Tour de France, 2009: A Return To “Mysterious” Mt. Ventoux?

Last week was a busy week for the 2009 Tour de France, and the event’s organizers had little to do with it.

It was the announcement by Lance Armstrong that he plans to return to the pro peloton and compete in cycling’s biggest event.

The summit of Mt. Ventoux

Armstrong’s return will generate significantly more interest to a pending Tour de France edition that appears rich with diverse appeal.

The grand departure of next year’s Tour will be in Monaco, and now in the past two days there has been strong speculation the race will visit Barcelona, Spain, as well as the mysterious mountain summit, Mt. Ventoux. There are event even rumors of perhaps a stage or two in Italy.

The probability of a Mt. Ventoux stage was reported in the French newspaper, La Provence. It reported Mt. Ventoux, known as
“Bald Mountain,” would likely be a time and could be held on the penultimate day of the race, July 25.

Other stage host towns, according to the newspaper, are rumored to be Torino, Italy, Sisteron, Aubenas, La Grande-Motte, Montpellier, Sète (for a possible first time trial) and Andorra.

The Tour de France hasn’t held a stage to Mt. Ventoux, also known as the “Tour of the Moon” because of its barren landscape, since 2002.

Amaury Sport Organization (AS0) annually announces the entire route of the following year’s race route each October.