[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":427},["ShallowReactive",2],{"parcours-entries":3,"entry-\u002Fentries\u002F01-malemort-departure":273,"prev-\u002Fentries\u002F01-malemort-departure":318,"next-\u002Fentries\u002F01-malemort-departure":177},[4,190],{"id":5,"title":6,"body":7,"description":168,"draft":176,"elevationData":177,"extension":178,"gpxFile":177,"images":179,"kmEnd":180,"kmStart":181,"meta":182,"navigation":183,"path":184,"publishDate":185,"segment":181,"seo":186,"stem":187,"subtitle":188,"weather":177,"__hash__":189},"entries\u002Fentries\u002F00-preview.md","Correze - A Road Less Ridden",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":167},"minimark",[10,18,22,25,28,31,36,42,45,48,52,55,61,65,68,71,100,103,107,113,116,120,123,164],[11,12,13],"p",{},[14,15],"img",{"alt":16,"src":17},"Malemort to Ussel - Tour de France 2026 Virtual Challenge","\u002Fimages\u002Fintroduction\u002Fmarian_segment0.png",[19,20,6],"h1",{"id":21},"correze-a-road-less-ridden",[11,23,24],{},"On Sunday, July 12, 2026, the Tour de France peloton will roll out of Malemort-sur-Correze and ride 185 kilometers northeast to Ussel. It will be Stage 9 - the first time this route has ever been raced.",[11,26,27],{},"This year sees us completing Stage 9 from Malemort to Ussel. It looks like a deceptively hard day. Officially classed as hilly, it runs 185 km through Correze and packs in about 3,300 metres of climbing. It feels like classic breakaway terrain, with climb after climb gradually wearing riders down rather than one single decisive summit. The race organisation has singled out Suc au May and Mont Bessou as the points most likely to create real separation before the final rolling run into Ussel. It is also a nice piece of Tour history, since both Malemort and Ussel are first-time stage towns on the 2026 route.",[11,29,30],{},"Between now and then, we're going to ride it ourselves. Not all at once, and not at 45 kilometers an hour. Instead, we'll cover the route segment by segment, published twice a week.",[32,33,35],"h2",{"id":34},"the-location","The Location",[11,37,38],{},[14,39],{"alt":40,"src":41},"Location of Malemort-sur-Correze in France","\u002Fimages\u002Fintroduction\u002Fmalemort_map.png",[11,43,44],{},"The road climbs from the limestone lowlands around Brive-la-Gaillarde into the granite heart of the Massif Central. It passes through medieval villages built from red sandstone, descends into the valley of Tulle - the departmental capital, famous for lace and accordions - then climbs again through the wild Monedieres hills and across the vast, empty Plateau de Millevaches before dropping into Ussel.",[11,46,47],{},"Along the way: nine categorized climbs, including the fierce Suc au May at 7.7%. Two \"Plus Beaux Villages de France.\" A summit at 977 meters on Mont Bessou, the highest point in the Correze. And everywhere, the quiet green countryside that most of the world has never heard of.",[32,49,51],{"id":50},"the-route","The Route",[11,53,54],{},"The official Stage 9 parcours covers 185km with roughly 3,300 metres of climbing. The profile tells the story: a gradual ramp from the lowlands into the hills, with the hardest climbing concentrated in the second half between Tulle and Meymac.",[11,56,57],{},[14,58],{"alt":59,"src":60},"Stage 9 elevation profile - Malemort to Ussel, 185km","\u002Fimages\u002Fintroduction\u002Fstage9_profile.png",[32,62,64],{"id":63},"the-four-riders","The Four Riders",[11,66,67],{},"Our maximum daily distance that will be tracked is 2 kilometers. As per last year there will be rolling statistics for total distance covered, who is in the lead, most consistent, best 3-day average, and more. There will be biweekly updates with a smattering of local cultural and historical content.",[11,69,70],{},"The riders:",[72,73,74,82,88,94],"ul",{},[75,76,77,81],"li",{},[78,79,80],"strong",{},"Justin"," - aiming to finish before the peloton does",[75,83,84,87],{},[78,85,86],{},"Marian"," - steady and strategic",[75,89,90,93],{},[78,91,92],{},"Nan"," - unpredictable bursts of distance",[75,95,96,99],{},[78,97,98],{},"Wally"," - the dark horse",[11,101,102],{},"Their progress will be tracked in every entry, updated with each publication.",[32,104,106],{"id":105},"a-short-introduction-to-malemort","A Short Introduction to Malemort",[11,108,109],{},[14,110],{"alt":111,"src":112},"A hilltop village in the Correze","\u002Fimages\u002Fintroduction\u002Fmalemortimage.png",[11,114,115],{},"According to the municipal history page, Malemort is a fairly new commune in its current form, created in 2016 when Malemort-sur-Correze and Venarsal were merged into a single 'commune nouvelle'. It describes itself as a 'town in the countryside'. The commune has a deeper past than expected for a suburban-looking town: Malemort still has references to Lacan caves, Gallo-Roman remains, the Saint-Xantin church, the Breniges towers, and other old sites we will be seeing along the way. The town also says that in the Middle Ages it was one of the three principal lordships of the Bas-Pays - apparently a way of saying it was locally powerful and important in medieval times, not just a small village.",[32,117,119],{"id":118},"what-to-expect","What to Expect",[11,121,122],{},"Each entry will cover one 7-kilometer segment of the route. You'll find:",[72,124,125,132,139,146,152,158],{},[75,126,127,128,131],{},"A ",[78,129,130],{},"map"," showing exactly where we are on the road",[75,133,134,135,138],{},"An ",[78,136,137],{},"elevation profile"," with gradient coloring and power estimates",[75,140,141,142,145],{},"The ",[78,143,144],{},"story"," of what's there - the history, the scenery, the people, the geology",[75,147,148,151],{},[78,149,150],{},"Rider standings"," - who's ahead, who's falling behind, who had a big week",[75,153,154,157],{},[78,155,156],{},"Weather"," at the segment's location on the day of publication",[75,159,160,163],{},[78,161,162],{},"Images"," from Wikimedia Commons and other Creative Commons sources",[11,165,166],{},"Stage 9 happens on July 12th. And so it begins. Onward!",{"title":168,"searchDepth":169,"depth":169,"links":170},"",2,[171,172,173,174,175],{"id":34,"depth":169,"text":35},{"id":50,"depth":169,"text":51},{"id":63,"depth":169,"text":64},{"id":105,"depth":169,"text":106},{"id":118,"depth":169,"text":119},false,null,"md",[],185,0,{},true,"\u002Fentries\u002F00-preview","2026-04-02",{"title":6,"description":168},"entries\u002F00-preview","Introducing 185km of hills, history, and four riders","meK9tOW_LGFALflR8nDiX9vw4ZY0xjI4E4XSta2d9O0",{"id":191,"title":192,"body":193,"description":254,"draft":176,"elevationData":255,"extension":178,"gpxFile":256,"images":257,"kmEnd":258,"kmStart":181,"meta":259,"navigation":183,"path":260,"publishDate":261,"segment":262,"seo":263,"stem":264,"subtitle":265,"weather":266,"__hash__":272},"entries\u002Fentries\u002F01-malemort-departure.md","Malemort — Where Pain Meets Death",{"type":8,"value":194,"toc":249},[195,198,210,213,217,220,223,227,230,233,237,240,243,246],[19,196,192],{"id":197},"malemort-where-pain-meets-death",[11,199,200,201,205,206,209],{},"The name alone should give our four riders pause. ",[202,203,204],"em",{},"Malemort"," — from the Occitan ",[202,207,208],{},"mala mort",", the bad death. It is a name that predates the Tour de France by centuries, a name born from plague or battle or some long-forgotten catastrophe that scarred this bend of the Corrèze river so deeply that the wound became the place itself.",[11,211,212],{},"And yet here we are, at kilometer zero, in a town that feels nothing like its name. Malemort-sur-Corrèze is modest, practical, suburban — a satellite of nearby Brive-la-Gaillarde, known more for its rugby club than for any medieval darkness. The river Corrèze slides quietly beneath the bridge. The morning air in early April carries the green smell of the valley.",[32,214,216],{"id":215},"the-town-at-the-start","The Town at the Start",[11,218,219],{},"Malemort sits at the western edge of the Corrèze department, where the limestone lowlands begin their slow rise toward the Massif Central. The elevation here is just 114 meters — the lowest point our riders will see all day. By the time they reach Ussel, 185 kilometers to the northeast, they will have climbed to over 600 meters, with excursions above 900.",[11,221,222],{},"But that is many hours and many hills away. For now, the road is gentle.",[32,224,226],{"id":225},"into-brive","Into Brive",[11,228,229],{},"Within the first few kilometers, the route passes through Brive-la-Gaillarde — the largest town in the Corrèze, and the only one most outsiders could name. Brive has seen the Tour before. In 1951, Hugo Koblet launched one of the greatest solo breakaways in Tour history from here — 135 kilometers alone, holding off Coppi, Bobet, Bartali, and the rest. In 2012, Mark Cavendish sprinted to victory on these streets, wearing the rainbow jersey of world champion, while Bradley Wiggins rode serenely in yellow.",[11,231,232],{},"For our riders — Justin, Marian, Nan, and Wally — there will be no sprint finish and no yellow jersey. There will be the road, the pedals, and the long climb east into the heart of the Corrèze. The first seven kilometers are a warm-up, a false kindness from a route that will show its teeth soon enough.",[32,234,236],{"id":235},"what-lies-ahead","What Lies Ahead",[11,238,239],{},"The Corrèze is not famous cycling country in the way that the Alps or Pyrenees are famous. But it is hard country — rolling, relentless, with gradients that accumulate rather than announce themselves. The department sits on the western edge of the Massif Central, a landscape of granite and chestnut, of river valleys cut deep into ancient plateau. The roads here were built for farmers and cattle, not for cyclists, and they go up and down with the land rather than around it.",[11,241,242],{},"Stage 9 of the 2026 Tour de France will be the first time the professional peloton rides through Malemort. It is a discovery stage — for the riders, for the television cameras, and for us.",[11,244,245],{},"Our four riders have their own discoveries to make. Over the coming weeks, as we follow this route segment by segment, we will see what they see: the red sandstone of Collonges, the lace workshops of Tulle, the heather-covered summit of Suc au May, the vast emptiness of the Plateau de Millevaches, the highest point in the Corrèze at Mont Bessou. We will count their kilometers, track their progress, and wonder — as one always does on a long ride — whether the legs will last.",[11,247,248],{},"For now, the legs are fresh. The road is flat. And Malemort, despite its name, is a fine place to begin.",{"title":168,"searchDepth":169,"depth":169,"links":250},[251,252,253],{"id":215,"depth":169,"text":216},{"id":225,"depth":169,"text":226},{"id":235,"depth":169,"text":236},"The name alone should give our four riders pause. Malemort — from the Occitan mala mort, the bad death. It is a name that predates the Tour de France by centuries, a name born from plague or battle or some long-forgotten catastrophe that scarred this bend of the Corrèze river so deeply that the wound became the place itself.","\u002Fdata\u002Felevation\u002Fsegment-01.json","\u002Fgpx\u002Fsegment-01.gpx",[],8,{},"\u002Fentries\u002F01-malemort-departure","2026-04-03",1,{"title":192,"description":254},"entries\u002F01-malemort-departure","Km 0–7.1: Departure from the Corrèze lowlands",{"fetchedAt":267,"current":268,"forecast":177},"2026-04-05",{"temp":269,"conditions":270,"wind":271},19,"Clear sky","6 km\u002Fh SW","-kC5R_lVu3rco4CAQCCweVjbk3hZWFytUKn3vYy1WPI",{"id":191,"title":192,"body":274,"description":254,"draft":176,"elevationData":255,"extension":178,"gpxFile":256,"images":313,"kmEnd":258,"kmStart":181,"meta":314,"navigation":183,"path":260,"publishDate":261,"segment":262,"seo":315,"stem":264,"subtitle":265,"weather":316,"__hash__":272},{"type":8,"value":275,"toc":308},[276,278,284,286,288,290,292,294,296,298,300,302,304,306],[19,277,192],{"id":197},[11,279,200,280,205,282,209],{},[202,281,204],{},[202,283,208],{},[11,285,212],{},[32,287,216],{"id":215},[11,289,219],{},[11,291,222],{},[32,293,226],{"id":225},[11,295,229],{},[11,297,232],{},[32,299,236],{"id":235},[11,301,239],{},[11,303,242],{},[11,305,245],{},[11,307,248],{},{"title":168,"searchDepth":169,"depth":169,"links":309},[310,311,312],{"id":215,"depth":169,"text":216},{"id":225,"depth":169,"text":226},{"id":235,"depth":169,"text":236},[],{},{"title":192,"description":254},{"fetchedAt":267,"current":317,"forecast":177},{"temp":269,"conditions":270,"wind":271},{"id":5,"title":6,"body":319,"description":168,"draft":176,"elevationData":177,"extension":178,"gpxFile":177,"images":424,"kmEnd":180,"kmStart":181,"meta":425,"navigation":183,"path":184,"publishDate":185,"segment":181,"seo":426,"stem":187,"subtitle":188,"weather":177,"__hash__":189},{"type":8,"value":320,"toc":417},[321,325,327,329,331,333,335,339,341,343,345,347,351,353,355,357,375,377,379,383,385,387,389,415],[11,322,323],{},[14,324],{"alt":16,"src":17},[19,326,6],{"id":21},[11,328,24],{},[11,330,27],{},[11,332,30],{},[32,334,35],{"id":34},[11,336,337],{},[14,338],{"alt":40,"src":41},[11,340,44],{},[11,342,47],{},[32,344,51],{"id":50},[11,346,54],{},[11,348,349],{},[14,350],{"alt":59,"src":60},[32,352,64],{"id":63},[11,354,67],{},[11,356,70],{},[72,358,359,363,367,371],{},[75,360,361,81],{},[78,362,80],{},[75,364,365,87],{},[78,366,86],{},[75,368,369,93],{},[78,370,92],{},[75,372,373,99],{},[78,374,98],{},[11,376,102],{},[32,378,106],{"id":105},[11,380,381],{},[14,382],{"alt":111,"src":112},[11,384,115],{},[32,386,119],{"id":118},[11,388,122],{},[72,390,391,395,399,403,407,411],{},[75,392,127,393,131],{},[78,394,130],{},[75,396,134,397,138],{},[78,398,137],{},[75,400,141,401,145],{},[78,402,144],{},[75,404,405,151],{},[78,406,150],{},[75,408,409,157],{},[78,410,156],{},[75,412,413,163],{},[78,414,162],{},[11,416,166],{},{"title":168,"searchDepth":169,"depth":169,"links":418},[419,420,421,422,423],{"id":34,"depth":169,"text":35},{"id":50,"depth":169,"text":51},{"id":63,"depth":169,"text":64},{"id":105,"depth":169,"text":106},{"id":118,"depth":169,"text":119},[],{},{"title":6,"description":168},1775399201989]