Team Sky Set For Bessèges

Team Sky will make their European stage race debut at the Etoile de Bessèges on Wednesday 3 February.

This five-day event takes place around the Gard region of southern France and here we take a look at what the riders can expect to encounter along the way.

Stage One

The race kicks off with seven and a half laps of a 19.5km loop between Aigues Mortes and Le Grau du Roi. The profile is flat all the way so expect to see plenty of breakaway attempts early on. After those laps have been completed the riders continue south and end with an uphill burst in Port Camargue.

Stage Two

Stage two heads out of Nîmes and straight into the hills, with the first summit coming just 8km in at Sainte Anastasie. After a short rest the road kicks up again between Saint Hippolyte de Montaigu and Saint Marcel de Careiret and further climbs are to follow at Méjannes le Clap and Mas d'Atuech. Once those are conquered the day ends with six laps of Saint Ambroix.

Stage three

A gentle roll out sees the riders exit Pont Saint Esprit before following the river Lez south to Roquemaure. From there the peloton must tackle a tricky climb up to Marcel de Careiret before taking on two laps of a 7.1km route which includes a tough 256m ascent past Carsan. Once they have scaled that for a second time it is back down into the centre of Bagnols sur Cèze for the finish.

Stage four

At Ales the pack will only have 40km to get themselves settled before the biggest climb of the tour gets under way at Cendras. The road rises 490m in the 11km it takes to get to Lamlouze and this section could prove pivotal despite it coming so early in the stage. Once over that summit there is another brute of a climb up to Portes. Two smaller scrambles at Le Martinet and Saint Florent sur Azonnet will keep the muscles bulging all the way back into Ales.

Stage five:

A nightmarish start to the final stage sees the riders head north out of Gagnières and straight up the Col du Grand Châtaignier. They then follow the river Cèze before heading back up towards the start line. That route is repeated a further three times before cutting off at Foussignargues and heading up to Bessèges where the tour ends with seven quickfire laps around the town centre.
Ones to watch

The same seven-man Team Sky squad that helped Steve Cummings to a fourth-placed finish at the GP Cycliste la Marseillaise last Sunday will be on hand once again and Sylvain Calzati is tipped to lead them this time around. The Frenchman has happy memories of the race after claiming second place overall in 2004 and is raring to make his mark again.

Traditionally the race favours flatland or sprint specialists with big names like Thor Hushovd, Enrico Gasparotto and defending champion Thomas Voeckler all expected to push Calzati hard for top honours.

Team Sky views

Peter Kennaugh is Team Sky's only first-year professional but feels the race offer the perfect chance to get himself acquainted with the big boys.

He said: "There are a couple of tough days, but each stage is relatively short - around 130-140km - which is good for your first stage race. It is a good way to ease into the season."

Cummings claimed a podium place on stage three in 2006 and he said: "I'll be looking to make my mark on the tougher stages. I prefer more selective stages to those which usually end in bunch sprints."