Category: Previews

By David Hunter Al Hudayriyat Island 13.1km ITT TT day.

By David Hunter Blausasc > Blausasc 131km This stage is bonkers.

By David Hunter Al Thafra Castle > Al Mirfa 176km Let the sprint battle begin.

By David Hunter Welcome to the world championship for sprinters, with two mountains thrown in. We are used to most of these stages, but this year we do have a couple of new sprint finishes. The race attracts a stellar line-up. Not only do we have the best sprinters in the world, but we also have…

By David Hunter Fayence > Fayence 168km My type of stage.

By David Hunter Biot > Gourdon 187.5km The opening stage is a funny one. At the end of the stage the riders go climb, descend, climb, descend and finally climb. I can’t remember a time when this has happened before, although I’m sure somebody out there will point it out to me.

By David Hunter The race that was simply known as Haut Var now has a ridiculously long name, sad times for preview writers! The three-day stage race is about as hard as you can get, if you’re a sprinter and you’ve been sent here then it’s clear the DS doesn’t like you. I’m looking at you,…

By David Hunter Avignon > Salon-De-Provence 163km The final stage.

By David Hunter Puebla de Vicar > Roquetas del Mar 186.5km A bike race in Spain? Given the cancellation of the other Spanish races, I am surprised this one survived, but I’ll take it.

By David Hunter Istres > Chalet Reynard 152km The big day in the GC battle.

By David Hunter Cassis > Manosque 174.5km A fairly standard affair, but then I thought that about stage 1!

By David Hunter Aubagne > Six-Fours-Les-Plages 182km Not your average opening stage.

By David Hunter The Tour de Provence continues the run of French stage races happening in February. Just like Bessèges, the field is very strong with teams needing to get race kilometres into the legs of their team leaders. The route is lumpy, with just one properly flat stage, which means we don’t have many top…

By David Hunter Alès > Alès 10.7km ITT The race ends with a tough ITT. This stage has been used in this race for many years, most riders know it well. We have 8km of flat, with barely any need for brakes, then a tough 2.7km climb.

By David Hunter Buninyong > Buninyong 186.5km A route so familiar it feels like a family member. 16 laps of the circuit, which features the ascent of Mount Buninyong.

By David Hunter Rousson > Saint Siffret 151.5km After today’s fun, stage 4 promises to be another cracker, the profile doesn’t really do it justice. The riders first pass through the finishing line after 64km, then they head out on a big loop before coming over the line again after 110km. We then have two laps…

By David Hunter Bessèges > Bessèges 154.6km A stage with a couple of possibilities, it all depends on how the teams want to approach it. The bunch climb from the gun, and it keeps on going, with four hills in the opening 50km.

By David Hunter Saint-Geniès > La Calmette 154km   The second stage looks like a straightforward affair, we should get our first big sprint of the season. There are a couple of climbs along the way, but nothing to worry the peloton. The last little kicker is 800m at 4%, and it crests with around 9km…