Tweet

PARIS — Tour de France organisers inadvertently published next year's route on their official website according to several specialist cycling websites on Monday.

Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) refused to comment when contacted by AFP about the embarrassing slip-up over the race which gets underway in the Belgian town of Liege on June 30.

The page is no longer accessible but Dutch journalist Stephan van der Zwan has some images he took of it on www.Wielerland.nl, the website that revealed the error.

The 2012 Tour will feature nine flat stages, five mountain stages including two finishing at altitude, two individual time-trials and a prologue. There will also be two rest days.

The race will comprise a total of 25 climbs of 2nd, 1st or Hors categorie: one in the Vosges, three in the Jura, four in the Swiss Jura, six in the Alps and 11 in the Pyrenees.

The official unveiling of the route is due to take place in Paris on October 18.

Tweet

The end of Vuelta a Burgos is a triumph for Team Katusha: in the last stage of the competition, which arrived in Lagunas de Nelia, Joaquim Rodriguez and Dani Moreno reached respectively the third and fourth position, behind today winner Mikel Landa (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Juan Josè Cobo (Geox), which was second. Thanks to this performance, 'Purito' is the Vuelta a Burgos 2011 winner, while Moreno is just behind the Catalan rider, having reached the second position in general classification. 38'' far: these results are a confirmation of the huge work done by the Russian team, which dominated the race, keeping the leader jersey since the second day on. 

"The today stage was particularly hard - says Rodriguez - Euskaltel imposed an incredible pace, reaching a well-deserved win. Mikel Landa, at his first year as a pro, today proved to be a very talented rider. Luckily, once again I could take advantage on my teammates incredible work: we're an extraordinary group, in which everybody is happy to sacrifice himself for his teammate. So, this success has to be equally shared with all the team members: without them it would have been impossible to reach such a result. Now we're ready to face the next days before Vuelta with a huge enthusiasm".

In the Sport Director Mario Chiesa's opinion too, the team work is the main reason of this success: "Joaquim made a difference because he's a huge champion, but if we caught this result is thanks to the whole team. From the first stage until the last one, all of our riders worked at their best in order to allow 'Purito' to win the general classification. Also because of this, I think that this result is compelling. Now, though, we have to keep on training and improving for Vuelta a Espana, a competition which many champions will take part to: so, it's important that we keep on being focused and we work at our best during the next days".

Q. Joaquin, congratulations on winning the World #1 Ranking for 2010! What does it mean to you to win this title?