22 teams, 212,3 kilometres and 9 vineyard tracks

September 23 ^rd 2021 - 16:06

Key points:

• The 115th Paris–Tours, which will start in Chartres on Sunday 10 October, will be decided on a 212,3 km course featuring 9 vineyard tracks with a combined length of 9.5 km within the final 50 km. It is a carbon copy of last year's route and, therefore, perfect for the classics specialists.

• The 22 teams on the start list include the outfits of the winners of the last three editions, which were held in part on these unpaved sections. A total of 14 teams that participated in the last Tour de France will be present.

The one-off postponement of the Northern Classics to the autumn season, the final act of which will be Paris–Tours, has muddied the waters in terms of who is going to enter the race, but the course of the 2021 edition seems to be one for the tough men. Since the distance and the location of the vineyard tracks remain exactly the same, everyone knows where to pounce on the opportunity to thin out the peloton and later launch a decisive attack, in the same vein as the three men who have won the race since the transition to the new format. In 2019, Jelle Wallays threw caution to the wind with a victorious solo attack from 50 kilometres out, on the Côte de Goguenne, while the Côte de la Rochère has twice been the scene of the final selection. In 2018, Cosnefroy, Terpstra and Kragh Andersen took off here before the Dane proved strongest in the finale, while in 2020, Cosnefroy was also part of the decisive move together with Casper Pedersen, who went on to prevail in their duel on Avenue de Grammont. The Frenchman could be looking to settle the score this time round.

22 teams entered

World Teams
AG2R Citroën Team (FRA)
Bora-Hansgrohe (GER)
Cofidis (FRA)
Groupama-FDJ (FRA)
Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux (BEL)
Israël Start-Up Nation (ISR)
Jumbo-Visma (NED)
Lotto-Soudal (BEL)
Team DSM (GER)
Trek-Segafredo (USA)

Pro Teams
Alpecin-Fenix (BEL)
B&B Hotels p/b KTM (FRA)
Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB (BEL)
Delko (FRA)
Equipo Kern Pharma (ESP)
Euskaltel-Euskadi (ESP)
Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise (BEL)
Team Arkea-Samsic (FRA)
TotalEnergies (FRA)
Uno-X Pro Cycling Team (NOR)

Continentales
St Michel-Auber 93 (FRA)
Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole (FRA)