I won't re-invent the wheel and always remain cautious about judging a route before it's being raced; it may be a platitude, but in the end the riders make the race. To me, this is the best Tour design (on the paper) in decades:
- Week 1 will not be a bore fest as it has been so many times in GTs in general and the TdF in particular. We should have some degree of GC action at least every other day starting Day 2.
- Therefore, this route is less back loaded than most GTs in a long, long time.
- We hate the Kardashians! Not one "traditional" final here featuring a climb that riders know so well, they pace themselves and don't lose much time if any.
- No medium mountain stages: I see at least three of them. With more detailed profiles we'll see exactly how they really look like.
- No TTT and no sprinter will win 5 stages: Alleluia! Nothing against Cavendish, but him beating Eddy's record would have made me puke non-stop for a week...
- The ITT debate is moot: we're not in the '70s or '80s anymore. We now have top time-trialists who somehow find a way to follow the best climbers and sometimes out-climb them. There used to be one rider per generation that could do that (pretty much), not anymore. This one is a 55-minute effort, not "that" bad.
So I'm quite happy with this route, Lyon on a week-end doesn't bother me too much since it's the second/third (greater vs. city) largest city in France. Of course I hope and prey that Tibopino is in the mix on home soil comes Stage 20. The next day is Paris...and my Birthday. I have a wish
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9/10. Maybe 10 if my wish comes true.
Nice post, but....
I want to discuss a couple of points.
To suggest that ITT should be reduced or removed entirely because it disadvantages the climbers, is ridiculous. Why should Bardet be given a slight chance to contend for a podium spot, whilst Denis is given none (nationality and being a co-operative team member issues aside)? Now I am not suggesting that the Tour have 150 kms of ITT with only two or three high mountain stages, but such a route might give Denis a chance, and is to say that Bardet's GC chances should be as good as Denis', which should be next to none. To be able to win the TDF you should be able to time trial reasonably well, which someone like Pinot can. And the fact that we have a number of GC contenders who can time trial really well, to me adds further argument to having them. Neutral fans want to see Roglic vs. DuMoulin vs. Froome vs. Thomas in a 45-55 km flattish ITT. And they want to see if other contenders like Pinot and Bernal can limit their losses to under two minutes, time that is recoverable if good enough in the mountains.
This route is less backloaded, however, it's more a question of influencing riders attempts to peak. If a riders optimum peak is no more than a week, and even more specifically a few stages; which riders are going to attempt to peak to stages 6, 8 and 9, and which riders are going to attempt to peak to stages 15, 17 and 18? I think that we all unfortunately know the answer to that. If there were an additional two or three climbs plus 60 kms in the Pyrenees, then GC riders and director sportife's might have some more difficult questions to answer in regards to their planning and preparation.
On another subject, how many stages is Thomas De Gendt going to win?