I finally have my fantasy TDF ready to post as well. I have a stage start on the Le Mans circuit like bp92, but I am confident our races won't be too similar. I have a fantasy Giro as well, but with 2 Giri being posted I thought it was better to put that one back on the shelf for a while.
As usual, I struggled with the sprint stages. I always like to put a few obstacles for the sprinters to get past like a hill just before the finish or a finish that goes up a few %, but somehow, this never works out for me when designing a Tour de France. It seems much easier in Italy or Spain.
Anyway, looking at my complete route I feel it may be a bit too back-loaded, but let's roll with it
Stage 1: La Roche-sur-Yon - 13km - team time trial
https://www.la-flamme-rouge.eu/maps/viewtrack/hd/133497
This Tour starts near the west coast of France, in the Pays de la Loire region, more specifically in the small city of
La Roche-sur-Yon. We start off with a team time trial, albeit a short one, to establish some initial time gaps. I personally wouldn't want to see a team time trial be the decider of the race, so with this length, 13km, we should see most teams within a minute of each other. There are quite a few tricky corners and roundabouts the riders will have to maneuver, so the teams will be hoping for dry roads.
La Roche-sur-Yon city center
Stage 2:La Roche-sur-Yon > Angoulême - 186.5km - flat
https://www.la-flamme-rouge.eu/maps/viewtrack/hd/133501
The first part of the 2nd stage takes the peloton through the marshland of Marais Poitevin. The roads are very exposed here, so the riders will have to be wary of crosswinds. After the intermediate sprint, the road moves further inland towards the finish in
Angoulême and the peloton will face some minor hills. With around 30km to go, there is a 4th category climb with 1 point on offer for the KOM classification. This is hardly an actual climb (1.3km at 4%), but we need someone to wear the maillot à pois! Most interestingly, from two to one km to go, the road goes up at a gradient of around 4%. This shouldn't be an issue for most sprinters, but this section could act as a launching pad for a late attack. From here on out, the roads are quite narrow and the pace will be high, moving up in the peloton will be difficult. The final km is at ~2%.
Exposed roads in the Marais Poitevin natural park
The finishing town Angoulême
Stage 3: Périgueux > Aurillac - 190km - flat
https://www.la-flamme-rouge.eu/maps/viewtrack/hd/133507
The second (presumed) sprint stage in a row, but this one is slightly trickier due to the inclusion of a 2nd category climb roughly 50km from the finish, the Côte de la Chapelle Saint Géraud. Besides this climb, we have several 4th category climbs that would usually be uncategorized, but we're in the first few stages of the Tour and the KOM hunters will want something to go for. After the Côte de la Chapelle Saint Géraud, the road goes up and down all the time. In the final 10km, we see some short ramps of 4-5%, while the final km is slightly downhill. The finishing straight is quite long, around 1km with one very slight bend, but there is some road furniture that the riders will have to avoid, or we can remove it before the race.
The climbs:
Côte de Atur (4th Category, 223 m, 5.1 Km at 2.6%, Km 6.3)
Côte du Planchat (4th Category, 326 m, 4.4 Km at 3.0%, Km 93.4)
Côte du Noual (4th Category, 264 m, 2.7 Km at 3.9%, Km 105.5)
Côte de la Chapelle Saint Géraud (2nd Category, 558 m, 6.3 Km at 5.9%, Km 142.5)
Profile of the 2nd category Côte de la Chapelle Saint Géraud
Start of the 2nd category climb
Wide roads and good tarmac on the Côte de la Chapelle Saint Géraud
Starting city Périgueux