The Race

The 57th edition of the Tour de l’Avenir will take place from 7 to 16 August 2020, slightly earlier than its predecessors (which were previously held in the second half of August).

The event organised by Alpes Velo will also take a significantly different route to the last few years, with a Grand start from Charleville-Mézières (Ardennes). Instead of a Bretagne – Alps cross-country race (2017 and 2018) and then a New Aquitaine – Alps route (2019), the Grand Est will be the preferred route in the first part, roughly corresponding to the so-called plain sequence, followed by a rough stage around Besançon and then a medium mountain stage ending at the Col de La Faucille.
The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and the Ain department remain at the heart of the route, with the now traditional final point of arrival in Savoie-Mont-Blanc for the last three Alpine stages.

Return of the individual time trial

The other characteristic of the 2020 course is the return of the individual time trial (in addition to the team time trial), all of them in significant proportions. The Grand Start in Charleville-Mézières will bring back the prologue that had not been contested on the Tour de l’Avenir for five years. Added to this is one of the highlights of the event, with a timed half-stage to Saint-François-Longchamp, halfway up the Col de la Madeleine, approached by a road with even more severe percentages than those usually climbed by the riders of the Tour de France. From this point of view, the Tour de l’Avenir continues its mission of discovering – not only future talents – but also new sites, such as the Col de la Loze explored last year by the U23 riders and which will undoubtedly be one of the “must-see” of the 2020 Tour de France.

L’Iseran and Les Arcs to end up

Over ten days of racing, the Tour de l’Avenir thus responds to the need to discover tomorrow’s champions in all compartments of the game, but after the tough start to the time trial on the hill, the Savoyard stay will continue with two high mountain stages with the difficult Col de la Toussuire and Col du Mollard, on the eve of the end of the race. And nothing will be decided until the last day, as there will be a giant to face with the Col de l’Iseran (alt.: 2764 m.) where Egan Bernal had built his victory in the last Tour de France and which will have to be overcome before the final climb to the resort of Les Arcs 1800 as a conclusion.

The formula remains unchanged, with 26 national (and possibly regional) teams of six riders in the “U23” category.
The track record, especially in recent years, is the most motivating encouragement for the hopes of the world’s best nations after the successes of Colombian Egan Bernal (2017), the last winner of the Tour de France, Slovenian Pogaçar (2018), whose debut in the World Tour was sensational, and Norwegian Tobias Foss, winner in 2019.