Zoom out on the map and stage 792 is surrounded by big rivers: in fact it just about completes a triangle in which each of the sides is twenty five miles long, with the other two sides being waterways. It’s a lumpy stage in which most of the climbing is done by halfway then there’s a gorgeous long gentle descent that would have run all the way to the finish had it not been for the river L’Indre running through Montbazon: and that’s not even one of the rivers that makes up the triangle! The stage heads north/north east but there’s still not enough of an easterly kick to the direction to make Paris by projection. The line’s still running west of the capital by a good fifty miles.
The rollout descends for half a mile, crosses the La Louine river then starts climbing immediately into Beauvais, through Bel Air and onward to Les Erables where the first climb peaks at two miles. It’s a candidate for the highest point on the stage but can only manage third. The descent that follows bottoms out at three miles from a sharp gradient and it’s a little surprising that there’s no water at the bottom. The road then climbs up through Bellevue to the right hander at La Liberte and the descent down from there through Le Chemin des Saulniers and La Grille does deliver water in the form of the La Manse river flowing east to west (right to left) in Sante Maure de Touraine at five miles.
Yet another climb, and to a summit higher than the first one, kicks in through Le Point du Jour and it peaks at Basse Pitiere after a false summit half a mile earlier. It’s another candidate for the highest elevation but it’s only good enough for second place.
Another descent, this time to the Ruisseau de Courtineau river at seven miles, just north of La Fillaudiere and Les Girardieres, leads to the left hander by the Camping Parc de Fierbois which signals the start of a two mile lumpy climb to, wait for it, the highest elevation on the stage just north of Sainte Catherine de Fierbois at ten miles.
The road runs almost straight from the summit to Montbazon, pausing to curve gently (left) at Sorigny after fourteen miles, just over halfway down the descent. On the approach to Montbazon, at sixteen miles, the highway passes by Tours-Sorigny Airport on the left then as the road enters the town, is descends steeply on a right hand bend to cross the L’Indre river at the lowest elevation of the stage after eighteen miles.
The inevitable climb away from the river hangs a left hander alongside the La Grange Rouge recreation and camping park at nineteen miles then as the road flattens out, it crosses the main A85 autoroute before descending through Les Renardieres to the finish just after the intersection with the D37 autoroute south of Chambray les Tours.
Distance: 21 miles / 34 kilometres
Ascent: 719 feet / 219 metres
RGT Magic Road: mCxLRqW4g4BF
Max elevation: 419 ft
Min elevation: 223 ft
Total climbing: 718 ft
Total descent: -636 ft
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