My rationale tells this couldn’t be true, but my hope for awesomeness overrides it. A rumor has just surfaced in France and Belgium, stating that next year’s TdF could FINISH on the 21 switchbacks of Alpe d’Huez.

The Tour has ended on the Champs Elysées for the past 37 years, most of them completely ceremonial (but not all), and before that I think it was one of two velodromes in Paris for the other 62 years. So, a finish anywhere else would be a little special, I’d say.

As for this new rumor being completely out of left field, it’s not really. It has already been widely reported that there would be two ascents of the Alpe next year, most assuming they would be in the same stage. Perhaps that was the red herring in this mystery.

Imagine a Tour de France that really isn’t over till the last stage, and especially one that ends with a mountain stage. It completely turns the race upside down (usually there is a decisive time trial near the end). Contador must be salivating over his churros right now, if the rumor has hit Spain yet.

I know, it’s just a rumor, but a man can dream, can’t he?