It's time trial day today, the first of two, with a flat course for the specialists that heads out of Caen into the surrounding towns.
The riders will then turn back to take in a winding route through the centre of the town, with a finish by the horseracing course at La Prairie.
Stage 5: Caen > Caen
- Date: 9 July
- Distance: 33km
- Elevation gain: 200m
- Stage type: Individual time-trial
Route profile
Route map
A fixture of early Tours de France, the city of Caen has featured in the race more sporadically in the 21st century, with the most recent appearance almost 20 years ago in 2006, when Spain’s Óscar Freire sprinted to victory.
That scenario won’t play out this time around, with the first of two individual time trials taking place today.
The two couldn’t be more different – stage 13 is an 11km mountain time trial in the Pyrenees to Peyragudes, while today is pancake flat over 33km.
This early in the race, such a flat course would have played to the strengths of specialist Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), but he unfortunately crashed out of the race on stage one. That means reigning world time-trial champ Remco Evenepoel will be licking his lips even more.
It won’t suit his main rivals, Tadej Pogačar or Jonas Vingegaard, quite so well, although neither is likely to concede anything close to major time.
“Caen will be celebrating its millennium in 2025, but it’ll be seconds and minutes that matter when it comes to deciding a time trial that’s likely to mark a real turning point in the race,” says race director Christian Prudhomme.
“Most of the course will be on wide, completely flat roads that demand a great deal of power. The strongest rouleurs should be right in their element.”
What's on the menu in Caen?
We’re out of beer country here. Normandy is France’s land of apple orchards and Caen is the capital of the Calvados département, home of the distilled spirit of the same name. It’s not just calvados though, cidre bouché, sparkling cider, is also a speciality.
You may need plenty of cidre bouché to wash down the local food speciality, tripes à la mode de Caen. Yep, that’s cow’s intestines, along with a cow’s foot and pork rind, with a few vegetables thrown in and cooked for half a day. At least it’s boiled in cider, topped off with calvados before serving to add some extra verve.
Desserts are more appealing, with apple tart the signature dish. Wash it all down with a tot of calvados, which provides the trou normand – the norman hole – space in the stomach to offer room for more.
One to watch: Remco Evenepoel
The Belgian rider (Soudal Quick-Step) and double Olympic champion is that rare time-trialling beast – he's capable of being the best on any terrain at any time of a race.
