Although the organizers of the Tour de France do not acknowledge it, French riders’ strengths sometimes factor into the annual route planning.
In 1979, when Bernard Hinault was looking for the second of his Tour wins, five of the 24 stages were individual time trials, with two team time trials added for good measure. Probably not by coincidence, Hinault, who ultimately won the Tour five times, was a good climber but he was an almost unchallenged specialist when it came to racing against the stopwatch.
This year’s Tour, which begins on Saturday and finishes on July 26, is the inverse of 1979, though the motives behind its route may be similar.