Thats a very nice Tour Tonton :
-First, i have to admit that after a long reflexion, i think that i have to change my point of view about cobbled/white roads stage past Week-1, as it is in contradiction with other points i believe in.
From, i dont really know if its the best way to use them to the more banana skins we have, the better.
-I dont really care for the weekly exchange of jerseys in Week-1 that is of no real interest overall, but i understand the need to preserve some uncertainty on Day 1. I'm intrigued because on one hand, you got the atrocious habits of the peloton with riders that dont take risks until its too late. But on the other hand, you got a stage that is difficult with the yellow jersey up for grabs, which is a powerful incentive. I believe that several smaller climbs are probably a better fit for that scenario though.
-I like the Le Puy-Aurillac stage. Wish it was slightly harder before the Puy Mary. Thats almost the biggest problem for me in modern routes, the lack of stages using lot of cat.2-3 climbs. They're much more open than the others, and horrific to control. But as race organizers are usually way too soft on those, we have to deal with a sad breakaway and a peloton finishing 8:30 later...
-Surprised to not see the Pic de Nore + descent all the way to Mazamet, as you already had a similar finish at la Croix-de-Bauzon days earlier, another one in the same kind of trip to Mont-Louis the next day and that descent is interesting cycling-wise.
-The second week is a brave choice, but i think an Ardennes-like stage would have appropriate there. Thats probably the only thing missing in your Tour.
A combo of back-to-back simili-classics is possible in Brittany or around Sedan.
As explained earlier, an uphill sprint...is still a sprint. Even at Huy, it is that way, unfortunately.
-Where do you race between Royan and St-Nazaire ? Is it close enough to the coast (with Luçon in the equation, im not sure)? Hopefully, it can be a windy day.
-Loved the Jura stage...but the Mont d'Or might be too difficult compared to the rest of the stage, which might trouble the initiatives. I think its hard enough, though, to prevent that kind of issue.
-A big applause for Sarenne and Beillurti.
-La Grave-Lachat is glorious.
-No criterium to finish, thats a good note for me too.
STAGE 4 : Erevan - Lake Kari, 149km.
New country today, Armenia, the least populated of all the former soviet republics.
Trapped in the Caucasus, with a lot of mountains...a lot. The landscape is really great there as its quite preserved from us and our destructive habits.
If today, it is a very small country, in the past, it was certainly not. It was the first country to adopt Christianity as its religion.
Khor Virap Monastery, with the Mount Ararat on the background
The country stayed independent or semi-independent pretty much until the mongols came (13th century).
Persia and Russia finally ruled over the area much later, until 1991.
Erevan is the capital, and it is a huge city, as 1/3 of the armenian population live there.
The soviet explosion explains partially that kind of ratio (economical depression, immigration, poverty...) as the city is much more dynamic than the rest of the country.
Erevan
Lets talk about the stage, which is quite simple :
We'll simply climb the Mount Aragats, which is the highest point of Armenia.
Yes, there is the Mount Ararat, national symbol and holy place for armenians, but today in Turkey, and the Mount Aragats, highest point of the country. They're both volcanoes, by the way.
One climb to do, but the only problem for the riders is that we'll have to do it several times.
We start with 30km of training between Erevan and Ashtarak, right at the bottom of the ascent.
And then, welcome in hell, as we're here for several hours of pain. Over 50km of climbing today for the first mountain stage, thats tough, i know.
We'll start a first time, only to stop shortly before the mid-way point, near the research station of Nor-Amberd.
Named after an old fortress in the vicinity.
Amberd Fortress. Supposedly, that means fortress in the clouds. How poetic is that ?
12km over 7.5% in average gradient, thats a good way to shake things up. The run-in to the bottom being slightly different, the second ascent doesnt have the same data, but its the same road being used for the last 12 km...only to stop again.
Yeah, why stop the fun right now ?
Anyway, the third time will be the right time to go all the way to the top of the road, to the Lake Kari, which is 3183 meters high. There is a research station there, which explains why there is such a good road.
And to reach that small lake, the third climb will be 29km long, still at 7% average. Thats awfully long.
The altitude is also going to be a factor (18km of climbing over 2.000m), and there will be disappointed riders already after today.
It is going to be mandatory to be in top shape very early in the race because if you may have kinda survived in Alexandrette, here, the cost of a poor day will be much much higher.
The race is done by riders, we all know how conservative they tend to race before the end of the first mountain finish, but i think that the profile of the stages will help. There is already two very tough stages done to Alexandrette and Agri, they'll already know enough about their position relative to others.
There is no extreme gradients, even though it is very hard, you can throw teammates at the front, there is no absurd amount of flat, and the stage is relatively short.
(Mount Aragats gradients, km 1-12 : 4.5 - 8.5 - 8.5 - 8.5 - 6.5 - 3.5 - 8 - 8.5 - 9 - 7.5 - 9 - 8.5 - 7.5)
(Mount Aragats gradients, km 12-29 : 6.5 - 6 - 9 - 3.5 - 8 - 7 - 7.5 - 7.5 - 7 - 5.5 - 5.5 - 6 - 5 - 2.5 - 8.5 - 9.5 - 4.5)
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