- Apr 30, 2011
- 47,183
- 29,830
- 28,180
http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2017/us/stage-2.html
Christian Prudhomme's comment
Most of the stage will take place in Germany. During the last visits to Liège during the 21st century, the riders battled it out on time-trials while those who normally shine on Liège-Bastogne-Liège are among the best punchers of the moment. This time, a sprint victory is to be expected on the boulevard de la Sauvenière.
Christian Prudhomme's comment
Most of the stage will take place in Germany. During the last visits to Liège during the 21st century, the riders battled it out on time-trials while those who normally shine on Liège-Bastogne-Liège are among the best punchers of the moment. This time, a sprint victory is to be expected on the boulevard de la Sauvenière.
- Apr 7, 2011
- 4,886
- 439
- 16,580
What an unfucking believable piece of ***. That's gotta be a joke right. What a *** disgrace. There are no words for this. Rest in peace you beauty of a race you once used to be. They finally put the nails in the coffin. 
- Apr 7, 2011
- 4,886
- 439
- 16,580
Re:
The hell are you smoking bro? :lol:
This parcous has absolutey nothing in common with the 80es/90es besides a rather reasonable amount of pure sprint stages.
Pennino said:
The hell are you smoking bro?
:lol: This parcous has absolutey nothing in common with the 80es/90es besides a rather reasonable amount of pure sprint stages.
Need to study the full profiles before making a considered assessment - Can say an ITT in Stage 20 destroys the excitement and spectacle of a mountains day and also means you have 2 dull stages for the third weekend - The climbing over 2000m could change the complexion of the race.
I gave it a 5. I'm totally fine with no TTT, and ITTs have been kind of boring lately in the TdF. Plus they bore me.
I like any Jura stage. It's a lovely part of France and great riding. Also the stages in the southern Alps. Serre Che is one of my favorite ski stations...very excited for Mont du Chat. That's a gnarly climb and that area can get HOT in the summer.
I can't say if the route favors any known entities. Too many question marks around Sky right now, and who knows which Quintana will show up.
I like any Jura stage. It's a lovely part of France and great riding. Also the stages in the southern Alps. Serre Che is one of my favorite ski stations...very excited for Mont du Chat. That's a gnarly climb and that area can get HOT in the summer.
I can't say if the route favors any known entities. Too many question marks around Sky right now, and who knows which Quintana will show up.
OK, so now the first few days starts to suck balls.
S1 Short ITT is cool I guess to start a race
S2 Sprint stage is fine usually, but in freaking Liege there are so many opportunities.
S3 Longwy climb is 1km at around 8% or so I think? A few opportunities in the area, but a dollar to doughnuts the stage is like this____________/
S4 Vittel is a sprint stage.
S5 PDBF is a good climb, although it would be nice to see a new one. I have no issues with the timing of this.
S6 Troyes is a sprint stage.
S7 Nuits Saint Georges is a sprint stage. A "globally flat course" no less.
S8 I like the Station des Rousses stage. Looks like a decent climb near the end, and I don't mind the relatively flat bit at the top as it gives us something different.
S9 This stage is great. Really great. Sure there is a chance that it won't be used but this is a work of art in my book. Again, the flat bit at the end could contribute to the chaos.
At this stage the route is going along nicely. I would prefer the PDBF stage to have more climbs, and I hate what they are doing in Liege, but at the same time, this is a nice balanced first week. The problem is, the overall shape of the race starts to deteriorate.
S10 Sprint stage. Meh. As somebody says, this would be a great ITT stage to homage a previous one between these two towns.
S11 Another sprint stage in Pau. Now we will be getting sick of the sprinters.This is the sixth sprint stage. Seven if you could the uphill sprint to the citadel. Ridiculous in my book.
S12 This is a solid mountain stage. Decent length, and hallelujah, I believe we are avoiding Tourmalet!!!
S13 I think this stage will be good. Nicely placed after a tough stage. Avoids the stupid loop around Foix. But are we really leaving the Pyrenees?
S14 This is the same GVA - Sagan uphill sprint we saw last year.
S15 Classic breakaway stage. I don't mind this as there are very few of these in this year's route.
But what the hell? Middle weekend is completely wasted with two OK ish stages. There is no way the Rodez stage will be that interesting. There is very little chance of GC action in Stage 15. Route has gone from above par after the first week to below par.
S16 is a sprint stage. Chance of wind.
S17 is absolutely fine. Not the best mountain stage in the TDF, but not bad.
S18 is dirt. Izoard might work as a MTF finish, but the route before the last climb is not only unlikely to provoke GC attacks, but also they seem to have gone out of their way to avoid going to interesting place.
S19 is a sprinter stage because they couldn't make them wait an extra two days for Paris. Never mind the fact that they could have gone nuts in the southern Alps.
S20 is a ludicrously short ITT. Everyone else has complained about this, so I won't go there again.
S21 parade in Paris. And the sprinters get another go.
I typically tend to be a bit more moderate than others on here when it comes to routes. This route has a lot of potential. But they have made a bollix of it.
I would make the following three changes to the route to make it more interesting.
* Proper hilly stage in Liege.
* Scrap stage 19 and replace it with a proper southern Alps stage. Something with Col d’Allos (16.3 km @ 6.7%), Col des Champs (11.6 km @ 7%), Col de la Cayolle (21 km @ 6.8%) would do nicely.
* Next day (Stage 20) have the ITT of around 40km
Bish bash bosh. A poor route becomes a good route.
S1 Short ITT is cool I guess to start a race
S2 Sprint stage is fine usually, but in freaking Liege there are so many opportunities.
S3 Longwy climb is 1km at around 8% or so I think? A few opportunities in the area, but a dollar to doughnuts the stage is like this____________/
S4 Vittel is a sprint stage.
S5 PDBF is a good climb, although it would be nice to see a new one. I have no issues with the timing of this.
S6 Troyes is a sprint stage.
S7 Nuits Saint Georges is a sprint stage. A "globally flat course" no less.
S8 I like the Station des Rousses stage. Looks like a decent climb near the end, and I don't mind the relatively flat bit at the top as it gives us something different.
S9 This stage is great. Really great. Sure there is a chance that it won't be used but this is a work of art in my book. Again, the flat bit at the end could contribute to the chaos.
At this stage the route is going along nicely. I would prefer the PDBF stage to have more climbs, and I hate what they are doing in Liege, but at the same time, this is a nice balanced first week. The problem is, the overall shape of the race starts to deteriorate.
S10 Sprint stage. Meh. As somebody says, this would be a great ITT stage to homage a previous one between these two towns.
S11 Another sprint stage in Pau. Now we will be getting sick of the sprinters.This is the sixth sprint stage. Seven if you could the uphill sprint to the citadel. Ridiculous in my book.
S12 This is a solid mountain stage. Decent length, and hallelujah, I believe we are avoiding Tourmalet!!!
S13 I think this stage will be good. Nicely placed after a tough stage. Avoids the stupid loop around Foix. But are we really leaving the Pyrenees?
S14 This is the same GVA - Sagan uphill sprint we saw last year.
S15 Classic breakaway stage. I don't mind this as there are very few of these in this year's route.
But what the hell? Middle weekend is completely wasted with two OK ish stages. There is no way the Rodez stage will be that interesting. There is very little chance of GC action in Stage 15. Route has gone from above par after the first week to below par.
S16 is a sprint stage. Chance of wind.
S17 is absolutely fine. Not the best mountain stage in the TDF, but not bad.
S18 is dirt. Izoard might work as a MTF finish, but the route before the last climb is not only unlikely to provoke GC attacks, but also they seem to have gone out of their way to avoid going to interesting place.
S19 is a sprinter stage because they couldn't make them wait an extra two days for Paris. Never mind the fact that they could have gone nuts in the southern Alps.
S20 is a ludicrously short ITT. Everyone else has complained about this, so I won't go there again.
S21 parade in Paris. And the sprinters get another go.
I typically tend to be a bit more moderate than others on here when it comes to routes. This route has a lot of potential. But they have made a bollix of it.
I would make the following three changes to the route to make it more interesting.
* Proper hilly stage in Liege.
* Scrap stage 19 and replace it with a proper southern Alps stage. Something with Col d’Allos (16.3 km @ 6.7%), Col des Champs (11.6 km @ 7%), Col de la Cayolle (21 km @ 6.8%) would do nicely.
* Next day (Stage 20) have the ITT of around 40km
Bish bash bosh. A poor route becomes a good route.
I give the route a 4. I really love the Mont du Chat stage and I don't mind one or two of the other mountain stages. But they have missed a great chance for a great route in my book.
I gave it a 4, firstly I am not going to complain about the lack of ITT kms, for the race a long TT would completely kill the race because Froome would just gain 2-3 minutes and Sky will just neutralise everything. So having shorter amount of ITT will be a good thing because it will keep the race closer, and I find long TTs very boring (my opinion). I like the 2 stages in the Jura but I fear that the Mont du Chat stage will be neutralised like the 2016 stage to Culoz. I think Peyragudes is a good climb for the first proper MTF because it is not hard enough to create huge gaps but will create a selection. I also prefer them going over the Port de Bales and the Peryresourde/ Peyragudes because going over the Tourmalet and co would be too similar to 2016. Bit of a shame there was nothing in the massive central like a stage to Mende. To be honest I am not keen on the Alps, I am disappointed that there is no Alpe d' Huez, people say its overrated but whenever it is used in the Tour we get great racing. The Galibier stage is ok because the finish is only about 20km from the top of the Galibier meaning we should have good racing. For the final mountain stage the Izoard stage is disappointing, the Izoard is a great climb but for a final mountain stage is not hard enough, the vars is not hard enough to produce gaps so it will all come down to the Izoard meaning there is a slim chance of a long range attack. Like I said at the start I don't mind about the short TT because it gives more riders a chance to win. In short, it is Nairo Quintana's race to loose.
- Sep 28, 2010
- 3,364
- 329
- 14,180
Solid route. I'd prefer a longer ITT in Marseille, more mountains in the Vosges stage and that extra bit of surprise that is somehow lacking in this edition.
So a 7/10 for me. I expect a tight race.
So a 7/10 for me. I expect a tight race.
WTF is going on with cycling in the last few years...there must be some strong Colombian lobby behind this. How else would you explain the Grand Tours with such short ITTs. I want to see a complete rider to win the Tour, not some mountain goat like Quintana. Colombians were always great to spice things up in the mountains, but now they are the favourites for the GC. I dont like this trend, ten years back they would have no chance.
- Apr 7, 2011
- 4,886
- 439
- 16,580
The identity that made the Tour what it is today was the reputation that it was one of the world's most demanding sports competitions that crowns the most complete and tough cyclist.
It was about pain, strugge, epic fights, heroic performances. That's what made the fascination of the tour.
Today it's only about having a close race with close gaps. The closer the race the better, that's today's way of thought. Thanks you everybody who killied this most beautiful of all sports competitions. Thanks to all you organizers, media people and fanboys who know nothing about the true identity of this race. Have a nice time with this piece of ***, you can have it. It's not our race anymore :sad:
It was about pain, strugge, epic fights, heroic performances. That's what made the fascination of the tour.
Today it's only about having a close race with close gaps. The closer the race the better, that's today's way of thought. Thanks you everybody who killied this most beautiful of all sports competitions. Thanks to all you organizers, media people and fanboys who know nothing about the true identity of this race. Have a nice time with this piece of ***, you can have it. It's not our race anymore :sad:
I still don't get why people complain about a taylor made route for Quintana when there are two active French riders who have been on the TdF podium in recent years and will also benefit from this 'unbalanced' course.
Upon reflection I give this a 3 out of 10.
The mountain stages are actually ok. Could have done with one more tough stage in the Alps.
The first week is meh.
However it is the lack of ITT kilometres is what frankly makes it a totally unbalanced route. I have long since lost my enthusiasm for the Tour. However it should reward an allrounder. At present they only encourage climbers.
The mountain stages are actually ok. Could have done with one more tough stage in the Alps.
The first week is meh.
However it is the lack of ITT kilometres is what frankly makes it a totally unbalanced route. I have long since lost my enthusiasm for the Tour. However it should reward an allrounder. At present they only encourage climbers.
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