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Rate the 2012 Tour route

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How would you rate the 2012 Tour de France route?

  • 1 (utter crap)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

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roundabout said:
I still don't get why 2007 is a good format while say 2008 isn't.

Oh right, a route biased to time-trialists will always be a better format in your eyes than a more balanced route such as 2008.

Once again, the 2007 format is the right one in my eyes, not because it favours time-trialists, but because it is balanced and complete. A testament of that are the two riders in the final GC: Contador and Evans, the two most complete riders of our generation. One more of a climber, the other more of a TT-list, and both had their chance to win and brought it to the wire.

Now like I said, the 2007 route was very improvable in the mountains. The Le Grand-Bornand stage featured a lonely Colombière, the Tignes stage featured three well linked climbs at the end, but none of them was a HC and all of them where not particularly steep. And still, that was the stage where the chicken finally got the maillot jaune, after starting the day more than 4 minutes back. In the Briançon stage, the Galibier was again too isolated and the stage too short. The Plateau de Beille stage had again too much easy terrain between Pailheres and Beille. Loudenvielle was good, same as this year's last mountain stage but descending into Loudenvielle. And we still remember that stage vividly. And the Aubisque stage, well needless to say Aubisque was also too isolated, that was a bad final mountain stage.

2008 wasn't the worst of tours, though very improvable (EDIT: actually on closer inspection, it was pretty bad) but again, I'm not talking about individual tours, I'm using 2007 as the point in time where the GTs, and specifically the TdF, drifted from the classic concept to the capped one of recent years.
 
Oct 8, 2011
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The problem is not really stage 14, it is stage 15 is not a mountain stage. 14 is a good as an introduction the mountains but then a flat stage. Makes absolutely no sense at all.
 
Oct 8, 2011
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The problem is not really stage 14, it is stage 15 is not a mountain stage. 14 is good as an introduction the mountains but then a flat stage. Makes absolutely no sense at all.
 
I iniatially said this course was utter crap, but that was before I watched the Pyrenees profile since they weren't up yet.

The course is growing on me now. Less favourable for pure climbers, but I guess Andy had his chance and blew it last year. I would've liked 1 tough mountain stage with atleast 220-240km in it though. One were the TT guys that can climb really suffer on since they got more TT miles.

I gave it a 7 now, allthough it could've been a 6 too.
 
2007 is indeed also for me the proof of a balanced route and that's a how an edition of le tour should like overall
the perfect one of a grand tour i still think it's vuelta a espana 2003:
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vuelta_a_España_2003
perfect


about the routes that advantage or disadvantage the climbers,i find interesting this article of il dottor michele.
http://53x12.com/do/show?page=article&id=102

In other words, an uphill finish (with an average gradient higher than 8%) of more than 30 minutes in duration is compensated by a flat course time trial of 60 minutes.
 
roundabout said:
I want to like stage 14. It's like a third of Mortirolo stuck on top of an easier climb. Problem is Lers isn't Gavia or Trivigno and the terrain in the last 20k is flat.

The most infuriating thing of it all is that they didn't have to include that many flat kms to finish in Foix:

dxfd4i.png
 
I'll give the route a 4/10.

A really crappy route. At least on paper, it's the worst TDF-route (along with the 2009 route) in the last 15 years i've followed TDF. The increase in TT kms and the fairly interesting stages in the Vosges isn't nearly enough no make up the lousy stages in the Alps and Pyrenees. Only two high altitude MTF is at least one too few.

The route would have been acceptable if they had

a) Moved Grand Colombier and Peguere much closer to the finish line.
b) Added at least one, preferebly two, more tough mountain stages with a MTF.
 
Nov 30, 2010
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Descender said:
The most infuriating thing of it all is that they didn't have to include that many flat kms to finish in Foix:

dxfd4i.png

It's still appreciably downhill though, all the way to the finish. And to be fair, where else could you go? Foix is a tourist board's dream finish too. The whole area is beautiful in fact.

The problem I've got with stage 14 is that the route goes West from Quillan through Lavelanet which is a dead flat area as far as I recall. if it went to the south, the terrain might have some very big lumps indeed.
 
Sep 7, 2010
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I have no problem with a little descending instead of a mtf. Best stages last year were the ones with a little descent before the finish line. We do need Samuel and Bertie for that to be entertaining though.

Oh, and we would get the usual interviews from the schelcks as well about the descents having trees on the side of the roads or something.. That's often more entertaining than the race itself.
 
Captain_Cavman said:
It's still appreciably downhill though, all the way to the finish. And to be fair, where else could you go? Foix is a tourist board's dream finish too. The whole area is beautiful in fact.

The problem I've got with stage 14 is that the route goes West from Quillan through Lavelanet which is a dead flat area as far as I recall. if it went to the south, the terrain might have some very big lumps indeed.

I think I haven't explained myself well.

That profile is one I made with the closest route from the top of Peguere to Foix. The official profile has the riders make an unnecessary loop around Foix that makes the stage longer.

There are many nice possibilities to finish in Foix. Peguere as the last climb, with its last 3kms at 12%, is the best option. I would have added Col de Port right before it.
 
Nov 30, 2010
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Descender said:
I think I haven't explained myself well.

That profile is one I made with the closest route from the top of Peguere to Foix. The official profile has the riders make an unnecessary loop around Foix that makes the stage longer.

There are many nice possibilities to finish in Foix. Peguere as the last climb, with its last 3kms at 12%, is the best option. I would have added Col de Port right before it.

Ahhh, I'm sorry, you're way ahead of me. Do we know where this loop around Foix is?
 
Mar 13, 2009
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Tour de France to pass "most absurd road in Europe"

On Tuesday, the route of the 2012 Tour de France was presented in Paris. The first three stages go through the Wallonie. In Wallonie, people were very surprised to find out the route actually includes "the most bizarre road in Europe" between Braive and Moxhe.

The remodeling of the "chaussée romaine", a historic road between Liège and Namur, sparked up a controversy in Belgium. Countless obstacles, bizarre speed limits and contradictory road signs had already angered the locals several months ago. Many accidents with heavy damage ocurred. One inhabitant made a video of the road and the belgian media ridiculed the work of the department for road safety.

The authorities reacted tensely and even had the youtube video banned. But it didn't help: the slalom road of Braives attained widespread attention. This is why not only the locals now ask themselves why the Schlecks, Cancellara and Evans now must take specifically this road out of all roads. The belgian media is already joking: "after the ITT and the MTF now a new discipline in cycling ... the slalom", wrote the internet site "lavenir.be" on Wednesday"


wort.lu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3xSEk5PFC4&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0aNub27Adk&feature=related
 
Ugh, sounds like a though day for the riders. Love the youtube comments tho..

"This road is harder than the Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps together!!! And we pay taxes for this crap..."
 
Jun 1, 2011
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CasperVg said:
Ugh, sounds like a though day for the riders. Love the youtube comments tho..

"This road is harder than the Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps together!!! And we pay taxes for this crap..."

It would make for a nice bike road under normal use sans the signs! You should start a call to action.

They feds mandated we change perfectly good green road signs to blue here! It helps create economy.;)
 
That Belgian road looks ridiculous. What are they thinking?

With regards to bumps in the finale of the initial stages, the finish of the "medium mountain" :D stage to Boulogne looks interesting. Even if there is a bunch sprint, the pure sprinters will have problems here. If there's a hill top finish in Belgium and e.g. a bump before the finish in Rouen (I cycled through there once from the Le Havre side and from what I remember over a hill just outside town that has been used as a 3rd cat. climb), it looks like there will be some interesting fights for the yellow jersey in week one to hold the interest until the GC battle really begins.
 

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Mar 29, 2011
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We've got one more overly legendary climb, that will be honoured with two stages in next year's race. Its the Col du Peyresourde! :eek: I give to it a 4. :)
 
Jun 1, 2011
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I have not rated the route yet. I have not had the time to really do much research on it other than what's here. I'll give it a preliminary 8 because of the return to the two long ITTs. That's a +1 for their addition, otherwise it's a 7.
 

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