The tour will come close to Belgium
At that time, the Franco-Belgian village of Abeele should be the closest place to the passage of the peloton, a stone’s throw away. The 184 runners of 23 teams will go back to French territory before returning near the Belgian border, on the side of Loker to go towards Nieuwkerke and Ploegsteert. From this place, the peloton will leave for Lille where a sprint is expected to hang on the first yellow jersey of this 112nd edition of the Tour de France.
Nothing after the 3rd stage
While the second stage, which links Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer, will take place more in French lands than near the Belgian regions, the Tour will however come back a last time near the flat country on Monday, July 7, on the occasion of the third stage, which links Valenciennes to Dunkirk.
It is essentially after 140 kilometers of racing and the ascent of Mont Cassel (Category 4-long collar of 2.3 km at 3.8 %) that the peloton will head on Bergues to adopt an almost parallel route of a handful of kilometers from the Franco-Belgian border. The final will take place in Dunkirk, which is about twenty kilometers from the breakdown. There is no doubt that black-yellow-red flags should be legion to encourage Belgian sprinters.
Once this Nordic episode is finished, the famous advertising caravans will stop deviating from Belgium until July 21, when the peloton will go back to the east of France to finish, on July 27, by the traditional sprint on the Champs-Élysées.
