Matt Westby looks at where the race could be won and lost
Wednesday 23 October 2013 15:39, UK
Having established himself as the best climber in the world at this summer's Tour de France, the news of five summit finishes in the 2014 race will have left Chris Froome pumping his fist with excitement as the route was unveiled in Paris today.
Race director Christian Prudhomme described this stage as "worthy of Liege-Bastogne-Liege" when awarding Yorkshire the Grand Depart in January, but on closer inspection, it has more in common with the La Fleche Wallonne. The Belgian one-day Classic ends with an ascent of the ferociously steep Mur de Huy and then a short dash to the finish, and has been won in recent years by punchy climbers such as Alejandro Valverde, Cadel Evans, Joaquim Rodriguez and Daniel Moreno. The 30 per cent final climb of stage two of the 2014 Tour, called Jenkin Road, is just as difficult as the Mur de Huy and although there are still 5km of downhill and flat to the finish line, a climber should be the stage winner. Anyone who is not up at the front of the race at the foot of Jenkin Road could well suffer some severe time losses. Three days later, there is more potential for trouble in store. The 2014 Tour commemorates the start of the First World War and, consequently, day five will begin in Belgium for a stage containing 15.4km of cobbled roads from Ypres to Arenberg Port du Hainot. The pave, as the cobbles are known, could well wreak havoc in a peloton that will be on edge so early in the three-week race. Mechanical problems are common, crashes are rife, the pace is furious and the fight for position is frantic, meaning any complications could have potentially devastating consequences. A puncture could cost a crucial minute. A crash could end a rider's race. Survival will be the order of the day and the general classification contenders who make it through unscathed will no doubt breathe a deep sigh of relief. The true key stages, though, will be the summit finishes in the Vosges and Alps (La Planches des Belles Filles on stage 10, Chamrousse on stage 13 and Risoul on stage 14) and the Pyrenees (Saint-Lary-Soulan Plat d'Adet on stage 17 and Hautacam on stage 18), and then the stage 20 time trial. Should Froome safely negotiate the first week, it is on these days that his bid for a second successive yellow jersey will stand or fall.
