Preview Tour des Alpes Maritimes 2024 | Battle between Gaudu and Bardet, young guns or experienced veterans?

The spring cycling season continues, and another new French stage race is coming up: The Tour des Alpes Maritimes. This race, previously known as the Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var, is a two-day event from this year onwards, with the addition of the Classic Var, a one-day race on Friday. IDLProCycling.com takes you through the details of this race and introduces you to the main contenders for the overall victory!

The Tour des Alpes Maritimes has been held since 1969 and has appeared in various formats since then. Last year, it was a three-day event, and the name of the race was even longer. From the first edition until 2005, the race was known as the Tour du Haut-Var. Fun fact: Joop Zoetemelk won the race three times. Nairo Quintana won two of the last four editions. Kévin Vauquelin defends his title in 2024 for Arkéa-B&B Hotels in the South of France.

Practical information Tour des Alpes Maritimes 2024

• Saturday 17 - Sunday 18 February 2024 
• Participants 
  
• Classification: 2.1

Latest winners Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var 

2023: Kévin Vauquelin
2022: Nairo Quintana
2021: Gianluca Brambilla
2020: Nairo Quintana
2019: Thibaut Pinot
2018: Jonathan Hivert
2017: Arthur Vichot
2016: Arthur Vichot
2015: Ben Gastauer
2014: Carlos Betancur

Route, weather, and times for the Tour des Alpes Maritimes 2024

Stage 1, Saturday 17 February 2024: Levens - Antibes (165.5 km)

Up, down. Up and down again. Those words characterize the first stage of the Tour des Alpes Maritimes. The riders finish in Antibes, the luxury resort on the south coast of France, near Nice and Monaco. But before that, the road only goes up or down. The profile is somewhat misleading, as the riders do not climb above five hundred meters. Real flat sections are not to be found on the route until the finish. Nevertheless, there is only one categorized climb on the route: the climb to Gattières. The climb to Chateauneuf-Grasse (6 km at 3.6%) is not categorized but worth mentioning. Along the way, the riders go through a local loop around Valbonne a total of four times. This loop includes three climbs in total. The final is also slightly uphill.

Climbs
29.5 km: Gattières (4.2 km at 4.4%)

Favorites
Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels)
Benoit Cosnefroy (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)
Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies)

Times

Start: 12:10 PM
Finish: about 4:30 PM

Stage 2, Sunday 18 February: Villefranche-sur-Mer - Vence (131.8 km)

After the tricky first day, day two follows with perhaps an even more challenging day. The riders will face numerous climbs, and this time they are much longer. Right from the start in Villefranche-sur-Mer, the world-famous Col d'Èze must be climbed. After a plateau, the descent leads to the foot of the Col de Chateauneuf. Then, the course undulates towards the climb to Carros. In the finale, the Montée de la Sine awaits as the final challenge, before the peloton finishes in Vence. This finish seems tailor-made for climbing specialists with a strong finish, although the stage is so tough that a standout pure climber could also win here.

Climbs
Col d'Èze (6.9km at 5.1%)
Col de Chateauneuf (6.9km at 6.3%)
Carros (5.3km at 5.2%)
Montée de la Sine (3.6km at 5.3)

Favorites
David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ)
Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich PostNL)

Times

Start: 1:35 PM
Finish: about 5:00 PM

Favorites for the Tour des Alpes Maritimes

Note: The field of participants has not been officially confirmed and may still change!

Riders who can climb, handle themselves in hectic circuits, and have a strong finish. There are many contenders in the Tour des Alpes Maritimes aiming to claim victory in the two-day event. A significant portion of these competitors will have already warmed up on Friday in the Classic Var. Therefore, we might see the riders who finished at the front in that race competing again over the weekend.

The French stars Romain Bardet and David Gaudu immediately come to mind. They bring a wealth of experience and know what it's like to compete in short classifications. If they find themselves in a position to finish off a race, they know exactly how to execute. They are the two biggest names on the start list and deserve the role of top favorites.

Behind them, a wide field of contenders unfolds. We distinguish between the men who, with a strong final sprint, can win the punchy stages in Southern France and thereby automatically place themselves high in the overall classification. Michael Woods, the experienced Canadian, comes to the fore. And what about defending champion Kévin Vauquelin? Aurélien Paret-Peintre proved in the recent Giro to have a strong finish, and the same goes for Mathieu Burgaudeau. Count young Romain Grégoire and the also just 20-year-old Lenny Martinez among these men.

Steff Crass was in the top fifteen for a long time in last year's Tour and can therefore compete in a short classification. Then, it's worth watching what Jakob Fuglsang can do. The Dane has plenty of experience and should be able to keep up on this course. The same applies to Guillaume Martin and Tobias Halland-Johannessen. Some other outsiders include Clément Champoussin, Nans Peters, and Chris Hamilton.

According to IDLProCycling.com, who are the favorites for the 2024 Tour des Alpes Maritimes?

Top favorites:David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich PostNL)
Outsiders:Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Michael Woods (Isreal-Premier Tech), Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ), Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)
Long shots: Jakob Fuglsang (Israel-Premier Tech), Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), Clément Champoussin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Nans Peters (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Chris Hamilton (dsm-firmenich PostNL), Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ), Steff Crass (TotalEnergies), Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies)

TV Tour des Alpes Maritimes

This weekend, Eurosport will be busy, as it is the only channel broadcasting the Tour of the Algarve, the Ruta del Sol, and the French races. The Tour des Alpes Maritimes can be watched via Eurosport.nl, but unfortunately, there is no live broadcast on television. On the website, the stream starts at 2:30 PM on Saturday and at 3:10 PM on Sunday for the second stage. This way, fans can still catch the action!