2009 Tour Route

[ElChingon]

From the main news link:

ASO releases Tour route details

On Thursday, race organiser ASO has published the complete 2009 Tour de France route details on its official website. The complete breakdown of every stage, including a time schedule, can now be found on http://www.letour.fr.

The Tour de France will start in Monaco on July 4 and feature ten flat stages, eight mountain stages, two individual time trial stages and one team time trial stage. Fans travelling to see the event first-hand can now check out the exact race route by browsing the site.

This leaves me wondering it this is enough time to allow some teams from recon-ing the stages so they know what to expect and not be surprised with "dangerous" stages/roads/routes/etc.

 

[Anonymous]

the route was published last year...

for example> http://www.thisfrenchlife.com/thisfrenchlife/2008/10/tour-de-france.html
dated october...

even the aso aint that disorganised..

they have purely added timings and exact routing but the stages where known and teams would have pretty much known the route.. they where just waiting for JB and Lance to give it the all clear..

 

[ElChingon]

the route was published last year...

for example> http://www.thisfrenchlife.com/thisfrenchlife/2008/10/tour-de-france.html
dated october...

even the aso aint that disorganised..

they have purely added timings and exact routing but the stages where known and teams would have pretty much known the route.. they where just waiting for JB and Lance to give it the all clear..

Wheew! That means no complaining to be heard

 

[Bala Verde]

Who is strongest in the last week with a 40k TT and the Ventoux, while also being ready to start climbing right from the start....

 

[Anonymous]

Who is strongest in the last week with a 40k TT and the Ventoux, while also being ready to start climbing right from the start....

do we get a prize for a correct answer, or am i better off just going for something humorous to raise my status slightly..

 

[Mellow Velo]

The LeTour site will be updated throughout the month, so everything you need will eventually appear there.
Glad they went to the English option a few years back.
The Route.

Likes: The fact that it all takes place under the Mediterrean influence, so less chance of bad weather. The North is a deadly dull landscape.
Monaco.

Dislikes: Uuuummmm....the route.
Arcarlis again. Power grind. Last time it was used at the Vuelta, there was nil time between the large favourites group. Verbier? A MTF fit only for a lesser race. Used in the Tour of Swiss, last year. Pretty short and not particularly steep. Kim Kirchen won!
Too many mountain stages with the final climb miles from the finish.
Le Grand Bornand stage is tough.

It's all about Ventoux and Annecy on the final weekend.

 

[RdBiker]

The LeTour site will be updated throughout the month, so everything you need will eventually appear there.
Glad they went to the English option a few years back.
The Route.

Likes: The fact that it all takes place under the Mediterrean influence, so less chance of bad weather. The North is a deadly dull landscape.
Monaco.

Dislikes: Uuuummmm....the route.
Arcarlis again. Power grind. Last time it was used at the Vuelta, there was nil time between the large favourites group. Verbier? A MTF fit only for a lesser race. Used in the Tour of Swiss, last year. Pretty short and not particularly steep. Kim Kirchen won!
Too many mountain stages with the final climb miles from the finish.
Le Grand Bornand stage is tough.

It's all about Ventoux and Annecy on the final weekend.

Yes it seems like a pretty "easy" route. The mountain stages where the mountain is a long way from home would have been great if the stages had ended on the mountains. This kind of a route seems to really favour the riders with good TT skills and good teams (for the TTT and for keeping the group intact on the climbs)

 

[Jasper]

Samuel Sanchez should reconsider his non-participation in the Tour. With all those mountain stages ending with an ascent, he could win the bloody damn thing

 

[DenisMenchov]

Samuel Sanchez should reconsider his non-participation in the Tour. With all those mountain stages ending with an ascent, he could win the bloody damn thing

You meen finishing whit an descent??

 

[Jasper]

Yes indeed, my bad



No wait, I meant, erm ... a reversed ascent!

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Dislikes: Uuuummmm....the route...
Too many mountain stages with the final climb miles from the finish.

Completely agree.

Stages 8-10 "mountain" stages, won't do enough. Stage 8 is as you say to Arcalis will probably have a breakaway, with the leaders all finishing close to one another. Stage 9 to St. Girons looks like the profile is backwards from what would make a better race:

And Taribes goes over the "easy" side of the Tourmalet, but 80km from the finish, where things are very likely to come back together for nearly all GC riders.

Stage 15 to Verbier is even more gradual than the Arcalis.

Stage 16 has two monster climbs that will put some hurt into people, but it too looks like the profile should be reversed, with the "Petite" climb coming last, and 40km from the finish. We'll see attacks, but not like we would have if the route was reversed, or finished at the top of one of these climbs:

Same with 17 really, but there is a lot of climbing there, similar to the Giro's Monte Petrano, and we will see some real splits on this day. Though again, it ends on a descent.

This leaves us with one difficult mountain top finish, the Ventoux, which comes right after a TT. This is were the race will be decided, which is fun, but I would have liked to have seen more climbing before.

And 10 flat stages. About double what's needed.

PS. As an aside, I encourage any and all to take a look at this year's Vuelta. After several years of mostly bland course designs, the Vuelta looks to be the most interesting of the three GT's this year.

 

[longrun]

Dislikes: Too many mountain stages with the final climb miles from the finish.

My thoughts exactly. This type of stage usually sees someone going for KOM points, then is caught well before the finish.
B-O-R-I-N-G!!

 

[Anonymous]

let's say the time trialing dictates the early yellow.
now it's stage 7, climbing finish, and you have the chance to take it but not by much.
if you do it you're supposed to defend it on the non climbing finish mountain stages of 8, and 9 which are hard and certain to have breaks.
do you do it?

 

[Anonymous]

My thoughts exactly. This type of stage usually sees someone going for KOM points, then is caught well before the finish.
B-O-R-I-N-G!!

isn't it fair to say this course doesn't favor contador as much as other recent ones?

 

[Anonymous]

to me, calling sastre the champion is like calling frazier champion when ali couldn't fight.

 

[Bala Verde]

isn't it fair to say this course doesn't favor contador as much as other recent ones?

It could have favored Menchov if it wasn't for all the descents...

 

[BroDeal]

Well once again the ASO have managed to come up with the worst GT route of the bunch. Maybe it will work out. I did not think highly of the neutered Giro route, but the race worked out pretty well.

It looks like Evans should well on this course.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

let's say the time trialing dictates the early yellow. now it's stage 7, climbing finish, and you have the chance to take it but not by much. if you do it you're supposed to defend it on the non climbing finish mountain stages of 8, and 9 which are hard and certain to have breaks.
do you do it?

Yes, a rider's strategy in this Tour will either to build up an insurmountable lead, which is unlikely, by Stage 9. Or take the lead on the final TT and be able to defend it on the Ventoux, or be within seconds from the lead on the Ventoux, and well comfortable and capable of attacking there.

isn't it fair to say this course doesn't favor contador as much as other recent ones?

When the route was announced, there were people saying that Cadel would have to like the route, except the Ventoux.

Thing is, Contador tends to do well in ITT's up to about 35km or so. So the ITT's aren't going to really hurt him much.

 

[BroDeal]

Maybe A. Schleck should skip the Tour, not collect $200, and go directly to the Vuelta. What chance does he have on this course?

 

[180mmCrank]

Do we not just think this is all a plan to keep the race really tight up to the ITT and then off the back of that set it up for a big showdown on Ventoux? I think the wisdom (or otherwise) is that they are trying to keep the race open and undecided right until the final couple of days. It will make for some very interesting tactics...whether the racing is interesting remains to be seen.

Overall I think the whole thing is going to suit the patient riders that get stronger as the race goes on. Those that fire too many bullets early on I think will find it hard to make moves count (because the parcours just doesn't lend itself to that kind of riding) and then risk being tired when it will really matter in the ITT and on Ventoux. I would have some concerns about Schleck and Contador that can be a little impatient at times and like to get stuck in and have a go fairly early on in a race. I think this plays to the strength of riders like Sastre and Armstrong who I think will get stronger as the race unfolds. I am not sure it makes much difference to others like Menchov, Evans and Leipheimer.

Although I still think Contador will just be too strong in the end (as long as Astana don't start playing games with who is being supported to win) and I expect Menchov to have grown in stature and confidence after his Giro win.

I think it's going to fascinating - but maybe more a slow burn with the fireworks at the end.

 

[Anonymous]

i think the ventoux stage potentially could be one of the greatest stages in tour history...

all it needs is 1st down to 5th seperated by anything up to about 4-5 minutes and the entire podium is up for grabs on one day..

ouside of that however, i dunno, its all a bit, lets just get to ventoux.. 2 and a half weeks of foreplay, before the main event..

 

[Mellow Velo]

Aren't we likely to see most, if not all of the contender's attempting another Sastre-like, Alpe D'Huez race approach?
A figure on a lot of conservative mountain riding, punctuated by all out trialing effort.
By the time we reach Ventoux, we may well be praying for the end.

Vuelta? yes, much better than anything since 2004, but still a bit of a toothless final week. Anticipating the usual raft of WC drop outs.
Middle week is a killer, though.

Plenty of mountains to climb over the next fortnight, when you take a look at the Suisse profiles for their Tour.

 

[Anonymous]

Do we not just think this is all a plan to keep the race really tight up to the ITT and then off the back of that set it up for a big showdown on Ventoux? I think the wisdom (or otherwise) is that they are trying to keep the race open and undecided right until the final couple of days. It will make for some very interesting tactics...whether the racing is interesting remains to be seen.

riders before have taken insane risks by putting drugs it their bodies, i hope this course doesn't encourage riders who otherwise couldn't win, to take insane risks on these descending finishes. i don't know which i hate worse, stories of riders with needles and blood bags or stories and pictures of broken bodies and helicopter rescues.

Overall I think the whole thing is going to suit the patient riders that get stronger as the race goes on. Those that fire too many bullets early on I think will find it hard to make moves count (because the parcours just doesn't lend itself to that kind of riding) and then risk being tired when it will really matter in the ITT and on Ventoux. I would have some concerns about Schleck and Contador that can be a little impatient at times and like to get stuck in and have a go fairly early on in a race.

not sure where i've ever seen contador impatient. he was extremely patient in last years giro, giving up all but 4 seconds of his lead without panicking.

 

[180mmCrank]

not sure where i've ever seen contador impatient. he was extremely patient in last years giro, giving up all but 4 seconds of his lead without panicking.

Yes you are right - I guess I was thinking of how he rode at Paris Nice - he just seemed a little impulsive - just my sense. But as you say he has ridden with great patience at other times. And doesn't change my view that this could be a race that favours those who are able to be controlled in their efforts. It might prove to be a race that can be lost in the first couple of weeks and won in the last couple of days.

We'll see.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

...all it needs is 1st down to 5th seperated by anything up to about 4-5 minutes and the entire podium is up for grabs on one day..

Aren't we likely to see...another Sastre-like, Alpe D'Huez race approach?A lot of conservative mountain riding...by the time we reach Ventoux, we may well be praying for the end.

Meaning, the Tour has been reduced to being a stage race that only needs to be a week long? Sure seems like it's going to end up looking like there's only two stages that will really determine everything...

Agree on the Vuelta, the middle week should have been the last week. But still, lots of interesting mountain stages.