Stage 5 Caen - Caen (33.0km)
The clock starts counting from now on
On the fifth day of the Tour de France, there's an individual time trial of 33 kilometers on the program in and around Caen. The time trial is quite long at 33 kilometers but has barely any elevation gain. The real powerhouses are at an advantage here, but the main question is whether world champion Remco Evenepoel has an advantage over Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard, who all three occupied the final podium last year.
The battle for the stage victory and the general classification are now the two main battles, but that was very different in Caen more than eighty years ago. Operation Overlord took place a short distance from the Norman Pearlcoast, beginning with the much more famous D-Day. In other words: the offensive of the Allied forces to attack Nazi Germany. Thanks in part to the thousands of lives the Allies sacrificed near Caen, we can live in freedom in the Netherlands, Belgium, and the rest of Europe - despite all the threats that have occurred in the last few years. Lest we forget!
Incidentally, Caen wasn't a major battlefield for the first time then. The history of the city seems to be bursting with battles or sieges of Caen. Perhaps that's why it's so typical that when the city was founded by the Gauls, they gave the name Catumagos to what is now Caen. That consists of the words catu - meaning battle - and magos, which is field. In addition, William the Conqueror is buried in the Abbaye aux Hommes in Caen. He was the first Norman king of England after winning the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
Fast forward to the present. Notably, the time trial in Caen during this fifth stage is in celebration of the city's thousandth anniversary, and Caen is known as the 'city of a hundred bells' due to the many churches and towers with bells that tower above the city. The fact that a time trial is taking place in Caen this Wednesday is no coincidence.
The 33-kilometer time trial takes place in a northwesterly direction from Caen toward the municipality of Basly and mainly runs over wide, straight roads. The time trial has only 200 meters of elevation gain. Especially outside the city and the center, they are mostly long, straight roads that must bring the verdict. The wind can be a hellish opponent in this, but the powerhouses will be gleefully looking at the road book for this individual time trial.
Caen has, by the way, often been a host city of the Tour, especially in the fifties and sixties of the last century. However, this millennium has been quieter around Caen in July: the last time the Tour visited Caen was in 2006, when Óscar Freire defeated the young Tom Boonen in a sprint.
Stage 5 Caen - Caen (33.0km)
The clock starts counting from now on
On the fifth day of the Tour de France, there's an individual time trial of 33 kilometers on the program in and around Caen. The time trial is quite long at 33 kilometers but has barely any elevation gain. The real powerhouses are at an advantage here, but the main question is whether world champion Remco Evenepoel has an advantage over Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard, who all three occupied the final podium last year.
The battle for the stage victory and the general classification are now the two main battles, but that was very different in Caen more than eighty years ago. Operation Overlord took place a short distance from the Norman Pearlcoast, beginning with the much more famous D-Day. In other words: the offensive of the Allied forces to attack Nazi Germany. Thanks in part to the thousands of lives the Allies sacrificed near Caen, we can live in freedom in the Netherlands, Belgium, and the rest of Europe - despite all the threats that have occurred in the last few years. Lest we forget!
Incidentally, Caen wasn't a major battlefield for the first time then. The history of the city seems to be bursting with battles or sieges of Caen. Perhaps that's why it's so typical that when the city was founded by the Gauls, they gave the name Catumagos to what is now Caen. That consists of the words catu - meaning battle - and magos, which is field. In addition, William the Conqueror is buried in the Abbaye aux Hommes in Caen. He was the first Norman king of England after winning the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
Fast forward to the present. Notably, the time trial in Caen during this fifth stage is in celebration of the city's thousandth anniversary, and Caen is known as the 'city of a hundred bells' due to the many churches and towers with bells that tower above the city. The fact that a time trial is taking place in Caen this Wednesday is no coincidence.
The 33-kilometer time trial takes place in a northwesterly direction from Caen toward the municipality of Basly and mainly runs over wide, straight roads. The time trial has only 200 meters of elevation gain. Especially outside the city and the center, they are mostly long, straight roads that must bring the verdict. The wind can be a hellish opponent in this, but the powerhouses will be gleefully looking at the road book for this individual time trial.
Caen has, by the way, often been a host city of the Tour, especially in the fifties and sixties of the last century. However, this millennium has been quieter around Caen in July: the last time the Tour visited Caen was in 2006, when Óscar Freire defeated the young Tom Boonen in a sprint.