder than this year’s Tour and I could get a better chance of winning time in the mountains and lose less time on the long time trial. I’m going for the overall victory next year but it’s clear that Contador is the biggest favorite while Lance may be more motivated than everâ€Â, said Team Saxo Bank’s Andy Schleck after the presentation.
“Overall, I think that next year’s route seems very interesting. I am happy to see that the mountain stages seem harder and the mountains are positioned later on each stage so they can be used for attacks. Obviously, I would like to have a team time trial but it speaks to our favor that there is only one long time trial. Last but not least, we must be very careful and aware on stage three passing the cobblestonesâ€Â, concludes Team Saxo Bank team owner Bjarne Riis.
Best regards,
Allan Jørgensen
Team Saxo Bank
