It turns out that I accidentally cycled part of tomorrow's Annecy time-trial route earlier this year, without being aware that the roads I was on would feature in the Tour this year (if only I’d paid a little more attention when the Tour route was announced!). Anyway, I thought I’d recount what I can remember of the route, and put up the few relevant pictures I have.

As you might expect for a time trial that goes around a lake, the vast majority of the course is flat. Pancake flat. Expect to see the power men dominating the early splits.

 The road is really close to the lake for much of the route, as you can see in this picture –

via i28.tinypic.com

This is looking south along the lake, in Talloires. The riders will be heading towards the camera having completed most of their lap around the lake. If the weather is good, the stage will certainly have a spectacular backdrop.

It is at this point, however, that the riders will meet the main challenge of the course, the cat 3 Cote de Bluffy. This is not an insignificant climb. It’s about 4 km long, and there are some reasonably steep sections. There are hairpin bends on this TT course! I certainly found it quite hard, but that’s probably a reflection on my ability and the fact it came at the end of my day’s cycling.

via i30.tinypic.com

This is, I would guess, at about 600 m, looking back down towards the lake at 480 m. At this hairpin bend the riders will turn off this road and head up to Bluffy at 720 m. The most challenging aspect of this climb, I think, is that it's quite hard to get into a rhythm. There are downhill bits, slightly uphill bits, then steeper sections. 

The descent, once the riders reach Bluffy, is pretty straight, and while I was there, the road was being resurfaced. So it shouldn't present any problems at all for those in the peloton with slightly less-than-adequate bike handling skills. In fact the course as a whole is pretty much entirely untechnical.

The winner? A powerful guy who can hammer it around the lake, and who won’t suffer too much on the climb. I’ll leave you to make suggestions.  

Story here.

In response to the AFLD's proposal to retest samples from this year's Giro and Vuelta (and possibly even last year's tour), McQuaid says -

From the UCI’s point of view, we prefer to look forward rather than look backward.

Yes, forwards is better than backwards, as any fule no.

Anyway, retesting is a stupid idea, because it would lead to chaos!

If we’re going to start rejigging the podium of every major international race over the past two or three years, by finding new tests for new products, and going back to the organizer and saying ‘you’ve got to rejig your podium’ .. it makes a complete mockery of sport.

In addition to this rather weak argument for not busting people, McQuaid says

I couldn’t give you an answer as to where the 2007 samples are, nor whether they are adequate for the testing... The Giro is already over four or five months (ago). I don’t know whether the samples are still (valid), whether they’ve degraded to an extent … It’s very difficult to detect CERA in urine samples. I don’t know about the blood samples, what the situation is there. As I say, I prefer that we move forward, rather than move backward."

Yes, it does sound like an awful lot of work. Besides, I haven't got the faintest idea where they are. I could ask someone, but that would mean picking up the phone. Best to forget about it. Besides, the samples have degraded. Probably. Maybe? I don't know!  I'm just the head of the UCI! Why are you asking me?

Now if McQuaid doesn't actually know whether the samples have degraded or not, it would be a bit stupid to assert that it is "futile" to do retests.

But wait!

To randomly say ‘OK, let’s take all the samples from 2007 from the Tour de France and put them all through testing processes’ … it’s futile, it’s expensive and it’s not going to serve the purpose in the anti-doping fight of today.

Yes, futile and expensive. And catching dopers hardly serves the anti-doping fight anyway.

Finally, Bordry, having stated that the AFLD passed all their information on CERA tests to the UCI well before the Vuelta, mentions that he is unsure as to whether the UCI actually implemented tests for CERA at the Vuelta.

Pressed on this, McQuaid responds

That wouldn’t be a decision of the UCI to do that. It’s outside of our scope.

Desperate stuff.