Rate the 2011 tour de france route (new thread)

[The Hitch]

After the Alpe stage there is only the time trial and the parade around Paris. The Alpe stage therefore represents the last chance for someone with a strong team to really have the team make a difference or for someone with a weak team to be isolated. Its possible that they could go mental from the bottom of the Telegraphe to make sure the time gaps are big by the top of the Galibier and that it doesnt end up with a group of 60 at the foot of the Alpe but rather a series of small groups. Not saying this will happen though, perhaps more likely that there is a lot of early attacking followed by a general regrouping with one team trying to put a decent pace up front to make it a hard race. Its a long way away yet though

This is exactly what we hoped would happen on the Soulor this year. Andy Schleck needed time on Contador, surely he wouldnt leave it till the TOurmalet. ANd yet. Same with Mosquera on Bola del Mundo this year. 2 big climbs before Bola but they soft pedal till that climb. Ive become a cynic. Especially in the Tour, I dont expect anyone to take any risks, just soft pedal till the final climb

 

[Descender]

Descender thanks for those links. Obviously they have much more knowledge than here, as there are pages upon pages on the Giro route and virtually nothing on the Tour!

In amongst all the personal stuff, some pertinent points have been made that highlight my own concerns over the Tour course.
I would argue that the descenders have the Pinerelo stage, to replace the "Chaingate" stage and that prior to this year, all the downhillers had was stuff like into Briancon, off the Galibier, or the very occasional visit to Loudenvielle.

Maybe the big boys can make hay into Cap Fréhel. Hopefully the wind will blow....

So more posts = more knowledge?

The Pinerelo stage... come on, Pramartino is a short climb and a short descent, not much hope there.

But yes, at least until last year descenders had some opportunities.

 

[Frosty]

This is exactly what we hoped would happen on the Soulor this year. Andy Schleck needed time on Contador, surely he wouldnt leave it till the TOurmalet. ANd yet. Same with Mosquera on Bola del Mundo this year. 2 big climbs before Bola but they soft pedal till that climb. Ive become a cynic. Especially in the Tour, I dont expect anyone to take any risks, just soft pedal till the final climb

Its a long way up the valley until the bottom of the Tourmalet though.

2 big climbs before bola del mundo but one of those was a long way out. There was some flattish ground between the second and third climbs and Nibali had a strong team = difficult to make an attack stick.

Having a gap in between the climbs makes it harder to make an attack stick because the guys behind can take things a bit more easily, so their climbing team-mates are still there, and then motor along on the flat with the team-mates giving their all to catch the people in front. If the people in front are pushing hard only to get caught then it is a waste of effort. The only option is to try and blow the race apart IMO if you want to make an attack stick. Put team-mates on the front to ramp up the pace to make sure as many other people's team-mates are blown away early on, then attack yourself, hopefully taking a team-mate with you along with a couple of other guys so you can survive the flat/valley.

 

[Cobblestoned]

This Tour 2011 was designed so unbalanced, that Ullrich stopped training right after the presentation

 

[Christian]

btw, average rating is 6.85 out of 10.

Well you can never make everyone happy, so I'd say this is a pretty decent average

 

[Anonymous]

having seent he giro route i would like to change my score to a 3

 

[scribe]

they are starting there and the flag goes down after theyve crossed it apparently. deems going there completely pointless. I cant even think of a suitable comparison

Like the stripper dancing and she forgets to take her clothes off before her set is over?

 

[hfer07]

I'm honestly waiting for the Vuelta's parcours to be unveiled so I can keep lowering my rating of the Tour's as I just did when the Giro's route came out

 

[gregrowlerson]

I like the Luz Ardiden stage too. Out of the 6 mountain stages I think that only stage 13 is really lacking.

Why does one organiser get all the say over the tour course? It seems like in Indurain's day there was always 100+ kms of ITT, these days we are lucky to get 50. Isn't this unfair for the riders? Why not mix it up so that over a 5 year period you have 140, 110, 75, 55 and 35 kms of ITT? That way most riders get a chance during their peak years to have their best tour result.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

I disagree, but I am kinda over aruguing about the itt km's. I know i am right!

your whole argument is based around evans

50km+ ITT are painful to watch, they potentially undo all the good work done by the climbers in the race.

 

[auscyclefan94]

your whole argument is based around evans

50km+ ITT are painful to watch, they potentially undo all the good work done by the climbers in the race.

your climbers areguement is about gesink. they aren't painful to watch but rather exciting.

ITT's are very pure. No hiding. Just the rider, his bike and the clock.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

your climbers areguement is about gesink. they aren't painful to watch but rather exciting.

ITT's are very pure. No hiding. Just the rider, his bike and the clock.

umm no it's not. Irregardless of Gesink (however the reason I like him so much, is probably because of the type of rider he is... if he was stronger in the itt's rather then climbs, I guarantee i'd like him less... similar to T. dekker before he doped... or got caught. Was never my favorite rider despite his results) I have always loved the climbing aspect of cycling. It's the true entertainment in GTs. Gesink hasn't ridden the giro yet, but I can safely it has a more exciting parcours. But yeah this is about gesink Unfortunately not everyone basis's their opinion on their savior like you do

 

[Matthijs]

7 because it is better than last year

More mountains, still not enough TT. I want to see the real hard men in two TT's with at least 50km each. If the climbers loose so much time, make the mountains hard enough to get it back...