“It’s a unique set”rejoices the president of the organizing committee of the Sarthe-Pays-de-la-Loire circuit, Gérald Feuvrier. On February 15, the circuit organizers unveiled the program for the 68th edition, which will take place from April 5 to 8. If the final course largely resumes that canceled in 2020, on the side of the teams “the selection has never been so good”analyzes Gérard Chesneau, the team selection manager.
An international selection, a local course
19 teams in total will compete, including eight of first divisionwith the last minute addition of Ineos. “It’s something we’ve been hoping for for several years”smiles Gérard Chesneau. “It’s still the team with the best riders in the world! It’s a team of former Tour de France winners.” France will also be well represented, with ten French teams on the programme.
The course is more local than ever. This year, all stages are in Sarthe. For the first stage, the riders will start and arrive in Mamers (192.3 km in total). Same pattern for the second, at Le Lude (173.4 km). The third, and this is the only change compared to 2020, will be held in Sablé-sur-Sarthe (176.5 km). Finally, the fourth stage will take place in La-Chapelle-Saint-Aubin (173.6 km)
– Solene Gardre
“A beautiful course”enthuses Tony Hurel of the Saint-Michel-Aubert-93 team, who will be on the starting line on April 5th. “I can’t wait, for example, to pass the Mamers belvedere. It’s kind of our only high mountain for us, in Sarthe. I work a lot there. And it will make for a great show from the start.”