La Planche des Belles Filles explained

La Planche des Belles Filles
Nearest City:Belfort
Coordinates:47.7722°N 6.7778°W
Pushpin Map:France#France Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Pushpin Relief:y
Top Elevation:1148m (3,766feet)

La Planche des Belles Filles (in French pronounced as /la plɑ̃ʃ de bɛl fij/) is a ski station in the Vosges Mountains, in France. It is located in the Haute-Saône département. Since 2012, the climb to the summit has been used several times during the Tour de France cycle race.

Etymology and legend

The name Belles Filles literally means "beautiful girls", but is actually derived from the local plant life. The mountain is attested from the 16th century as lieu peuplé de belles fahys, a "place inhabited with nice beech trees" in the local dialect. Belles fahys later became corrupted into Belles Filles, though there remains a nearby village of Belfahy. Meanwhile, Planche, "board", is derived from the nearby small town of Plancher-les-Mines.

A folk etymology, in contrast, holds that the mountain took its name from the time of the Thirty Years' War. According to legend, young women from Plancher-les-Mines fled into the mountains to escape Swedish mercenaries as they feared being raped and massacred. Rather than surrender, they decided to commit suicide and jumped into a lake far below. One of the soldiers then took a board on which, with his dagger, he engraved an epitaph for the "beautiful girls".[1] [2] A wooden statue, created by a local artist, is a reminder of the legend.[3]

Cycle racing

From Plancher-les-Mines the climb to the finish at 1035m (3,396feet) is 5.9km (03.7miles) long, gaining 503m (1,650feet) and averages 8.5% with a maximum of 14%,[4] but with a short stretch from 22% to 28% near the finish.[5]

Tour de France

La Planche des Belles Filles was first used as a finish in Stage 7 in the 2012 Tour de France, 199km (124miles) from Tomblaine on 7 July.[4] The stage was won by Chris Froome with his team-mate Bradley Wiggins taking the race lead.[6] The steep finish proved popular, and it quickly became a popular climb among cycling fans.[7] The climb has since been used frequently; in 2014 it was the finish of Stage 10 and won by then race leader Vincenzo Nibali;[8] [9] in 2017 it was the finish of Stage 5 of the Tour, with Fabio Aru winning by 16 seconds from Dan Martin, and Chris Froome taking the yellow jersey.[10] It featured again in 2019, won by Dylan Teuns.

It was the penultimate stage finish in a mountain time-trial in stage 20 of the 2020 Tour de France, which was won by Tadej Pogačar, who also took the yellow jersey and the polka-dot jersey.[11]

YearStageStart of stageDistance (km)CategoryStage winnerYellow jersey
20227Tomblaine176.5 1
202020Lure36.2 (ITT)1
20196Mulhouse160.51
20175Vittel160.51
201410Mulhouse161.51
20127Tomblaine1991

Le Tour de France Femmes

La Planche des Belles Filles featured in the premiere event of Le Tour de France Femmes in 2022 as the finish of the final stage (stage 8) on 31 July.[12]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Légende de La Planche des Belles Filles. www.destination70.com. 30 June 2012. fr. https://web.archive.org/web/20120725131248/http://cg70xnet01.cg70.fr/alfresco/service/api/node/workspace/SpacesStore/9cee29aa-8f7b-40fc-9327-d25e820a3c44/content.pdf?guest=true. 25 July 2012. dead.
  2. Web site: La légende . . .. www.stationdelaplanche.fr. 8 July 2012. French.
  3. Web site: Sculpture de Jacques Pissenem. Légende de la Planche des Belles Filles. www.bleuet-vert.com. 8 July 2012. French. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131203094955/http://www.bleuet-vert.com/album/photos-franche-comte/sur-les-routes-et-les-sentiers/sculpture-de-jacques-pissenem.html. 3 December 2013.
  4. Web site: Stage 7: Tomblaine – La Planche des Belles Filles. Tour de France. Amaury Sport Organisation. 27 June 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120701152830/http://www.letour.fr/2012/TDF/COURSE/us/700/etape_par_etape.html. 1 July 2012. dead. dmy-all.
  5. Web site: MacMichael . Simon. TDF Stage 7: Video Preview - La Planche des Belles Filles . road.cc. 5 July 2012 . 4 July 2012.
  6. Web site: Tour de France: Bradley Wiggins takes yellow jersey. BBC Sport. 7 July 2012. 7 July 2012.
  7. Web site: shrubshall . Stephen . La Planche des Belles Filles: Taking on the Tour's brutal summit finish . 11 July 2019 . Cycling Weekly . 16 September 2020.
  8. Web site: Le tracé tour de France 2014. 23 October 2013. fr.
  9. Web site: La Planche des Belles Filles dans le Tour de France. ledicodutour. 5 July 2017 . French.
  10. News: Tour de France: Aru wins on La Planche des Belles Filles. Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 5 July 2017. 5 July 2017.
  11. News: Pogacar storms to maillot jaune on stage 20 as Roglic's Tour de France bid collapses. Cyclingnews.com. 19 September 2020. 19 September 2020.
  12. Web site: Stage 8 - Lure > la Super Planche des Belles Filles - Tour de France Femmes 2022.