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The left corner of the Tour: a preview of stage nine of the Tour de France

VaselineJuly 7, 2024

0 8 minutes read

The left corner of the Tour: a preview of stage nine of the Tour de France

As race director of the Tour de France, Christian Prudhomme must have more than a few restless nights. In the early hours of a September morning – weeks before next year’s route is announced to a raucous crowd of riders, journalists and boulangerie owners – I imagine a panicked Prudhomme recovering from a nightmare of the same old mountains and TT kilometres as the previous dozen editions. For a Tour de France route to be heralded as a success, a more eclectic set of stages is needed – France must be well and truly travelled. As many stones as possible must be turned over. And for this year’s route, the race director had a genuine eureka moment.

OK, I’m not suggesting the race director woke up one morning and shouted “GRAVEL!” at the top of his lungs, but for the purposes of this article, we’ll go with it, because as an explanation of a particular stage, it fits the course perfectly. Barely out of his pyjamas, and long before the boulangerie owners, half the pro peloton and a gaggle of journalists had a chance to ask what the hell he was ranting about, stage nine of this year’s Tour had been signed, sealed and delivered. Fast forward to mid-May 2024 and our CW team – me, my brother James and photographer Richard – were on their way to find out for ourselves what wild vision had formed in Prudhomme’s head that fateful night.

Our destination: the rolling Champagne region, where this year’s ninth stage, on July 7, starts and finishes in the city of Troyes. In a moment of genius, Prudhomme and the Tour’s chief route designer, Thierry Gouvenou, devised 14 gravel sections covering 32km of the 199km stage. A brilliant move, unless you’re Remco Evenepoel, who was utterly disgusted by the idea of including the chemins blancs in the 2024 Tour.

The weather in the few days leading up to our visit had been warm and sunny – sunshine everywhere in Troyes with afternoon temperatures of 24oC. Perfect. However, after clicking the arrow on the BBC Weather app which takes you on a little time travel, we were sadly told that on the day of arrival, and for the duration of our stay, the temperature would drop by around 10oC, the wind would pick up and of course it would rain. Oh the gravel…

After our first night in Champagne, we breakfasted on that classic continental mix of meat, cheese and bread before heading to the start of the route, just a few steps out of town. We rode through cool weather and a drizzle so fine it was barely noticeable, our eyes feasting instead on the billiard-table-smooth roads – possibly resurfaced for the Tour’s imminent arrival – a glorious lack of traffic and some pretty amazing scenery. Neat rows of pinot gris roll out to the horizon and back again; as if someone had picked up the landscape like a carpet and shaken it into perfect waves.

So James I and I cycled away from Troyes and into the grape and gravel country. The good thing about cycling with a brother or sister is that they can lend you a tenner for an Orangina and a Camembert cob if you leave your wallet at the hotel. The bad thing is that there is always a whiff of bickering in the air. But the route so far had been so idyllic that we were thoroughly enjoying each other’s company, commenting on the quirks of the French countryside and reminiscing about a holiday we had spent in the region in… well, what seemed like light years ago.

And so we entered the first gravel section at breakneck speed, and Prudhomme’s dream became a reality – right here, right now. Then we stopped and consulted the map, just to be sure. Almost satisfied that this was indeed the right way and that our Garmins had not led us to Mordor, we continued on. The tech under us to test was, in James’ case, a Specialized Roubaix with hints of suspension in the fork and seatpost and 32mm tires; and under me a Giant Revolt X Pro with 40mm of travel up front, a dropper post and 42mm tires.

Highlights from the stage

If you’re planning to head to France for a first-hand Tour experience, the gravel stage is closest to Blighty, with Troyes just a four-hour drive from Calais. Here we’ve highlighted the best places to watch the stage, but get there early, as the hills in particular are excellent vantage points.

Côte de Val Frion: This gravel section could split the peloton or even prove to be a springboard for a winning move. Expect a lot of jostling for position in the kilometres leading up to this part of the route.

Coast of Chacenay: Steep slopes and gravel galore. If the Côte de Val Frion doesn’t get a bite, the Côte de Chacenay, some 10 miles away, certainly will. It’s rough, rugged and ridiculously steep.

The last 60 km: With almost as much gravel as tarmac, the final stretch of this stage will be a treat to watch. Helicopter footage of riders tearing along rustic roads in the Champagne region is likely to be some of the best of this year’s Tour.

If I were a betting man, I’d say that if the Tour does this stage, we probably won’t see a peloton on gravel bikes. In fact, we probably won’t see anything that even remotely resembles a gravel bike. Which is a shame, because this surface is perfect for them. Where I previously assumed the Giant Revolt X was designed for endurance riding on multiple surfaces, it was now abundantly clear that it was designed specifically for this path.

It was on the fourth and fifth stretches of gravel that the ride became noticeably bumpier. By now, just over halfway through the stage, the gentle slopes had been replaced by much sharper, more substantial gradients that, if you’re built like me – no matter what bike you’re on – are a real slog to climb. Sector 11 (they count down from 14 to one) not only features 3,429 metres of coarse gravel, but also the potentially peloton-splitting fourth category climb of the Côte de Val Frion.

“Pogačar,” I replied – largely because “Pogačar” was now my answer to all cycling-related questions. Who’s going to win the Tour? Pogačar. Who’s going to win the World Championships? Pogačar. Who’s going to win the 41st Jock Wadley Memorial Road Race? Pog – you get the idea. Seriously, as mind-boggling as it is for me to think this, let alone write it in a national publication, I do not think Pogačar will win this stage. I suspect James’ Van der Poel prediction is correct. That said, all the Classics specialists in the race will have looked at this stage and run out of ink to underline it, so it’s certainly not a foregone conclusion. This is going to be a hard-fought, crunching stage.

With the decisive part of the day conquered, the approach to Troyes began. But wait a minute, we had only ridden about 10 kilometers of gravel at this point, so where was the rest? Right in front of us. Yes, the final kilometers of stage nine of this year’s Tour are almost entirely made up of rough terrain. Amazingly, the white trails (the literal translation of chemins blancs) flow on one after the other – all the way to the city limits, with the final six sectors all coming in the final 33 kilometers.

But first things first: it was time for a Pogačar-style attack. No, not just to annoy James, but because, after carefully studying the Strava segments of stage nine, I had noticed that each of the gravelly segments had only 80 previous entries on the GC. I figured if I approached this one with a high level of enthusiasm, I might just walk away with a shiny new crown. But I would have to dig deep, very deep.

And so it began: I wished James bon voyage – I would ride the next sector alone, unless he felt inclined to join me in the battle for the fastest man in the French vineyards – and set off. It wasn’t long before I was fizzing like a badly poured pint of beer as the winegrowers jumped out of my way. One can only imagine the hushed conversations that took place in the bar-tabac that evening: “C’était… c’était… awful!” As disheveled as I looked and as poor as my effort was, sheer willpower propelled me to the finish on the Boulevard du 1er Ram in Troyes.

The location

How to get there

Troyes is just 110 miles south-east of Paris, so there is the option of flying into the capital and then travelling by train, car or even bike to the Champagne city. Alternatively, you can take the Eurostar from London to Paris. We opted to drive, which took just over four hours from Calais and was a very straightforward journey via toll roads.

Where to stay

This late in the day, it’s likely that all the hotels in and around Troyes will be booked up. However, if you look on Airbnb, there are plenty of options in Troyes and on the course itself that will give you the comforts of home while experiencing the world’s biggest annual sporting event. We stayed at the Hotel Kyriad, where rooms start at £73 per night: Hotel Kyriad, 44 Av. Chomedey de Maisonneuve, 10000 Troyes, France (+33) 325452922.

Where to eat

This being France, there are plenty of places to eat and the food is almost always exceptional. The regional specialty, however, is andouiette, a sausage made from all the bits of pig that are often quickly consigned to the trash. Try it…but don’t blame us! We ate at Signorizza Troyes, a mid-range Italian restaurant that’s great for stocking up on carbs before your ride. Signorizza Troyes: 42 Av. Chomedey de Maisonneuve, 10000 Troyes, France, (+33) 325761375.

Strava segment hunting aside, this has the makings of a stage for the ages. The one-day specialists will be going all out and the GC boys will be going all out, despite a certain young man from Slovenia. With hints of Flanders, hints of Paris-Roubaix and positive dashes of Strade Bianche, this is going to be an ice-cold classic in the middle of the biggest Grand Tour of them all. So pour yourself a glass of bubbly, sit back and enjoy the show.

VaselineJuly 7, 2024

0 8 minutes read

Wrestling with gravel

Vaseline

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