For many of the American riders in the Tour their home away from home is Girona. Garmin-Slipstream has their base here and it all started when the U.S. Postal Service cycling team hired Jonny Weltz as their team director. Weltz lived near Girona and as new riders came on board they were directed to Girona as a place to make their European home base. Since then Girona has become a cycling central location for many European professionals. Some of the riders living there are Levi Leipheimer, Christian Vande Velde, Michael Barry, George Hincapie, Timmy Duggan, David Millar, and a host of others. It’s popular, it’s sunny, and it has great training; perfect for any professional cyclist. For those riding the Tour it will be a chance to see their families, although for a short time, because the Tour does continue.
This start city will be a newbie for the Tour de France but it has been a part of many other cycling races like the Tour of Catalonia and the Tour of Spain. For riders that have participated in these events the roads will be very familiar. As they make their way to the southernmost point of the Tour, Barcelona, the stage will finish on the famous Montjuic climb right in town. With this being the last flat stage before the three big mountain stages the sprinters will have their hands full as the strongmen will look for an early chance of victory.
