The Race

The Tour de l’Avenir, which will take place from August 15 to 25, 2019, remains faithful to its vocation as a major conservatory of world cycling and a stepping stone to the professional world – particularly to the Tour de France, for which it is a feeder event.

However, the upcoming 56th edition changes direction with a Grand Départ from Marmande (in the Lot-et-Garonne department), after two years in which the route ran diagonally from Brittany to the Alps. This time, it is from the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine that the brightest hopes in under-23 years old cycling will take off, but the Savoie remains the final destination, with four final stages that will confront the young peloton to the testing mountains.

This new course direction only enhances the mountainous character of the race, since the southwest will connect to the Alps via the Massif Central, with a stage from Aveyron to Haute-Loire which, alone, will bring about three thousand meters of climbing.

Throughout the ten stages, and the return of one rest day, all types of racers — puncheurs, baroudeurs, sprinteurs, rouleurs — will nevertheless find plenty to express themselves, starting with a hilly stage around Marmande, followed by a team time trial in the Dordogne, and later, a stop at Privas in a transition stage between the Massif Central and the Alps. All opportunities not to be missed.

The Alpine portion, once again raced entirely in the department of Savoie, will be characterized by short and intense stages. In particular, it will repeat the innovative formula successfully tested last year of an ultra-short stage of twenty or so kilometers that will end on the Col de la Loze in Méribel, via a newly created road, never used in a cycling race; as a nod to the Tour de France organisers whom, constantly looking for novelty, have often regarded the Tour de l’Avenir as a life-size test.

The other Savoyard stages will also be marked by high altitude finishes in the stations of La Giettaz, Tignes at above two thousand meters altitude, and the final arrival in Corbier.

The event, open to international riders under twenty-three years old, remains raced by national teams. The succession of the Slovenian Tadej Pogaçar is now open, and new talents will be discovered on the next Tour de l’Avenir.