Rate the 2015 Tour route!

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

I think the first week looks VERY interesting. The 2nd week ok and the last week is interesting aswell. The reason there's no big individual time trials is for creating more excitement with smaller gaps between the favourites. I don't think thats a bad thing, necessarily. I also applaud that ASO has tried varying the route from previous years, making this one favour climbers for once.

8/10. Hopefully this route can contribute to getting the Tour back to the excitement levels of previous years (2011, 2010, etc)

Climbers with good bike handling skills, more specifically.

 

[vladimir]

I gave it a 5, but it's absolutely not an average TDF. I just feel that there are almost as many positives as negatives.
Still, this could be a thrilling edition if ridden agressivly.

 

[djpbaltimore]

4/10 for me. The first week is better than usual, but the rest of the route is much, much worse.

The TTT looks like a nice route, but the timing of it is dreadful. I would hate to see one of the favorites lose time just because they lost 2-3 teammates in the first week of the race. Personally, it looks like a course designed to minimize time gaps and keep the race close until Alpe d'Huez.

 

[fauniera]

Climbers with good bike handling skills, more specifically.

Good bike handling skills are needed where exactly?

 

[hrotha]

Most GTs favour climbers. It's not groundbreaking in any way.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Also, those short mountain stages are just awful. 14km of TT and 110km mountain stages; as if they're presenting the route for some espoir race, rather than for the pro's.....

Long live the Giro with a 60km TT and a 260km stage. That's how it should be for the pro's.

 

[DFA123]

The first week or so looks good: a couple of muritos, cobbles, cross-winds. After that it is awful though, especially the Pyrenees - three awfully designed mountain stages there.

 

[Netserk]

I think the first week looks VERY interesting. The 2nd week ok and the last week is interesting aswell. The reason there's no big individual time trials is for creating more excitement with smaller gaps between the favourites. I don't think thats a bad thing, necessarily. I also applaud that ASO has tried varying the route from previous years, making this one favour climbers for once.

8/10. Hopefully this route can contribute to getting the Tour back to the excitement levels of previous years (2011, 2010, etc)

Unlike 2011, 2013 and 2014???

We saw in the Tour '11 and Giro '12 what kind of racing we can expect in the mountains next year with this route...

 

[More Strides than Rides]

An okay Vuelta, 4/10. Riders are coming off a long season, no need to race hard the first week or more that 110k on the last MTF when most are just getting for worlds.

..


Its a bad route. That doesn't mean I think the racing will be bad. I do like the medium-difficulty finishes and descent finishes. I believe they changed the aesthetic so the podium will not be made up of the regular contenders, but I have no idea why they would want to do that. Maybe they're encouraging the big 3 to do the Giro, come in tired, and have the second tier talent be able to challenge the fatigued top tier.

It will be different. It will not be epic. It won't play out like a regular GT, and I am okay with that. It will be interesting.

 

[jens_attacks]

3 from 10 but i'm generous as always

things that saved it from a 1: pierre saint martin and because i missed _____/ kind of mountain stage in le tour. last one, verbier? big watts expected
montee laurent jalabert, because i like it


and that's about it. i was way too generous i realize only now

 

[DFA123]

Its a bad route. That doesn't mean I think the racing will be bad. I do like the medium-difficulty finishes and descent finishes. I believe they changed the aesthetic so the podium will not be made up of the regular contenders, but I have no idea why they would want to do that. Maybe they're encouraging the big 3 to do the Giro, come in tired, and have the second tier talent be able to challenge the fatigued top tier.

It will be different. It will not be epic. It won't play out like a regular GT, and I am okay with that. It will be interesting.

This would be my guess as well, hoping that Pinot and Bardet can keep up with better riders. It's been a long time since there was a French contender - now there are a couple of possibilities, they're giving them trying to give them every chance.

 

[Stromeon]

3/10. Although there are some good stages there, some atrocities have been committed.

Positives:
- Cobbles
- Despite it having the Tourmalet, I think the Cauterets stage might be decent
- I like the Allos-Pra Loup combo - straight onto the climb as soon as the descent has finished, reminds me of Pailheres-Ax 3 Domaines, but it could have been better with another big climb
- Bad route for Froome

Negatives:
- Obviously the ridiculous amount of ITT km
- The TTT. Even just having a TTT in the route is bad enough for me, but then to make sure that people have had plenty of opportunity to crash out beforehand (the first week seems to have been designed so that people will crash - cobbles, crosswind opportunities etc)
- 9 uphill finishes
- Deciding to basically recycle two Alpine stages from a few years ago
- Aforementioned Alpine stages being far too short
- Lack of a proper queen stage
- Generally the mountain stages are too short
- Having Tourmalet, Galibier and Alpe AGAIN
- The Pierre St Martin Unipublic stage
- Glandon/SJdM stage looks quite good, but its chronological position means that the climbers, unless they're behind by a few minutes due to TT losses (oh wait...) will probably take a day off.
- Lack of a proper descent finish (always undervalued)
- There are probably many more, but will have to wait to see what the remaining stages look like (so probably about a week before the Tour starts) as well to offer some more thoughts.


What's up with ASO's profiles btw? Especially the Galibier descent - looks like they forgot to account for tunnels

 

[Krzysztof_O]

8/10

I like mountain stages, especially those short alpine routes. On the road to Alpe d' Huez or even La Toussuire there could be some long range attack like Schleck's. And Pyrenees also look good. Some finishes for punchers like Mur and Mende are also present. But it's for pure climbers with no long TT. So the lack of balance is a disadvantege.

 

[hfer07]

I want to see the stage graphics first before I make a fair judgment on the parcours, which appears to be somewhat "bumpy", which is good, but as always, ASO keeps let us down with the "absence of long ITT" .....

I like the cobbles too

 

[MBotero]

2/10 This route is ridiculous,one of the worst ever.Wtf were they thinking 14 km of ITT,TTT on stage 9 and those short mountain stages.Contador,Froome and Nibali should just ignore this and go for Giro-Vuelta double.

 

[offbyone]

The podium will be essentially decided by the team time trial. That just isn't right. I guess this opens it up for a dark horse winner. A pure climber or even a guy like tony martin or a climber old man like chris horner on a very strong team. But I don't think the strongest rider will necessarily win this route. Maybe if the mountains were harder, but they are meh.

 

[jens_attacks]

lol at the podium will be decided by ttt. it's only 28 km
in the good old days, it was 60-70 km for real men and i highly doubt that it ever decided the podium. only if you had a batshiit weak team. the big ones, us postal, once, t-mobile, csc were always there in one minute

i love team time trial but those from today's era are ridiculous. or you use a 60 kms one or don't use at all. all the teams will come in 1:30, max 2 minutes. podium won't be decided by that

 

[Red Rick]

Not a single mountain stage where they took all the possibilties , instead they just skipped a lot to make some half assed stage every ****ing time.

 

[BigMac]

+ Not many über-long-epic-drag-MTF.
+ Huy and Bretagne.
+ Stages to the north close to the shore.
+ Stage eleven from Pau to Cauterets.
+ Stage with cobblestones.
+ Mende
+ Team Time Trial on stage nince. It should be longer.
+ A mad Forum.

- Lack of time trial kilometers.
- Alpe d'Huez stage (Kill it. Kill it with fire).
- Too many summit finishes

? Stage eighteen from Gap to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. It has potential.

A very good first week , don't know what to say about the rest.

5/10 or 6/10. Of course it can be a 10/10 or lower depending on how it's all ridden.

2/10 This route is ridiculous,one of the worst ever.Wtf were they thinking 14 km of ITT,TTT on stage 9 and those short mountain stages.Contador,Froome and Nibali should just ignore this and go for Giro-Vuelta double.

Yes please. But all of them. Instead of the usual threesome we'd have good competition.

 

[Mellow Velo]

The first week might look amazing, but those stages in the first week of the Tour I expect a huge crashefest, it's not gonna be pretty

The first week of the Tour is always a huge crashfest, regardless of what parcour they put in.

Week one is the race's only saving grace.
So, 3 out of 10 from me.

 

[Escarabajo]

Most GTs favour climbers. It's not groundbreaking in any way.

Pure climbers, no.

 

[pigoonse]

Its a bad route. That doesn't mean I think the racing will be bad. I do like the medium-difficulty finishes and descent finishes. I believe they changed the aesthetic so the podium will not be made up of the regular contenders, but I have no idea why they would want to do that. Maybe they're encouraging the big 3 to do the Giro, come in tired, and have the second tier talent be able to challenge the fatigued top tier.

It will be different. It will not be epic. It won't play out like a regular GT, and I am okay with that. It will be interesting.

This is a good guess, I'd guess. maybe.

First week looks interesting. But not interesting enough overall to give it a 5 maybe a 4 or a 3. Hoping for rain...and wind.

 

[hrotha]

Pure climbers, no.

Total one-trick ponies, no. And they shouldn't.

 

[Netserk]

All three GTs this year favoured climbers. Next year the Giro will be more balanced, while the Tour (and obviously also the Vuelta) will favour climbers yet again.

I miss Tours with two long ITTs.

 

[Kwibus]

Not a single mountain stage where they took all the possibilties , instead they just skipped a lot to make some half assed stage every ****ing time.

Indeed, it's cringeworthy.