The first week of the 2024 Tour de France concludes with a new feature on Stage 9: gravel roads, already an emblematic feature of Strade Bianche and Paris-Tours and familiar to many members of the peloton, if not in this setting.
On the 199km looped route which commences and concludes in Troyes there will be 14 sectors of ‘white roads’, including six in the final part of the stage, extending to 32km in total, each sector pitching the riders onto the gravel and into the dust.
To ride well on this type of terrain requires a specific technique and the first five gravel sectors are very hilly, hard farm tracks. There’s even one with a 19% gradient. The gravel does not require the sheer power of the cobbles, so is potentially more open for a wider array of riders to perform well.
Similar gravel roads briefly featured on the Tour in 2022 as the riders climbed the unpaved peak of La Super Planche des Belles Filles, at the end of a stage which was won by current Yellow Jersey Tadej Pogacar.
Pogacar has also shown with his 2022 and 2024 Strade Bianche victories that he has the knowledge and technique to dominate over the type of mixed terrain the peloton will experience in Sunday’s stage. His job is to preserve his GC advantage and going for the stage win might not be his ‘Plan A’, even if he has the ovious attributes for another bouquet on this occasion.
World champion Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Briton Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) were Strade Bianche winners in 2021 and 2023 respectively and both are contenders for the win. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost), along with current and former gravel World Champions Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious) and Gianni Vermeersch (Alpecin-Deceuninck) are also in with a shout of Stage 9 glory.
