|
|
Stage by stage
stage 1 - Liège 
Seraing
198 km
Sunday 1 July
Seraing
198 km
Sunday 1 July
Plain - A sporting perspective
Christian Prudhomme’s Analysis
Like in Brittany in 2008 and in Vendée in 2011, the finish of the first online stage of the Tour will be judged at the top of a hill after an ascent of 2.5 km. “Puncheurs” (strong cyclists with explosive speed which they use on short, but steep gradients with sudden attacks), will be expected to perform better here than pure sprinters. At a time when the riders will still have lots of energy, their performances promise to be spec-tacular.
Liège
• Stage town on 10 previous occasions
• 192,000 inhabitants
• Head of the canton of the Province of Liège (Belgium)
In the history of cycling, Liège is above all the starting and finishing point of the oldest of the Classics, Liège-Bastogne-Liège. During the Tour, the stage starts which have taken place there have led the riders to Lille or Roubaix for the most part. The last time, in 2004, the peloton travelled to Charleroi where Jaan Kirsipuu won his fourth stage of the Tour. In 1948, another stage set off from Liège, the day after Bartali’s victory: on that day, France’s Bernard Gauthier won the stage ahead of a certain… Jaan Kirsipuu, the namesake of the former rider from the AG2R team and an Estonian like him.
• www.liege.be
• www.provincedeliege.be
• www.departdutour2012.be
Seraing
• Stage town on 2 previous occasions
• 62,000 inhabitants
• Commune of the Province of Liège (Belgium)
For the local riders, above all, Seraing represents the heart of the Tour of the Province of Liège. But the finish line of the Tour de France has also been marked out in the town twice. In 1995, a time-trial finished in Seraing. As was often the case at that time, Miguel Indurain was the fastest rider, bound for a fifth race victory in a row. Then, in 2001, the riders set off from Antwerp and fought it out during the sprint at the end of the day. Erik Zabel won his tenth stage on the Tour.