Bumps and holes over 1300 meters long. Between Emerchicourt and Montchécourt, the passage of the riders for the Tour de France still seems surreal. It is one of the two new cobbled sections of the 5th stage of the Tour de France 2022. The other new section is located between Auberchicourt and Montchécourt.
Work from next March
“It’s incredible, beautiful even! I did not believe at all that it was possible to be able to pass by here, I take my hat off to them“, laughs Daniel, a cyclist from Emerchicourt. As of next March, work will begin. The pavement will be redone on three areas of the original pavers. The Raismes horticultural school will be involved. A great weeding is also on the program.
“These are paths mainly used by agricultural machinery, Régis Rossel, Mayor of Emerchicourt. Apart from mountain bikes, we certainly do not see those that circulate on tarmac every Sunday. ”
– Tour de France
A “bible” of unpublished cobblestone sectors
In the North, the technical director of the Tour de France, Thierry Gouvenou, lists approximately 85 km of cobblestones, 70 to 75 km have already been used for bicycle races. So it remains 10 to 15 km of unseen in the department.
We never know in what state we will find them
To find these new cobbled routes, Thierry Gouvenou and his team rely on a very specific document, “we have a bible of cobblestones created twenty years ago in which all the cobbled sectors are listed. We never know in what state we will find them and if we will succeed in finding them, says Thierry Gouvenou. This is done with hours of driving. “For example, the Montchécourt and Emerchicourt sector had already been spotted for the 2018 route but was not used at the time.