"Le Tour" 2009 - the route and results
 | The 2009 Tour de France started
from Monaco on 4th July, and will finish in Paris on 26th July; riders
who complete the course will cover a total distance of 3435 km.,
about a hundred kilometres less than in previous years. The route of
the 2009 Tour de France will also take riders into Spain, Switzerland
and Andorra, as well as through eleven of the French regions. The 2009
itinerary includes ten stages on the plains or gentle hilly country,
and seven mountain stages. High moments of the 2009 Tour will include
the stages in the Pyrenees and the Alps, and notably the long climb to
the finish at the top of the Mont Ventoux on July 25th.
|
FINAL OVERALL RESULTS - TOUR DE FRANCE 2009
Top 10 placings:
1. Alberto Contador, Spain, Team Astana, Time: 85:48:35.
2. Andy Schleck, Luxembourg, Team Saxo Bank, + 4h 11 mins..
3. Lance Armstrong, United States, Team Astana, + 5h 24.
4. Bradley Wiggins, Great Britain, Team Garmin-Slipstream, + 6h 01.
5. Frank Schleck, Luxembourg, Team Saxo Bank, + 6h 04.
6. Andreas Kloeden, Germany, Team Astana, + 6h 42.
7. Vincenzo Nibali, Italy, Liquigas, + 7h 35.
8. Christian Vande Velde, United States, Garmin-Slipstream, + 12h 04.
9. Roman Kreuziger, Czech Republic, Liquigas, + 14h 16.
10. Christophe Le Mevel, France, Francaise des Jeux, + 14h 25.
INDIVIDUAL DAILY STAGE WINNERS :
1. Mark Cavendish, Great Britain, Columbia-High Road Team, 6 stages.
2. Alberto Contador, Spain, Astana, 2 stages.
TEAM TROPHY
1. Team Astana; combined time 256:02:58.
2. Garmin-Slipstream, + 22 mins 35 secs.
The 2009 Route:
Stage | Date | Day’s route (towns, regions) | Length in Km. | 1st Stage | Sat 4 July | Monaco - Monaco | 15 | 2nd Stage | Sun 5 July | Monaco - Brignoles (Var, Provence) | 182 | 3rd Stage | Mon 6 July | Marseille - La Grande Motte (Hérault, Languedoc) | 196 | 4th Stage | Tue 7 July | Montpellier - Montpellier | 38 (time trials) | 5th Stage | Wed 8 July | Cap d'Agde (Hérault) - Perpignan (Pyrénées Orientales) (Languedoc) | 197 | 6th Stage | Thu 9 July | Girona - Barcelona (Spain) | 175 | 7th Stage | Fri 10 July | Barcelona (Spain) - Arcelis (Andorra) | 224 | 8th Stage | Sat 11 July | Andorra - Saint Girons (Ariège, Midi-Pyrénées) | 176 | 9th Stage | Sun 12 July | St Gaudens - Tarbes (Midi-Pyrénées) | 160 |
| Mon 13 July | Rest day (Limoges) |
| 10th Stage | Tue 14 July | Limoges (Limousin) - Issoudun (Centre region) | 193 | 11th Stage | Wed 15 July | Vatan (Centre) - St Fargeau (Yonne, Burgundy) | 192 | 12th Stage | Thu 16 July | Tonnerre (Burgundy) - Vittel (Lorraine) | 200 | | 13th Stage | Fri 17 July | Vittel (Vosges, Lorraine) - Colmar (Haut-Rhin, Alsace) | 200 | 14th Stage | Sat 18 July | Colmar (Alsace) - Besançon (Doubs, Franche-Comté) | 199 | 15th Stage | Sun 19 July | Pontarlier (Franche-Comté) - Verbier (Switzerland) | 207 | | Mon 20 July | Rest day in Verbier (Switzerland) | | 16th Stage | Tue 21 July | Martigny (Switzerland) - Bourg St.Maurice (Savoie, Rhône-Alps) | 160 | 17th Stage | Wed 22 July | Bourg St Maurice - Le Grand Bornand (Haute Savoie, Rhone-Alpes) | 169 | 18th Stage | Thu 23 July | Annecy - Annecy (Haute Savoie, Rhone-Alpes) | 40 (time trials) | 19th Stage | Fri 24 July | Bourgoin-Jallieu (Isère) - Aubenas (Ardèche) , Rhône-Alpes | 195 | 20th Stage | Sat 25 July | Montélimar - Mont Ventoux (Drôme, Rhone-Alpes) | 167 | 21st Stage | Sun 26 July | Montereau – Paris (Ile de France) | 160 |
For the record: route of the The Tour de France 2008
 With
almost 200 cyclists, including many of the world's best, the Tour de
France - which first took place in 1903 - is certainly a great sporting
event; nonetheless, it is an event that has been marred - even heavily
marred - in recent years by doping scandals, with cyclists proving
positive in anti-doping tests. The 2008 race was no different from
others, and at a small number of competitors were withdrawn from the
race following a positive doping test.
Yet in spite of
the doping scandals, and the withdrawal in recent years of certain
major teams, the "Tour" goes on, and it is difficult to imagine how it
could not. This mega sporting event is worth millions of Euros in
advertising, sponsorship and worldwide television rights, attracts
millions of spectators, and is one of Europe's great media circus acts.
For the hundreds of thousands who turn up to line the
route, the cycling is actually only a tiny bit of the show: While the
time-trial races may offer a more long-drawn-out cycling experience for
spectators, with competitors taking part one by one, on normal race
days the riders may go past in just a minute, especially in the earlier
part of a day's leg, before the participants have become more spaced
out. But then, the actual race is just a small part of the show.
Starting some two hours before the race, the "Caravan" is a cavalcade
of floats, decorated cars and other vehicles that moves along the
route, throwing out goodies and free samples to the spectators; it is a
massive advertising stunt. The advertising caravan, made up of the
Tour's official sponsors, is followed by a long line of official cars,
technical vehicles, media and motorbikes, lights flashing, horns
sounding, all warming up the spectators for the actual event itself.
Then, at last, the riders come by - and are gone again as quickly as
they appeared, pounding uphill or downhill at speeds that can reach 50
mph or more. A bit of an anti-climax.... And with that, the day's
excitement is over.
Anyone wanting to watch the race
in a serious manner would be well advised to do so on television; but
for a day's outing, with all the fun of the crowds, the waiting, the
caravan, and the atmosphere, watching the Tour go by is as good as many
other events, and what's more it's free.
The Tour can
be watched all over France, and each year the route is different,
taking in at least one leg in another country. The 2009 Tour covers a
distance of 3435 km, in 21 stages. The most exciting legs of the
itinerary are those that take place in mountainous regions of France,
and for this reason, the mountain regions - Vosges, Jura, Alps,
Massif-Central and Pyrenees - tend to get visited more frequently than
some of the flatter regions of France.
The 2009 Tour de France started on 4th July 2009 from Monaco.
Tourists wanting to book holiday accommodation along the route are advised to do so early. Click here for holiday cottages or for bed and breakfast accommodation in France.
Visit the Official site of the tour de France
Tourist attractions in France, by region :
Follow these links for a more detailed list of major tourist attractions in the following regions::
Paris tourist attractions
Alsace tourist attractions
Auvergne tourist attractions
Brittany tourist attractions
Burgundy tourist attractions
Franche-Comté tourist attractions
Tourist attractions in Languedoc-Roussillon
Tourist attractions in Limousin
Tourist attractions in the Midi-Pyrenees region
Tourist attractions in Normandy
Tourist attractions in the Pays de la Loire
Tourist attractions in the Poitou-Charentes region
Provence tourist attractions
A brief introduction to the regions of France
| *** |
