Designed with the intention of breaking away from tradition, the route of the 2015 Tour de France was announced in Paris, with more than 4,000 spectators attending at the Palais des Congrès. “The plains, mountains and time trial are clearly included in the 102nd edition,” said the Tour organizers, the Amoury Sport Organisation. “But in unprecedented proportions and with nuances susceptible of upsetting pre-established plans.“
The 2015 Tour de France is predicted to offer its riders “a challenge that invites daring and will leave its television viewers in a state of uncertainty regarding the scenarios to consider”. The premise of suspense and indecision has indeed been favoured; the questioning of non-written regulations that can often weigh on the race is gone. Also, the riders will only have 14 kilometres of individual time trial to show their stuff, making it the shortest distance since its systematic inclusion in 1947.
”The desire is to not hold up the race”, said Tour Director General Christian Prudhomme. But getting rid of rules and dogmas of all kinds. When the first portion of the 2015 Tour takes the peloton from Utrecht and The Netherlands to the heart of Brittany, passing by the landmarks of the Spring Classics or along the Normandy coast, the Tour boss sees much more than a long week of flatlands: “Do not imagine that it will be a nagging procession. With arrivals like the ‘Mur de Huy’, the Paris-Roubaix cobblestones, Mûr de Bretagne or even the atypical team trial at Plumelec, the Tour de France can be played out anywhere”.
This article was republished with permission from the editor and publisher of the Sport Intern, Karl Heinz-Huba.