Cycling in Yorkshire
Cycling in Yorkshire
Stage 19 | Stage 20 | Stage 21
Stage 20 of the Tour de France 2022 is a 40.7km time trial stage from Lacapelle-Marival to Rocamadour. There are two climbs towards the end of the parcours.
If the General Classification is still close after the mountains, Stage 20 could be decisive.
This is the Stage 20 TDF 2022 Blog.
| Date | Saturday 23rd July 2022 |
|---|---|
| Stage classification | Individual Time Trial |
| Distance | 40.7km |
| Intermediate sprint | N/A |
| Climbs | Côte de Magès Côte de l'Hospitalet |
This is the official stage map:
This is the profile of Stage 20, Tour de France 2022:
| Caravan | First Rider | Last Rider | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start Time | 1130 | 1305 | 1700 |
| Gramat (22.1km) | 1203 | 1331 | 1726 |
| Rocamadour (40.7km) | 1231 | 1404 | 1749 |
Stage 20 starts in Lacapelle-Marival.
Lacapelle-Marival is a village in the Lot département.
Its name means 'chapel in a valley with a stream'. The stream is the Francès.
A prettier but less factual account of the village's name is that it derives from 'the chapel of Marie de Val'.. In this account, Marie de Val was a shepherdess who was killed by Muslims retreating from the Battle of Poitiers, where they had been defeated by Charles Martel in 732. A small chapel was built in Marie's honour, and the village takes its name from it - it's a shortening of la Chapelle de Marie de Val.
The château was built around 1270 by Géraud Ier of the local aristocratic Cardaillac family.
In 2014, the Commune spent €2.65 million on a district heating system that runs on wood chips. It is said to save 1,200 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Stage 20 starts from Lacapelle-Marival, and joins the D940.
The road runs alongside a stream called l'Ouysse, bypassing the village of Anglars. It does go through Tourrène, then the first intermediate time check is at Aynac.
Aynac was a centre for local maquis groups of French Résistance during World War II. It has a château that was built in the early 1500s in a Renaissance style.
In 2008, racing driver Laurent Battut bought Aynac Castle. It hosts the annual Castine Rally and the Aynac Motor Festival.
After Aynac, the riders are on the D39, passing the Château de Saignes on the way to Gramat.
There's a cave at Gramat called the Abri du Cuzoul, where little stone tools from the Mesolithic era have been found, as well as the skeleton of Gramat man.
Gramat grew as a settlement because it was at the junction of the Roman roads from Cahors to Limoges and Rodez to Périgueux.
Gramat has an Animal Park which participates in the protection of endangered species including Przewalski's horse, the Egyptian vulture and the European otter. They are also involved in conserving primitive breeds of domestic animals.
Still on the D39 after Gramat, the route passes the Igue de Gibert and the Igue des Anglais (caves).
The second intermediate time check is at Couzou. Heading north on the D32 from there, there's a climb of the Côte de Magès, before dropping down to the river Alzou.
After crossing the river, the parcours finishes with a climb of the Côte de l'Hospitalet, just north of Rocamadour itself.
Rocamadour is known for its religious buildings, and for a goat's milk cheese (Wikipedia).
The name is said to derive from Rocamajor, meaning an important rock shelter. Caves here were home to people in prehistoric times.
In 1166, local citizens were digging under a chapel to bury someone when they found a perfectly-preserved body. They believed it to be the remains of a hermit, perhaps Zacheus.
Zacheus features in a Bible story. He was the tax collector who climbed a tree so that he could see Jesus above the crowds of people. According to local legend, he came here from the Holy Land after the death of Jesus, built a chapel in honour of the Virgin Mary, lived as a hermit, and preached.
In this part of France Zacheus was given the name roc amator, he who likes rock. When his body was found, it was placed near the altar of a chapel and miracles started to happen. Zacheus, or roc amator, became known as called Saint Amadour.
The body of Saint Amadour soon attracted pilgrims, many on their way to Santiago de Compostela. As many as 30,000 pilgrims came here on popular days, and the Alzou valley became a vast campsite.
Henry Plantageanet, who became Henry II of England, was a famous pilgrim here.
In 1562 during the Wars of Religion, Protestant mercenaries wrought destruction on Rocamadour and its treasures and relics. The Protestant captain threw the (still in tact!) body of St Amadour onto a fire, but it would not burn, so he hacked it to pieces with his axe instead.
Rocamadour was looted again at the time of the French Revolution.
Since the early C20th, Rocamadour has seen a resurgence of interest, and is a popular destination for pilgrims and holiday makers.
There are buildings at three levels. At the lowest level nearest the river is the main village and the Town Hall.
Take the 216 steps of the Grand Escalier, which pilgrims once climbed on their knees as an act of penance, and you reach a group of buildings known as the Sanctuary of Rocamadour, or the Cité Religieuse, at the middle level. One of those buildings is the Notre-Dame chapel, which contains a walnut wood Black Madonna, reputed to have been carved by Saint Amadour.
From the middle level, you can ascend the stairs of le Chemin de la Croix (Stations of the Cross) to the top level, where you find ramparts which are the remains of a castle dating from the 1300s, built to protect the Sanctuary.
See a map of Rocamadour.
There are three possible scenarios.
The first is that whoever is leading the GC consolidates their position by winning the Stage 20 time trial. Maybe that would be Roglic or Pogacar.
The second scenario is that a specialist TT-er has been saving their legs over a few days, and will win. That could be Filippo Ganna, Stefan Bissegger or Stefan Küng.
Finally, perhaps Yves Lampaert will repeat his Stage 1 win.
Who do you think will win Stage 20?
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Some pilgrims went to Rocamadour because they were sinners who had been sent there by an ecclesiastical tribunal.
They had to attend Mass, then set off wearing clothes with big crosses all over them, a big hat, a staff in hand, and a knapsack on their back.
When they got to Rocamadour, they stripped off their clothes other than just a shirt, and wore chains around their arms and necks. They then climbed the Grand Escalier on their knees.
At the Sanctuary, they had to pronounce their amende honorable - a penitance - and the Priest said prayers of purification and removed the chains.
They got a certificate and a kind of medal made out of lead bearing the image of the Vigin Mary.
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