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Le Tour de France heads to Burgundy
Last week saw the sixth and seventh stages of Le Tour de France, with the riders hurtling through Burgundy wine country.
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The 163.5 kilometre sixth stage went northwards from Mâcon to Dijon.
The route saw the peloton pass through Cluny, Cormatin and St-Gengoux-Le-National in Mâcon, up through the Côte Chalonnaise and Givry, through Côte de Beaune’s Chassagne-Montrachet, before reaching Meursault and then taking an eastward turn south of Beaune, up to Dijon.
Over the course of the stage, won by the Netherlands’ Dylan Groenewegen, the riders went through all manner of terroirs. Heading from the Chardonnay-centric Mâconnais, and skirting around Bouzeron AOC, which stands out in Burgundy due to Aligoté being the main grape, rather than Pinot Noir or Chardonnay.
♂️♂️
Le peloton roule toujours groupé à 50km de l’arrivée. #TDF2024 #MaillotJauneLCL pic.twitter.com/uyvhD31Y8D
— Maillot Jaune LCL (@MaillotjauneLCL) July 4, 2024
The peloton is 27km from the finish and the pace is very high!
Le peloton est à 27km de l’arrivée à @dijon et le rythme est très élevé ! #TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/Cyf65ZSEWp
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 4, 2024
Among the spectators was wine writer Raymond Blake, who commented on how brief a spectacle Le Tour can be for those at the roadside.
Part of the pleasure of watching the Tour de France is the pain of waiting. And waiting… Then the whole thing passes in a couple of seconds. Chassagne-Montrachet earlier this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/11wfbAn9Lh
— Raymond Blake (@blakeonwine) July 4, 2024
Stage seven, taking place on Friday 5 July, was a 23.5km time trial from Nuits-Saint-Georges to Gevrey-Chambertin, taking the riders up through the Côte de Nuits, the home of some of the most revered Pinot Noir in the world of wine – though a small amount of Chardonnay is also cultivated.
While spectators were able to enjoy being among the guyot-trained vines, the riders had no time to spare.
#TDF2024
Charly Lopez / A.S.O. pic.twitter.com/ftV2GYkK8D— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 5, 2024
Towards the end of the stage, the riders went past the Château de Gevrey-Chambertin, with its two hectare vineyard. The estate is now owned (alongside the Medieval structure) by a Chinese investor.
Chateau!
When the quality of your wine is inversely proportional to the oomph of your living quarters… 3.5/10 #ChateauWatch pic.twitter.com/7IsWKg6AWB
— Felix Lowe (@saddleblaze) July 5, 2024