WHAT DO THE CIA and Amuary Sports Organisation, the company reponsible for organising the Tour de France, have in common? Both, it seems, are quite fond of keeping quiet about covert operations.
After a document purporting to be the 2012 Tour de France race route hit the internet yesterday, reports circulated that the ASO has leaked the information erroneously, a claim that company director Claude Rasch– in true espionage fashion– refused to either confirm or deny when he discussed the situation with Cyclingnews.
“I can’t tell you anything about this. We are fixing it now internally. The only person who could comment on it would be (race director) Christian Prudhomme himself.”
Today, Italian journalist Michele Bufalino claimed that the organisers of the Giro d’Italia committed a similar error by accidentally publishing next year’s route on the English page of the event’s official website.
The leaked lists of race stages read as follows:
2012 Tour de France stages:
P Prologue Sat 30 June Liège > Liège 6.1 km
1 Road stage Sun 1 July Liège > Seraing 198 km
2 Road stage Mon 2 July Visé > Tournai 207 km
3 Road stage Tues 3 July Orchies > Boulogne-sur-Mer 197 km
4 Road stage Weds 4 July Abbeville > Rouen 214 km
5 Road stage Thurs 5 July Rouen > Saint-Quentin 197 km
6 Road stage Fri 6 July Épernay > Metz 210 km
7 Road stage Sat 7 July Tomblaine > La Planche des Belles Filles 199 km
8 Road stage Sun 8 July Belfort > Porrentruy 154 km
9 Time trial Mon 9 July Arc-et-Senans > Besançon 38 km
10 Road stage Weds 11 July Mâcon > Bellegarde-sur-Valserine 194 km
11 Mountains Thurs 12 July Albertville > La Toussuire – Les Sybelles 140 km
12 Mountains Fri 13 July Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne > Annonay 220 km
13 Road stage Sat 14 July Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux > Le Cap d’Agde 215 km
14 Road stage Sun 15 July Limoux > Foix 192 km
15 Road stage Mon 16 July Samatan > Pau 160 km
16 Mountains Weds 18 July Pau > Bagnères-de-Luchon 197 km
17 Mountains Thurs 19 July Bagnères-de-Luchon > Peyragudes 144 km
18 Road stage Fri 20 July Blagnac > Brive-la-Gaillarde 215 km
19 Time trial Sat 21 July Bonneval > Chartres 52 km
20 Road stage Sun 22 July Rambouillet > Paris Champs-Élysées 130 km
Alleged Giro d’Italia stages
5 May: Herning – Herning ITT (8.7 km)
6 May: Herning – Herning (206 km)
7 May: Horsens – Horsens (190 Km)
8 May: Rest day, transfer to Italy
9 May: Verona – Verona TTT (32.2 km)
10 May: Modena – Fano (199 km)
11 May: Urbino – Porto Sant’Elpidio (207 Km)
12 May: Recanati – Rocca di Cambio (202 km)
13 May: Sulmona – Lago Laceno (229 km)
14 May: San Giorgio nel Sannio – Frosinone (171 km)
15 May: Civitavecchia – Assisi (187 km)
16 May: Assisi – Montecatini Terme (243 Km)
17 May: Seravezza – Sestri Levante (157 km)
18 May: Savona – Cervere (121 km)
19 May: Cherasco – Cervinia (205 km)
20 May: Busto Arsizio – Lecco/Pian dei Resinelli (172 km)
21 May: Rest day
22 May: Limone sul Garda – Falzes/Pfalzen (174 km)
23 May: Falzes/Pfalzen – Cortina d’Ampezzo (187 km)
24 May: San Vito di Cadore – Vedelago (139 km)
25 May: Treviso – Alpe di Pampeago (197km)
26 May: Caldes/Val di Sole – Passo dello Stelvio (218 km)
27 May: Milano – Milano ITT (31.5 km)
