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The whole race is IMO just badly designed, it just looks awkward and clunky. It's like watching Gravity Falls - great backgrounds and interesting story but the characters are awfully (lazy) drawn and just imo badly designed - it hurts eyes. Why bother with Alps last if they're much closer to the grand depart? Money & fame i guess. Pyrenees should be last - it would look better on the map and the transfers would be much shorter, smoother and natural.Axis said:to sum up
S 01/07 : Düsseldorf (CLM)
S 02/07 : Düsseldorf > Liège
M 03/07 : Verviers > Longwy
T 04/07 : Mondorf-les-Bains > Vittel
W 05/07 : Vittel > Planche-des-Belles-Filles
T 06/07 : Vesoul > Troyes
F 07/07 : Troyes > Nuits-St-Georges
S 08/07 : Dôle > Les Rousses
S 09/07 : Nantua > Chambéry (Biche/Grand Colombier/Mont du Chat)
M 10/07 : ----------
T 11/07 : Périgueux > Bergerac
W 12/07 : Eymet > Pau
T 13/07 : Pau > Peyragudes (Comminges/Ares/Menté/Balès/Peyresourde)
F 14/07 : Saint-Girons > Foix (Latrape/Agnes/Mur de Péguère)
S 15/07 : Blagnac > Rodez
S 16/07 : Laissac > Puy-en-Velay
M 17/07 : ----------
T 18/07 : Brioude/Puy-en-Velay > Romans-sur-Isère
W 19/07 : La Mûre > Serre-Chevalier (Ornon/Croix de Fer/Télégraphe/Galibier)
T 20/07 : Briançon > Col d'Izoard (Vars/Izoard)
F 21/07 : Embrun > Salon-de-Provence
S 22/07 : La Ciotat > Marseille (CLM)
S 23/07 : Montgeron > Paris
No worry, they'll add a meaningless 50km flat loop around Saint-Girons and a 100km flat loop aroun Foix and call it a mountain stage a la Tour from the 60'sRed Rick said:You cannot be seriousAxis said:14th july' stage
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railxmig said:The whole race is IMO just badly designed
What could possibly be commercial about doing boring racing, and doing a terrible job in generaldacooley said:leave it out romantic routes for race design thread. the tour will always follow its commercial script.
Sorry, but it's not about romantic routes here, it's about how clunky and uncomfortable for the riders this race looks. Why Pyrenees are first? Why the first and third (Paris stage is basically a rest day) rest day transfers are so long and unintuitive? Besides, You can do a much more interesting job with the 3rd week using places you already have, not even changing most of the profiles. Maybe something like this would be more interesing:dacooley said:leave it out romantic routes for race design thread. the tour will always follow its commercial script.
Col des Marrous after Peguere. The second half anyway I suppose.portugal11 said:Nothing will happenAxis said:14th july' stage
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Valv.Piti said:What, I just realised there is only 2 days to go. Woah
The Alps looks so bad. I still have hope for at least one really good Pyreneen stage. Hoping Planche will be similar to the stage in 2014 and the Chat/Colombier-stage will be hardcore, but they can still mess it up grandiose. I don't know what to expect of the transition stages at all, lets see.
Red Rick said:Valv.Piti said:What, I just realised there is only 2 days to go. Woah
The Alps looks so bad. I still have hope for at least one really good Pyreneen stage. Hoping Planche will be similar to the stage in 2014 and the Chat/Colombier-stage will be hardcore, but they can still mess it up grandiose. I don't know what to expect of the transition stages at all, lets see.
Don't the profiles of everything but the mountain stages usually come out a lot later? Or is that just me being lazy too look anywhere besides steephill
Formigal will have the same effect like Alp d'Huez in 2011. the last time the last tdf mountain stage was longer than 150 k was in 2010, then in 2011 the short stage worked great so the aso thought every last mountain stage has to be short.Valv.Piti said:Essentially, Formigal was the worst thing which could happen for cycling.
Its like those that are pro ultra-short stages just cling on to those few times it works and forgets about all the other times it didn't. Stages like this definitely have a place in cycling, we have seen 2 great example on that this season with action from the gun, but I very much fear they are overdoing it (well, ASO has done for a few years, especially in the mountains).
Fully agreed. It's the Tour de France. Let them at least ride stages I wouldn't be able to ride.Valv.Piti said:The worst part of it is everybody is buying it. Commentators, expert, journalists etc. At least in Denmark and the Anglo-news I read.
If just we would have some super masochistic Zomegnan-esque type to force the riders through 7 hours of intensive climbing and show how thats infinitely better to those farcical 100k stages.
The stage before the Foix stage won't be that much easier with Menté, Balès and Peyresourde-Peyragudes (around 12 kms of actual climbing - a proper 1st cat.) and the equivalence of at least one 2nd category climb before those climbs.Libertine Seguros said:Likewise, before the Formigal stage, what did we have?
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Libertine Seguros said:Ah, but what about those great Giro stages this year, I hear you say?
guncha said:Mur de Peugere will make sence as MTF only. Even without loop it will be too far from finish to create gaps. Second week looks weak.mikii4567 said:guncha said:Do I read it correctly that after stage 12 to Peyragudes the next meaningful mountain stage for GC will be stage 17 to Serre Chevalier?
Stage 13 may be mountainous, including Mur de Peugere, and end in Foix, after the descent. Thing is, if they do the loop around town, like in 2012, nothing will happen. After that, the next mountain stage will probably be 17 (stage 16 could be medium-mountain)
I don't have much expectations from Serre Chevalier because stages to Briancon in 2005 and 2007 did not provide much of action.