- Jul 19, 2010
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Can anyone tell me if there is a site where I can find all the stage profiles? Le Tour site has nothing.
- Apr 16, 2009
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- May 4, 2011
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Re:
I somehow missed that there was a short wall climb in the Marseille TT. Nice TT course, too, as expected.
I somehow missed that there was a short wall climb in the Marseille TT. Nice TT course, too, as expected.
A fairly long TTT means that the teams will select fewer climbers, which is a plus, IMO, considering the expected strength of this years' Sky train. EDIT: and if Sky don't they'll be most likely at a larger disadvantage in the TTT vs. teams like BMC and MovistarRed Rick said:
- May 20, 2016
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I checked all the profiles on steephill and I have to say that I quite like this route and I think that we will have good racing so I gave this one 9.
- Feb 20, 2010
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I count 10 sprint stages. TEN. Including to places like Liège and Pau. Pathetic.
A flat stage to Pau could only really be justified if they used a lap of the Circuit de Pau-Ville motor racing urban circuit, which would give a little uncategorized or cat.4 côte and then a quick descent that finishes before a nice finishing straight, to give a chance for a few frenetic late moves and a sprint that favours different riders, like the Toledo or Soria repechos in the Vuelta.
The overall summary:
1 - good. I like this. Opening ITTs (not TTTs) have been seemingly out of vogue in recent years, this is long enough to create some decent gaps but not so long it is absurd for an opener (I know some people like the idea of a 40km ITT on stage 1, personally I prefer to keep the riders close at this stage)
2 - it's Liège. You might have heard of a race called Liège-Bastogne-Liège. It isn't flat. There are dozens of climbs in that area that Liège-Bastogne-Liège doesn't use. The Tour uses none of them. I can only imagine that they're hoping it takes Sagan until stage 3 to pick up the maillot vert this year so they can say that competition for it is improving.
3 - Returning to France, we get a small finishing climb which ought to be decent for the puncheurs but time gaps are likely to be limited with the average gradient just 5,8%. The flat loop around Luxembourg is again disappointing, as is not using the Col de l'Europe and the Côte de Saint-Charles in the run-in.
4 - generic flat stage, could have been a bit more rolling but otherwise not too problematic
5 - good to have something to break up the field this early on, which is a plus point, and PDBF is certainly steep enough to manufacture some time gaps, but would have liked Ballon or Chevrères to make it less of a war of placement before the climb. I expect to see at least one crash in the 10km leading up to the base of the climb.
6 - 4/6 stages are sprints. Have you ever seen a Paris-Troyes profile? What would have been wrong with that? With the pro péloton still likely to be a sprint, but with a bit of tension as to who of the main sprinters wins it.
7 - 5/7 stages are sprints. Again, looks like they've actively sought out a boring option, though in fairness in my world if they'd had a proper hilly stage to Liège and cloned the Paris-Troyes run-in they might be due one.
8 - this is OK as a stand-alone stage for sure, but with stage 9 following it is surely unlikely to provoke any meaningful action.
9 - this is going to be all about Mont du Chat, which we know, but hopefully the steepness of the other climbs does mean there's something of effect. I actually prefer the other side of Mont du Chat, but the fact it's even being used at all is a borderline miracle. Probably the best stage of the race.
10 - A rest day after a rest day.
11 - A second rest day after a second rest day. 7th flat stage out of 11. I know the Tour has been about shortening its stages recently, but surely the riders are capable of some level of endurance?
12 - A reasonable stage in a vacuum, but rather uninspiring. Would have liked to see Peyragudes from the other side just to add something we haven't already seen twice recently, but hey, that would probably come at the price of including the dreaded Tourmalet. At least the stage is a decent length.
13 - 100km stage. In a way I hope I'm wrong, but in a way I'm hope I'm right about this: should be dull really. I hope I'm wrong because then I might get some entertaining races, but if I'm right it becomes a possibility that this trend for assuming shorter = better will end.
14 - At least it's a bit more interesting than the traditional ASO penultimate weekend flat stage and even includes an uncategorized ramp or two. But still, all the mountains on weekdays and this at a weekend.
15 - Tailor-made for a breakaway, just about the only stage that is.
16 - At least the sprinters have to rumble over some less flat stuff before they get their umpteenth chance to compete.
17 - Can't really complain about this in a vacuum, other than that I really would like a bit more innovation in the choice of climbs, rather than just the same climbs everybody knows like the back of their hand. And the pacing, because...
18 - An anæmic mountain stage that ends with a mythical pass being used as an MTF for no apparent reason, but also because it's a HC MTF it might tame the racing in the far superior stage before it. And don't get me started on the 66km Unipuerto version of La Course, although I'd rather watch that than this anyway.
19 - Having done an almighty, unprecedented TWO stages where they need to be attentive in a row, the GC men need a rest, so let's have another sprint!
20 - Should be at least double the length.
21 - I'll give them a pass on this one.
It might justify a 2 because of stage 1, stage 5 being the all-important stage to eliminate a few outsiders early on and stop there being so many teams trying to protect their GC until halfway through, and stage 9 including some climbs that we either haven't seen before or haven't seen in years, but those are the only plus points.
A flat stage to Pau could only really be justified if they used a lap of the Circuit de Pau-Ville motor racing urban circuit, which would give a little uncategorized or cat.4 côte and then a quick descent that finishes before a nice finishing straight, to give a chance for a few frenetic late moves and a sprint that favours different riders, like the Toledo or Soria repechos in the Vuelta.
The overall summary:
1 - good. I like this. Opening ITTs (not TTTs) have been seemingly out of vogue in recent years, this is long enough to create some decent gaps but not so long it is absurd for an opener (I know some people like the idea of a 40km ITT on stage 1, personally I prefer to keep the riders close at this stage)
2 - it's Liège. You might have heard of a race called Liège-Bastogne-Liège. It isn't flat. There are dozens of climbs in that area that Liège-Bastogne-Liège doesn't use. The Tour uses none of them. I can only imagine that they're hoping it takes Sagan until stage 3 to pick up the maillot vert this year so they can say that competition for it is improving.
3 - Returning to France, we get a small finishing climb which ought to be decent for the puncheurs but time gaps are likely to be limited with the average gradient just 5,8%. The flat loop around Luxembourg is again disappointing, as is not using the Col de l'Europe and the Côte de Saint-Charles in the run-in.
4 - generic flat stage, could have been a bit more rolling but otherwise not too problematic
5 - good to have something to break up the field this early on, which is a plus point, and PDBF is certainly steep enough to manufacture some time gaps, but would have liked Ballon or Chevrères to make it less of a war of placement before the climb. I expect to see at least one crash in the 10km leading up to the base of the climb.
6 - 4/6 stages are sprints. Have you ever seen a Paris-Troyes profile? What would have been wrong with that? With the pro péloton still likely to be a sprint, but with a bit of tension as to who of the main sprinters wins it.
7 - 5/7 stages are sprints. Again, looks like they've actively sought out a boring option, though in fairness in my world if they'd had a proper hilly stage to Liège and cloned the Paris-Troyes run-in they might be due one.
8 - this is OK as a stand-alone stage for sure, but with stage 9 following it is surely unlikely to provoke any meaningful action.
9 - this is going to be all about Mont du Chat, which we know, but hopefully the steepness of the other climbs does mean there's something of effect. I actually prefer the other side of Mont du Chat, but the fact it's even being used at all is a borderline miracle. Probably the best stage of the race.
10 - A rest day after a rest day.
11 - A second rest day after a second rest day. 7th flat stage out of 11. I know the Tour has been about shortening its stages recently, but surely the riders are capable of some level of endurance?
12 - A reasonable stage in a vacuum, but rather uninspiring. Would have liked to see Peyragudes from the other side just to add something we haven't already seen twice recently, but hey, that would probably come at the price of including the dreaded Tourmalet. At least the stage is a decent length.
13 - 100km stage. In a way I hope I'm wrong, but in a way I'm hope I'm right about this: should be dull really. I hope I'm wrong because then I might get some entertaining races, but if I'm right it becomes a possibility that this trend for assuming shorter = better will end.
14 - At least it's a bit more interesting than the traditional ASO penultimate weekend flat stage and even includes an uncategorized ramp or two. But still, all the mountains on weekdays and this at a weekend.
15 - Tailor-made for a breakaway, just about the only stage that is.
16 - At least the sprinters have to rumble over some less flat stuff before they get their umpteenth chance to compete.
17 - Can't really complain about this in a vacuum, other than that I really would like a bit more innovation in the choice of climbs, rather than just the same climbs everybody knows like the back of their hand. And the pacing, because...
18 - An anæmic mountain stage that ends with a mythical pass being used as an MTF for no apparent reason, but also because it's a HC MTF it might tame the racing in the far superior stage before it. And don't get me started on the 66km Unipuerto version of La Course, although I'd rather watch that than this anyway.
19 - Having done an almighty, unprecedented TWO stages where they need to be attentive in a row, the GC men need a rest, so let's have another sprint!
20 - Should be at least double the length.
21 - I'll give them a pass on this one.
It might justify a 2 because of stage 1, stage 5 being the all-important stage to eliminate a few outsiders early on and stop there being so many teams trying to protect their GC until halfway through, and stage 9 including some climbs that we either haven't seen before or haven't seen in years, but those are the only plus points.
- Nov 7, 2010
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I really don't get the logic behind Stage 13 to Foix; which is presumably supposed to be the short, hard chaotic stage.. The occasional 100km length stage isn't sacrilege for me, like it is for some, but this one just makes no sense. Using the Mur de Peguere instead of Col de Port is presumably to give a launchpad to attacks, but then there is the painfully slow and shallow descent to Foix, where anyone who does attack will be reeled in and make little gains, especially as everyone will be pretty fresh. And I doubt anyone serious is going to attack on the lower slopes of the Agnes, because the descent into Massat and the first part of the Mur de Peguere/Col de Port is so gentle.
I did not even realized how crappy this parcours is, and why I gave it a 4 anyway, 2 is way better for this, I think that lot of favourites will be out before real mountains come because there will be lot of nervous stages with no chance to do difference and only stages 9 and 12 are real mountain stages
what they did to alps in this year is a real shame to this race and his tradition
what they did to alps in this year is a real shame to this race and his tradition
- Jul 25, 2015
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This years vuelta route looks amazing. i wish we could see something similar in for la tour some day
- May 15, 2011
- 45,171
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I see now that I had voted 4/10 initially...
positives:
TT start - less stress in early stages 1/10
Early mountains 1/10
Mont du Chat 3/10
Télégraphe - Galibier 2/10
Final ITT 1/10
total 8/10
negatives:
too many sprint stages or semi-sprint stages -2/10
several stages with the final mountain too far from the finish -1/10
last 3 stages 2 sprints -1/10
Izoard - Serre Chevalier in wrong order -1/10
Waste of Ardennes, Vosges and other hilly terrain -2/10
total negative 7/10
which leaves me with 1/10
positives:
TT start - less stress in early stages 1/10
Early mountains 1/10
Mont du Chat 3/10
Télégraphe - Galibier 2/10
Final ITT 1/10
total 8/10
negatives:
too many sprint stages or semi-sprint stages -2/10
several stages with the final mountain too far from the finish -1/10
last 3 stages 2 sprints -1/10
Izoard - Serre Chevalier in wrong order -1/10
Waste of Ardennes, Vosges and other hilly terrain -2/10
total negative 7/10
which leaves me with 1/10
- Aug 16, 2013
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After watching the Giro, i thought, maybe my mind would change about this year's route. But after watching it in detail again, it makes me heavily depressed again. I mean, how can you even come up with such a route??
Positives (only because i'm in a good mood because of Big Tom)
A decent ITT in Düsseldorf: long enough so the time gaps will be relatively big but not big enough to already eliminate some GC guys
The stage to Station des Rousses has a decent last 60 kilometers (but it could have been a lot better, which is the story of this years Tour onfortunately)
The Chambery stage is good. Really tough climbs where it's possible to break your opponents. Mont du Chat is a good final climb because it's steep and has a technical descent where's its possible to gain time. However, i would have prefered less flat km's between the top of Grand Colombier and the foot of Chat: most likely it will tend riders to wait till the final climb, which is a shame.
The two Pyrenean stages are rightly balanced and structured. Peyragudes stage is a classical 'two-mountain' mountain stage: GC guys with balls will attack on Port de Bales, riders with a more defensive attitude have the opportunity to wait till Peyresourde. The Foix stage maybe is a bit too easy, but it can create chaos if someone is willing to attack from afar. But i don't think at this point of the race (with the Alps still to come) someone is willing to sacrifice his chances. Even Alberto will keep himself quiet today
The two Alpine stages are so-so
Negatives (don't read it when you need to pee quickly!)
9 sprint stages .... i mean: seriously?
A almost flat stage to Liege. That's just sacrilege! It annoys me as hell they put Côte d'Olne in it... Why not design a proper Ardennes stage. Even a finish on a small climb would be fine for me. But not this kind of sadness.
If you use the Vosges, use them properly. There are so many great climbs in this area (i will ride a lot of them in two weeks time!). Now the stage to La Planche only is about La Planche. At least put Col des Chevrères in it: it will make the race overall harder and already tire out some guys before the reach the bottom of La Plance. Of if you want to make it even more interesting: Col du Hengst! It's a 9.7 km monster at 9.3% some 40 km's from Hattigny. But now they just don't justify the beautiness and hardness of the Vosges
Finishing in Pau after a flat stage? Come on!
Stage to Le Puy en Velay could have been a lot better (challenging).
Only two Alpine stages
Really soft route overall
At the end, only a 2/10 for me
Positives (only because i'm in a good mood because of Big Tom)
A decent ITT in Düsseldorf: long enough so the time gaps will be relatively big but not big enough to already eliminate some GC guys
The stage to Station des Rousses has a decent last 60 kilometers (but it could have been a lot better, which is the story of this years Tour onfortunately)
The Chambery stage is good. Really tough climbs where it's possible to break your opponents. Mont du Chat is a good final climb because it's steep and has a technical descent where's its possible to gain time. However, i would have prefered less flat km's between the top of Grand Colombier and the foot of Chat: most likely it will tend riders to wait till the final climb, which is a shame.
The two Pyrenean stages are rightly balanced and structured. Peyragudes stage is a classical 'two-mountain' mountain stage: GC guys with balls will attack on Port de Bales, riders with a more defensive attitude have the opportunity to wait till Peyresourde. The Foix stage maybe is a bit too easy, but it can create chaos if someone is willing to attack from afar. But i don't think at this point of the race (with the Alps still to come) someone is willing to sacrifice his chances. Even Alberto will keep himself quiet today
The two Alpine stages are so-so
Negatives (don't read it when you need to pee quickly!)
9 sprint stages .... i mean: seriously?
A almost flat stage to Liege. That's just sacrilege! It annoys me as hell they put Côte d'Olne in it... Why not design a proper Ardennes stage. Even a finish on a small climb would be fine for me. But not this kind of sadness.
If you use the Vosges, use them properly. There are so many great climbs in this area (i will ride a lot of them in two weeks time!). Now the stage to La Planche only is about La Planche. At least put Col des Chevrères in it: it will make the race overall harder and already tire out some guys before the reach the bottom of La Plance. Of if you want to make it even more interesting: Col du Hengst! It's a 9.7 km monster at 9.3% some 40 km's from Hattigny. But now they just don't justify the beautiness and hardness of the Vosges
Finishing in Pau after a flat stage? Come on!
Stage to Le Puy en Velay could have been a lot better (challenging).
Only two Alpine stages
Really soft route overall
At the end, only a 2/10 for me
- Aug 31, 2012
- 7,550
- 3
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- Jul 6, 2016
- 250
- 0
- 3,030
Only explanation I can think of for this route is that they wanted to avoid a Sagan and Froome dominance.
- May 15, 2011
- 45,171
- 617
- 24,680
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