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Tour de France and Samoens
The village of Samoens has enjoyed a long history with the Tour de France. The climb of the Col Joux Plane (which starts from the village) has ended and secured the result for many a participant of the Tour. Cycling fans will recall the year that the ascent of this pass brought Lance Armstrong to near defeat or the year that Floyd Landis secured an incredible comeback to win the stage and take the 2006 race only to have this title taken away from him on alleged doping charges.
The annual route has frequently passed through or in close proximity to Samoens and 2009 will be no exception. Although the details of the exact route are yet to be announced, we do know that Stage 17 (22 July 2009) will pass nearby. Stage 18 (23 July 2009) is a time trial in the town of Annecy which is only 60 mins drive from Samoens. Whether it is the international spectacle of Le Tour or the challenge of riding alone in the panoramic splendor of the Alpes, Samoens and the Grand Massif is a cycling Le Tour - Stage 17 - 2009
Stage 17 (22 July 2009) will start in Bourg-Saint-Maurice and, 169km later, will finish in Le Grand-Bornand. Bourg-Saint-Mauriceis a 2-time stage town in the canton of Savoie (73). In 1996 Bourg-Saint-Maurice was the start of the time trial to Val d’Isère. Russia’s Yevgeni Berzin, who had just won the Yellow Jersey, made the best time of the day on the 30.5km stretch to Val d’Isère.Le Grand-Bornandis a 4-time stage town in the canton of Haute-Savoie (74). It has been the start of 2 stages and, in 1995 it is where Alex Zülle pumped himself up to win the stage in La Plagne. In 1999 Lance Armstrong, who had just taken control of the Tour in the Metz time-trial, made a dash for Grand-Bornand, winning his second stage in a row in Sestrières. Five years later he won the stage that started in Bourg-d’Oisans. In 2009, stage 17 will cover 5 mountainpasses:
 As soon as we know the exact details of the stage we will update the page to help you find the best place to view this stage. Tour de France, 2009Next years Tour looks set to be extremely exciting, not only is Lance Armstrong back in the peloton but the penultimate stage will end at the top of the massive Mont Ventoux (21,2km climb at 7,6%). It is the highest point in Provence, culminating at 1,912 metres, and will ensure the battle for the Yellow Jersey will go down to the wire!
21 stages
The 2009 Tour de France will include a total of 20 mountain passes or summit finishes:
55km of individual time-trial...Only once, since the introduction of time-trials at the revival of the Tour in 1948, has the total individual time-trial distance been shorter: 52.30km in 1967.The peloton will visit 6 countries:After the Start in Monaco, the Tour will pass through France, Spain, Andorra and Switzerland and make a detour into Italy. (The 1992 tour still holds the record of 7 countries visited).The Mont Ventoux on the day before the Champs-Élysées!Never in the history of the Tour has a mountain been on the programme the day before the finish in Paris. This will be the case this year with Mont Ventoux mountain finish of stage 20.There will be 8 new stop-over towns:
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