Dutch organisers of the short Tour de France loop into the Netherlands today are ready and happy to welcome the Grande Boucle. The Tour caravan will cross the Belgian border this afternoon in stage three, and pursue for another 33,4 kilometres on Dutch soil until the finish in Valkenburg. There will be three Cat. 4 hills to climb, all of them well-known to the cycling world as they are also included in the itinerary of spring classic Amstel Gold Race: the Loorberg, the Trintelen and the Cauberg in the city of Valkenburg itself.
This last climb will of course be the most decisive one with its 12 percent gradient - and spectators are sure to abound. "It's the Alpe d'Huez of the Netherlands!" said one of the organisers, Bennie Ceulen. Valkenburg mayor Constant Nuytens expects at least 400,000 people from the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium to come to the streets and watch the event, but on the sides of the Cauberg main street climb, only 40,000 fans will be admitted.
