Tour de France - 100
The centenary edition of the Tour de France visited Corsica for the very first time in 2013. The island has been a regular location for the Criterium but never the Tour. The Grand Départ took place on the 29 June 2013 from Porto-Vecchio. Having never visited Corsica the Tour stayed for four days - the Presentation of the Teams and three days of racing. The three stages took place in both Departments - Corse Du Sud and Haute Corse - and provided in total 500km of racing.
Despite all the concerns the visit to Corsica was a great success especially for us spectators. I am of course biased but it was truly spectacular - just take a look at my gallery and the warm up video on YouTube
Despite all the concerns the visit to Corsica was a great success especially for us spectators. I am of course biased but it was truly spectacular - just take a look at my gallery and the warm up video on YouTube
Criterium International
The Critérium International was formerly a three day road race designed as a mini Tour de France - a sprint stage, a time trial and a mountain stage - an all round test. The modern format remains similar in terms of the test but it's squeezed into two days with the first of those being a 'split stage' - a 90km road race in the morning followed by a short individual time trial in the afternoon.
The Crit came to Corsica in 2010. The 82nd edition was run here in March 2014 and was won by Jean-Christophe Péraud of team AG2R. Previous winners in Corsica have included Cadel Evans and Chris Froome.
The final ever edition of the race was held on Corsica in 2016.
Corsica Classica
A new one day race that only occurred once back in 2015. The hope was to establish it as a 'one day classic' and build on the experience of the Criterium and TDF. The inaugural edition of the race took place on 26 March 2015 departing Ajaccio and finishing in Bastia. It's a 204km route and took in two categorised climbs ( the reverse of the 2013 TDF stage until Corte) and then off to the east coast for a relatively flat run into the finish.
Tour de Corse
If you type into Google, ‘Tour de Corse Cycliste’ you’ll find 112,000 results largely about a bike race which first ran in 1920. That first race was won by the very aptly named Napoleon Paoli - yes the very same man who later that season crashed into a donkey during the Tour de France. I say aptly named because of course Napoleon was born in Ajaccio and Pasquale Paoli was a revered Corsican patriot and author of the state constitution. The last seen of Napoleon Paoli he was disappearing into the distance astride said donkey and later abandoned the tour after being hit on the head by a rock – all true!
Since 1920 the Tour de Corse Cycliste has been run 36 times. The 37th rolled out of Bastia on the 23 May for four days of racing over 516km. Notable past winners have included Bernard Hinault in 1982 and, in the preceding year, Stephen Roche. It was Roche’s first pro victory and he beat Hinault in the process. No surprise then that the ‘Badger’ should come back a year later and right the wrong, as well of course as winning the Tour de France in ‘81 and ‘82. Stephen followed his win in Corsica with victory in the Paris-Nice and the rest as they say, is history.
Since 1920 the Tour de Corse Cycliste has been run 36 times. The 37th rolled out of Bastia on the 23 May for four days of racing over 516km. Notable past winners have included Bernard Hinault in 1982 and, in the preceding year, Stephen Roche. It was Roche’s first pro victory and he beat Hinault in the process. No surprise then that the ‘Badger’ should come back a year later and right the wrong, as well of course as winning the Tour de France in ‘81 and ‘82. Stephen followed his win in Corsica with victory in the Paris-Nice and the rest as they say, is history.
© M.Lund 2013-25