“It’s steep and endless” … The coast of Mûr-de-Bretagne promises to send wood

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From our special correspondent in Mûr-de-Bretagne,

If you are bad at geography, know that Brittany has no mountains. But it is not all flat either with a few ribs that are very difficult for cyclists. The peloton was able to realize this on Saturday when they arrived at La Fosse-aux-Loups in Landerneau (Finistère), where Julien Alaphilippe let all his talent speak to win the yellow jersey from the first stage. This Sunday afternoon, it is the Menez-Hiez, the coast of Mûr-de-Bretagne (Côtes-d’Armor), which awaits them twice. And at snack time, it won’t be a piece of cake with a two-kilometer long climb at an average of 6.9% and passages at 10%.

“It’s damn steep at the foot and after that it continues to climb but straight ahead, you have the impression that it never ends”, underlines Perrig Quemeneur, former rider of the Bouygues, Europcar and Direct Energie teams. Christopher Jourden also knows well this bump of Mûr-de-Bretagne which often serves as a playground. “It’s a rather surprising climb and which is very hard physically”, indicates the president of the local cycling club, which also manages the Celti Bike store in Guerlédan. “We are stuck to the road in some places but it is especially the fact that it is long and very straight that makes it difficult, it is interminable,” he continues.

Alaphilippe for the double?

Climbed seven times between 1938 and 2008, the Menez-Hiez is now a must when the Grande Boucle ventures into Brittany. This Sunday, we will witness the fourth finish in ten years at the top of the hump which rises to 293 meters above sea level. “It is no longer us who are asking for the Tour, it is the Tour which is asking us”, asks Alexis Le Priellec, director of the Brittany-Center tourist office. The organizers have, it is true, nothing to complain about for the moment because the spectacle is still there. The winners can attest to this with each time strong guys who won at the top: Cadel Evans in 2011, Alexis Vuillermoz in 2015 and Dan Martin in 2018.

“It’s clearly a bump for the punchers,” says Perrig Quemeneur. You need explosiveness and you need to be able to sprint long enough on a slope ”. A final that perfectly suits the qualities of Julian Alaphilippe, able to put the cover back on Sunday. “Whoever won the day before can quite do the double and reinforce his yellow jersey,” said Thierry Gouvenou, the director of the event. Dropped on Saturday in the Fosse-aux-Loups, Wout Van Aert and Matthieu Van der Poel will also want their revenge, still suggesting a good fight in the Breton Alpe d’Huez.





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