Ehe Tour joins the gravel trend. The new stage of this Grande Boucle was marked in red in the road book of all the directors because a long time later, The French round presents sterrato sections along its route.
Unpaved roads appear in the history of the Tour, since in the beginning many of the peloton’s paths were unpaved, but now they appear in a very different context, since They have been selected by the organization with every intention.
“Es a way to break the monotony, to avoid chaining together flat stages ending in the ‘sprint’. We couldn’t go on cobbled sections, so we turned to these unpaved roads that constitute the latest great novelty in cycling,” he explained Prudhomme during the presentation of the test.
Alpecin wants to win
The stage is prepared and the figure of Van der Poel. The Dutchman and his Alpecin team have not finished honing in on this Tour de France. They have hit the stick in three sprints and in another they were ruled out due to mechanical problems and a fall. It is not what was expected for a squad that last year tyrannized the green jersey with four stage wins for Philipsen and that closed the spring with three monuments in its record.
“Being in the Tour with the rainbow jersey is something unique that I want to enjoy a lot because I think it will be the last time I can wear it in this race.
Now, there comes a day when their leader can show his hegemony when the track leaves the asphalt. Van der Poel has dominated the cobblestone this season with wins in Flanders and Paris – Roubaix and he knows that he is going to be one of the men to mark among the vineyards of Champagne, where 14 unpaved stretches await, for a total of 32.2 kilometers.
“It will be a day in which the teams fighting for the title will be ahead. Let’s see if we are able to dispute them the position,” he says.
Van der Poel is inexhaustible: He wins the Strade Bianche with a display of power
Third in the Veneto gravel world championship in 2022 and winner of the Strade Bianche 2021, MARCA He asks the leader of Alpecin about his tricks on gravel: “I don’t have many to be honest. I try to stay at the front and remain relaxed on the bike. I think that’s the most important thing.”
Dress the rainbow on the Tour. A dream within reach of few and that Van der Poel is enjoying in a unique way: “It’s very special. It’s something unique that I want to enjoy a lot because I think it will be the last time I can wear it on the Tour.”
