limestones

Stage 7: Ancient seas make fine wines

Ancient seas make fine wines. This is true for Burgundy where limestones from the time the land was covered in sea, define wine flavor.

We are building history with limestone today, after making wine yesterday and racing gravel tomorrow. It’s a limestone weekend!

Limestone is at the basis of today’s stage as it is the very foundation we race on. It’s all about gravel on stage 9 but what is gravel?

The surface of stage 10 may seem flat but below the wheels of the riders we find the fascinating history of the Paris Basin.

We ride through the Pyrenees on stage 15. The region is rich in ore. Some ores are used in our tyres making them a true velo d’ore.

The Vercors Massif of stage 17 brings us truffles grown on limestone from an ancient sea plus a natural fortress to defend against the enemy.