The 2024 Tour de France kicks off today, Saturday 29 June: a special edition starting from the number, 111, but not only. For the first time the Corsa Gialla will start from Italy, Florence to be precise, in an ideal connection with the Giro d’Italia that has just ended: 206 km between the capital of the Renaissance and Rimini, with the Apennines in between. The start is scheduled for 12 and the race is broadcast live on free-to-air Rai 2 and Rai Sport HD on TV, on RaiPlay in streaming.
“It is rare for the Tour de France to start with more than 3,600 meters of altitude difference, in fact it has never happened before – writes the Tour boss, Christian Prudhomme in the presentation of the Grand Départ -. And it is also the first time that the race touches the hometown of Gino Bartali. The succession of hills between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna will probably be the setting for an immediate and challenging confrontation between the title contenders.” A first test for the climbers and above all, as made clear by Prudhomme’s words, for the favourites, who number six this year.
All the greats of this era will be there, starting with Giro winner Tadej Pogacar, who in a message recorded by his team warns his opponents: “I’ve been testing my legs a bit and, to be honest, I’ve never felt so good on the bike. My form is even better than I expected” : said by the ruler of the Corsa Rosa, whose apparent lack of effort in accomplishing the feat has been underlined several times, it sounds decidedly worrying for the competitors. In addition to the Slovenian, the other candidates are Remco Evenepoel, Primoz Roglic, Wout Van Aert, Mathieu Van der Poel and Jonas Vingegaard: a parterre de rois the likes of which we haven’t seen for a long time.
If Pogacar were to win the Tour, he would join the last person in the history of the sport to have won the double, Marco Pantani in 1998.Before Pantani, only six others had achieved this combination: Eddy Merckx 4 times, Bernard Hinault 3 times, Fausto Coppi 2 times, Jacques Anquetil 2 times, Miguel Indurain 2 times, Stephen Roche once.
If the departure from Italy is an absolute first, it is even more so the arrival: always in Paristhis year he will be in Nice on July 21st with a time trial (the last final time trial was in 1989), due to the upcoming Olympics. The total route is 3,498 kmthe difference in altitude is 52,230 metres, the highest pass is almost 3,000 metres (2,802, Bonette pass).
Three days in Italy, and four departuresthe last from Pinerolo to pass into France and reach Valloire, the first Alpine stage passing through Sestriere with arrival at Galibier at 2,642 meters above sea level after almost 140 km. The second stage is from Cesenatico to Bologna (almost 200 km and still Apennines), the third from Piacenza to Turin (230 km for sprinters).
