Rate the 100th TDF route

[bicifan]

Are the posters who rated this Tour as very bad the only ones posting? LOL. Look at the scores. Is not the best but is not as bad as it sounds.

True, but I'm here to save the day.

 

[asdfgh101]

And stage 19 this year isn't?

I would rather have the 2009 stage, once up l'alpe and a 'Vuelta' stage than 18, 19 and 20.

 

[rghysens]

Plateau de Beille classic? It was first used in 1998 and it's never proven to be a great climb...

First part of your statement is true, I'm not so sure about the second part of it. I seem to remember quite some action on Pdb in 1998, 2002 and 2007

 

[Libertine Seguros]

It's not an appallingly terrible route, it's an offensively mediocre route.

It gains 2 extra bonus points from me for not including the Tourmalet, but then loses them again for thinking that doing the second most played-out Tour climb twice is innovation.

The Lyon stage could be good, and the Le-Grand-Bornand stage isn't quite as bad as anticipated, but the Pyrenées are poor, Ventoux is a one-climb stage (but at least the one climb is hard enough to split things up properly, it's not a one climb Verbier or Montevergine stage), and the Semnoz stage made baby Jesus cry.

 

[Eshnar]

I don't know. It's difficult to design a stage to the difficult side of Semnoz without a lot of flat before.

unless you do a double pass, the least you can get is around 15 kms of flat, true. But that doesn't mean there aren't far better alternatives. This would be quite good for istance.

 

[Magnus]

I would rather have the 2009 stage, once up l'alpe and a 'Vuelta' stage than 18, 19 and 20.

Just think of stage 20 as flat until the last climb and you have a Vuelta stage. Of course it's slightly shorter but that's countered by the early climbs that the favourites will ride as if it was flat so though the run in is only 115 km it will seem a lot longer.

 

[Magnus]

unless you do a double pass, the least you can get is around 15 kms of flat, true. But that doesn't mean there aren't far better alternatives. This would be quite good for istance.

But if they did that we'd have Libertine blowing up by the terrible misuse of the Mont du Chat.

 

[guncha]

and the Semnoz stage made baby Jesus cry.

In general Semnoz stage is underestimated because it is fourth GC stage in a row and everyone will be wasted by the time they reach bottom slopes of Semnoz. It is not necessary to have 5 climb stage the day before Paris...
In past TDF has been criticized that it never has three mountain stages for GC in row. When they finally have it nobody gives credit to them...

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

The race starts on the Ile de beauté - a dream comes true. Those will be the most beautiful racing days of the whole year 2012.

There are some other fine aspects:
Mont St. Michel is obvious, what a stunning setting for a stage finish.
Mont Ventoux never fails to amaze me.
The ITT in the Alpes seems to be set on an amazing course in a region of the Alpes only scarcely visited by the Tour.

I don't understand at all the fuss about the Semnoz stage. I like it a lot. Short length, undulating all the time, two nice climbs to shake things up in the end. At the end of the third week when everyone's tired nothing more is needed to decide the last classement details.

So overall it's a surprisingely human course which takes advantage of a lot of the beauties this great country offers.

8/10

 

[dabar85]

well as far as i can see the mountain stages are not so bad, i would like romme-colombiere more and of course le mont du chat, that would be very good surprise. For other stages we have 3rd stage to calvi promising, than in marseille stage we will have climb of 2.5 km late, albi total waste. Lyon maybe good with that climbs in the city and. gap of course. Stage to bagneres, if just 10 km shorter would be epic but also like this can be very interesting. For flat stages which there are a lot wind is only hope

 

[rghysens]

Hey kids, good news!

ASO surely must have fooled us, 'cause when I look at the map I see a tour of southeastern France, not a proper tour de france.
The real route surely will be presented one of the next days...

Anyway.
When I look closer at the presented route, I see:
*) Some wasted opportunities in Corsica. I can imagine aso doesn't want to start with a hilly or medium mountain stage, but when you visit l'ile de la beauté for the first time, you could have come up with something better. The second stage should have been a real medium mountain stage instead of the junior-length race we got now. The third stage is maybe a bit too short, but otherwise ok.
*) A short TTT. Don't like them. Should be banned from gt's
*) An almost traditional 2-climb stage to Plateau de Bonascre. There should have been some extra climbs.
*) A decent stage to Bagnères, but Port de Balès should have been included.
*) A ridiculously short flat ITT.
*) A traditional Ventoux stage (most Ventoux stages are flat with only one climb), that's ok.
*) A medium length hilly ITT. This is a good stage, but it should be combined with a long itt, not with a second medium-length one.
*) A good stage to l'Alpe d'Huez. In my opinion the best stage of the race.
*) A good medium mountain stage to Le Grand Bornand. Don't be fooled by the first 2 climbs. This is a medium mountain stage. But it can provoke some fireworks.
*) A vuelta stage to le Semnoz. Is this supposed to be the grand finale?

Overall, I would give this route 5/10, 6/10 if I'm in a good mood.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Too much whining. I think the route is pretty good

 

[the asian]

In general Semnoz stage is underestimated because it is fourth mountain stage for GC in a row and everyone will be wasted by the time they reach bottom slopes of Semnoz. It is not necessary to have 5 climb stage the day before Paris...
In past TDF has been criticized that it never has three mountain stages for GC in row. When they finally have it nobody gives credit to them...

At least if the Semnoz stage was about 175 KM, we could have given them some credit. But it's just 125 Km with one categorized climb before the summit finish.

 

[Magnus]

At least if the Semnoz stage was about 175 KM, we could have given them some credit. But it's just 125 Km with one categorized climb before the summit finish.

So it would have been better if they put a GPM banner at the Col des Leschaux?

 

[vladimir]

Too much whining. I think the route is pretty good

Exactly, route is good but not fantastic. But of course the general drama queens here would be complaining and give it a 2 or 3 if one time trail was 0,3 kilometers shorter than their ideal distance and everything else was perfect

 

[Eshnar]

But if they did that we'd have Libertine blowing up by the terrible misuse of the Mont du Chat.

That would be a little price for the greater good u.u

 

[phanatic]

8/10 I took one point off for the two plane transfers and another for the double trip up the Alpe.

 

[will10]

When I saw there was a finish in Le Grand-Bornand I was really hoping for this:

...but what we've got isn't so bad. Repeat of the 2004 stage where Klodi was caught on the line by Lance, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Dedelou]

I gave it a 7 and I see few people thought the same thing. On a scale of 1-10 that makes it a good tour, not a great one. I am reading here a few remarks about going around Bagneres de Bigorre. I have tried that for 50 years and the roads i take, the Tour guys cannot follow me. (Too narrow)

 

[hfer07]

a 100th edition of the tour and this is the kind of parcours they want to celebrate it with?


5- and I'm fvcking generous!!

 

[Libertine Seguros]

In general Semnoz stage is underestimated because it is fourth GC stage in a row and everyone will be wasted by the time they reach bottom slopes of Semnoz.

So they decided to make that distance as short as possible so this isn't the case.

I might actually lay a wager that the Le-Grand-Bornand stage, provided everybody actually rides and doesn't treat is as an unofficial rest day before the Le Semnoz joke stage, will be the most interesting of the four.

It doesn't need to be a 5-climb epic, but there needs to be one of those SOMEWHERE in the race. The Le-Grand-Bornand stage looks like the best we're going to get in that respect. Bonascre is a two climb stage, Bagneres-de-Bigorre is pretty decent, but the loop is a bit unnecessary... is that SERIOUSLY all for the Pyrenées? Two stages through the most overused parts? Jesus wept... then we have the Alps, with a one-climb stage to Ventoux, a two climb stage to Alpe d'Huez where both climbs are the same chronically overused climb, a typical ASO front-loaded stage to LGB (although at least there are some climbs near the end that could see some real action), followed by a stage to Le Semnoz even Unipublic would call weak.

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with a finish at Le Semnoz. But there is something wrong with a weak 120km stage.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Maybe there is a simple reason for Le Semnoz being such a short stage, such as having to transfer off a mountain in the Alps and then transfer to Paris.
Also explains the late, late show on Sunday.

 

[barmaher]

Too much whinging.

First week is bad. Corsican stages too short and one should be hillier.

I like the Pyrenees stages. I think Anzican to B de B us 28km, so not sure where this.loop idea comes from. The profile shows 30km from peak to finish line. This is a good stage...last of nine on the spin. I predict a good stage.

Time trial 1 is 20km too short.

Middle week needs more difficulty.

Last week very good. Stage 19 and ITT give me a hard on.

6 out of 10. Would be 7 or 8, but they overhyped the 100th edition.

 

[The fridge in the blue trees]

Corsica is ok. the 3rd stage is hard enough
Pyrenees: For a first mountain stage Ax is good enough. Sooner or later would be nice to have the combination Pailhères Ax with something before that, not sure why they insist on only those 2 each time it's there, but for a first mountain stage, enough. Second one is a mountain stage, unlike suff like Foix this year.
Ventoux, is Ventoux, doesn't change much if it's 180 or 240 km.
ITT, might be a nice one, but where is the profile.
Alpe d'Huez, good enough, can't make less flat right before it, ok, Col d'Ornon then directly, but the Col d'Ornon simply isn't selective enough.
Grand Bornand, the finish from 09 is harder, still, it's the secret queen stage. Decent length too for once.
Last stage... last chance, so if somebody needs to, he can try early, see Alpe d'Huez 11. Although the Revard is certainly no Galibier..

Biggest problem: Backloaded. Which more than the actual route will make the Pyrenees ridden more defensively. You still have a flat TT, the Ventoux, the hilly TT, the 3 days in the alps. Plus the GC not really sorted yet, which might do what it did last year... make the peloton more nervous each day until we get the big crash. So IMO the biggest mistake: Just put the Ventoux in on day 6! Marseille-Mont Ventoux. Sorts the GC, makes the Pyrenees makes the Pyrenees more "important", takes some of the nervousness out before that.

 

[zlev11]

I disagree that the Semnoz stage is too short. Remember the 109km Alpe d'Huez stage in 2011? That was one of the best Tour de France stages I've ever seen. There are enough long stages with multiple climbs, one short-ish stage that still has two big climbs will be fine.

I gave it a 7, because the first week needs a steep uphill finish or two, and the second week is kind of weak, although the stage to Lyon sounds like it might be good.