Plapp, Porter and Turnbull selected for Tour De L'Avenir
Regarded as the U23 Tour de France. The 57th annual Tour De L’Avenir will commence on the 13th of August 2021.
Three of our talented riders will been battling against 174 others, scouted and selected from all over the world. Tour De L’Avenir is one of the most important races on the U23 calendar. Almost every rider that has won the L’Avenir in the past, has gone on to be a very successful professional rider. A large number of these successes have either won or finished on the podium in the Tour de France. “We look forward to cheering on Lucas Plapp, Carter Turnbull and Rudy Porter in the 2021 Tour De L’Avenir”. - InForm TMX Make
Starting from Charleville-Mézières, the ten day event will test the limits of Rudy Porter and Carter Turnbull who have recently been training with Trinity Racing in Girona, Spain. Along with these riders, Luke Plapp will join in on the fun, fresh off the plane, with a bronze medal from the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games. The three riders will be competing as a part of the Australian National Team.
- Rudy Porter
“I would say keen in an understatement. I have always wanted to do this race, since I knew about it as an U17 racer. I am extremely excited to see how I fair against the best U23 riders in the world.”
The Tour kicks off with a short 5km individual time trial as an introduction. Moving forward to the so called “flat stage” of the Tour, it will roll through the departments of Aisne and Seine-et-Marine. With a 27km team time trial race as a part of stage 3. In the capital of Aisne, Laon.
Carter Turnbull
“Stage three will be a good one, as it is the team time trial. I believe we have a strong team, capable of a good result.”
The Tour will then follow the riders into the Grand – East region; of Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine. From here the event flows into the departments of Jura to The Savoie. Here, the riders will then experience the famous and most excitedly watched marker of the event; The Mountains.
The Jura, a department in eastern France, will kickstart the gradual increase in altitude. Progressing from here the riders will be expected to finish at the top of the Grand-Colombier pass.
A day before finishing the race, the riders will experience a famous stage in the Tour De France, Le col du Mollard, located in the Alps with an altitude of 1638 m. The Tour will then finish in Saint-Jean d’Arves.
Below you can view a detailed map of the route for the 2021 Tour De L’avenir.
Luke Plapp, who specialises in Time Trial and Track races, will play an important role in the 5km individual Time Trial as a part of a prologue before stage one. Plapp will also be valuable in the 27km Team Time Trial, as a part of stage two in Laon. Plapp’s Time Trial ability will hope to help gain some time over their rivals and evidently set up Porter and Turnbull as they head into the Mountain stages.
Plapp skills should also be very useful in helping protect Porter, Turnbull and the other Australian riders on the flats and get them into position coming into big mountains.
The last 4 stages as the riders head into the mountains of the Grand-East region will look to suit Turnbull and Porter very well. Porters previous results and training show how much he excels in the stages with higher elevation.
“I will be in my element towards the back end of the tour, once we hit the mountains. Climbing is my biggest strength. I know it will be tough, especially knowing that in the last stage we reach 2800m of elevation. Which is uncharted territory for me.” - Rudy Porter
Turnbull is known to be a talented all round rider, also excelling in the hillier events.
“I am excited to focus on the later stages, as we head into the mountains” - Carter Turnbull
The Last 4 stages of the Tour De L’Avenir are all extremely hilly, difficult and long. These stages will give Porter and Turnbull a real chance to test themselves against others in the big mountains.
Wishing all three of the riders good luck as they head into the Tour De L’Avenir in the coming days, we look forward to seeing their results.
