// Paris-Tours 2009
Posted on Monday, October 12th, 2009
I don’t know what everyone else did on a somewhat chilly NorCal weekend, but I stayed inside on my couch and watched other cyclists torture their legs in the 2009 Paris-Tours race on Sunday.
It was the 103rd edition of the race, which runs (as you might imagine from the name) from Paris to Tours. Philippe Gilbert of Belgium won, for the second year in a row. The race was bursting with excitement–the final sprint to the finish, and a bit of a crash near the back of the peloton just before that sprint. But what I found particularly interesting was the fact that this long-running race is going to see some changes soon.
The race will go on next year, but the end is sure to be different. That’s because work is scheduled to begin on the construction of tramway rails that will run right up the middle of the street that is now the last leg of the race. The television commenters were stressing that the importance of this year’s race. Especially since it’s not just any old race route that is changing–the 2.6km long Avenue de Grammont was, until now, the longest straight road for the finale of a big cycle race. Philippe Gilbert is the only rider to have won the race twice in a row with the finish on Avenue de Grammont.