Some say the 1980 Worlds course was the toughest on record. 20 laps of a 13KM course with 6000M of climbing. Only 14 riders finished the race with French hero Bernard Hinault taking the rainbow jersey on a course based on the key climb, the Cote de Domancy. The Cote is 2.5km at an average 9.4% and climbs 300M. In recent years its featured regulally in both the Tour de France and the Criterium du Dauphine both as a climb and a descent. Its the one where Chris Froome skidded off descending in 2016 on the very wet stage to St Gervais le Bettex where Romain Bardet took the stage. Froomey finished the stage on Geraint Thomas' bike. The day before Froomey won the Time Trial up the Cote to Megeve. Fast forward to 2022 and I'm lucky to call Domancy home. It seems to have missed the mainstream cycling media however on a cold February Saturday Bernard 'the Badger' Hinault was back in our tiny village to announce the canditature of our region, Haute-Savoie, for the 2027 World Championships. Like Glasgow in 2023, the 2027 Worlds will be the multi discipline event with the Road, Handi-sport and Mountain Bike events all taking place in one week. It was muted in the the local press that the Cote de Domancy could again be a key feature in the course design. So mean time we have our fingers crossed that Haute Savoie wins the race for the Worlds and we again see the Rainbow Jersey being contested on our local roads.
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