Tag: Plate tectonics
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Stage 8: Let’s climb
Let’s climb 3700 meters of elevation. Let’s ride 150 kilometers to conclude this Tour de France Femmes. How can we do that better than with the iconic 21 legendary hairpins of Alpe d’Huez. The grand finale of this year’s Tour de France Femmes traverses through the depths of an ancient ocean. It has been uplifted…
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Stage 1: A shaky start
Stage 1 could get off to a shaky start as Italy is prone to earthquakes. We explain what happens below the ground.
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Stage 4: An ocean on a mountain
How do you get an ocean on top of a mountain? Follow the journey of the oceanic rocks to the top of the Montgenevre.
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Stage 6: Wine and mustard
Geology shapes the landscape but also how to use it. The Bresse Graben along stage 6 made for great transport routes and fabulous wine.
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Stage 14: Tectonic training camp
For today’s stage 14, Earth went on a tectonic training camp to work on the strong forces needed to create those Pyrenean climbs.
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Stage 17: Vercors
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.
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Stage 18: Uplifting story
Ready for an uplifting story? The Alps of stage 18 are still getting higher. Will the riders have to climb even higher next year?
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Stage 19: How high is high?
How high is high is the question when we cross the highest peak of the Tour de France on stage 19. The science of geodesy has the answer.
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Stage 21: Underwater Alps
Do the underwater Alps exist? We look at plate tectonics one more time and find a twist in the tale on the Mediterranean coast on stage 21.
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Geology of the Giro d’Italia
The first Grand Tour of the calendar year brings the peloton to Italy. Even more than in the other two grand tours, we can actually predict the type of stage winner from the geology. The climbers and puncheurs will win in Europe, and the sprinters in Africa. To explain this we bring you the geology…
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Geology of Milan-Sanremo
We explore the geology of Milan-Sanremo with lost oceans, colliding continents plus a bit of risotto and wine.
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Stage 3: Hard rocks
Eclogite is one of the hardest rocks there is. Yvonne Brière used these hard rocks to prove her thesis to become a female pioneer in geology.
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Stage 4: Fossils
Fossils can be found in all of France. We find a lot along the Lot river in today’s stage due to the special geological circumstances here.
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Stage 7: Stressed
Mountain are like people. They get stressed and sometimes even a complete meltdown. The Pyrenees show what happened then.
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Stage 6: Wilson
Wilson? Is there a guy named Wilson in the Tour? Not as far as we know but Wilson does play an important role in the area we are racing in.
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Stage 14: Force of nature
Tour de France riders can be a force of nature. Today’s mountain stage shows us the gigantic forces that created mountain ranges.
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Stage 20: It’s complicated
The geology of the region we are racing in today is complicated. And so is our blog but after 20 days of Tour de France geology, you are basically experts.
