Tour de France in Dordogne today
Stage 10 of the Tour de France takes the riders on a tourist trail through the most beautiful and well known sites of the Dordogne.
After a rest yesterday, the cyclists are ready to hit the road for what will be a gentle day, in their terms, before heading south tomorrow on a 203.5km run from Eymet to Pau and then a hard stage 12 with several difficult climbs in the Pyrénées on Thursday.
The run today is 178km and designed to show off the best features of the Périgord.
It starts in Périgueux, goes through Montignac to showcase the €57million Lascaux IV site with its reproductions of the famous cave paintings, which opened last year, heads along the Vézère valley to the prehistoric capital of Les Eyzies, on to the medieval town of Sarlat and climbs up to the pretty bastide town of Dômme with stunning views of the Dordogne valley below. It then passes through one of the Most Beautiful Villages in France, La Roque Gageac and heads of alongside the Dordogne River for most of the way for a sprint finish at Bergerac.
The Connexion would welcome any photos along the route from readers so if you do take some, please send them to news@connexionfrance.com If we publish yours you will receive a complimentary copy of our new French puzzle book.
Michaël Delage, one of the French cyclists who comes from Ménesplet in the Dordogne said it will be a beautiful stage with beautiful landscapes. He said the road is mostly flat but with 2 climbs in the day which are not really hard at Dômme and Buisson Cadouin. There should be a fast finish as the road in to Bergerac is “a nice road, straight and easy for sprinters.”
Sadly for him he will not be taking part in today’s stage as he was eliminated on Sunday evening. France Bleu Périgord reports that this is a huge disappointment for his local fans as people from his village had hired a bus to take everyone to Mouleydier to watch him pass by.
Today the Tour de France official site says it will be a race for the Green Jersey. Marcel Kittel is the holder and his main threat is now the Australian Michael Matthews who won the intermediate sprint in stage 2 and he might try to breakaway to reduce his deficit of 52 points from Kittel. Britain’s Chris Froome is in the lead, wearing the yellow jersey.
The caravan sets off from Perigueux shortly after 11 this morning and the cyclists start at 13.10. The full schedule can be found on http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2017/us/stage-10.html
