Re:
Valv.Piti said:
Just some climbs I would like to see in TdF
Col d' Aubisque MTF - Best memory ever in 2007. Spectacular climb which tends to be used way too early on a stage and thus is pretty useless. I wanna see something similar to 2007 with a +200 km stage, going over Larrau. It is possible to go over that from the 'hard' side into Aubisque?
Granon MTF - Learned about it form PCM in a cool variant, going over Madeleine - > Croix de Fer (dno in which order) - > Telegraphe + Galibier - > Granon making it an epic day. Cut one of the first climbs of and its completely doable.
Pailheres - I absolutely love this climb. Is it possible NOT to finish on Ax-3 with it still being in the final? Otherwise, try to spice it up with some climbs in before instead of the approach which has been taken previosuly with the Pailheres-Ax-3 combo.
Madeleine - Do it from the hard side more often in the final. I dont care if its overused or whatever some people say (frankly, I say its not), its an epic climb which can create carnage. Put the Glandon/Croix de Fer in before and finish with a downhill without too much flat.
Chat - Just do this climb. I dont care if its completely flat before. Just do it.
Been lurking around this thread for a while perusing all the peaks; it's great to (try to) take in all of the know how of you guys, incredible information and imagination in equal measure.
I'm still just a 'tour' climbs boy really, so don't have much to contribute, certainly not in discussing obscure climbs.
The Granon has been spoken about on many threads, and yeah, Le Tour probably should go there, but given how long it's been since they have, then they probably won't anytime soon...
I really like Pailheres too. The combo with AX3-Domaines is perfect: hard climb/easier climb with no false flat whatsoever, very rare in France. The Pailheres can be used before the PDB right? Pretty sure they did that in 2007, but there is some false flat, and also PDB is moving very much into the used too much category....
I don't think that Madeleine is overused either and feel that ASO should make much better use of epic descent finishing stages in the Alps.
Gigs, thanks for all of that info on the Finestre, which is incidentally my favourite climb (well except for Verbier, because I've been there
), and even harder than I thought, as I thought it was 18kms at 9%. So the toughest climb in cycling just got that little bit tougher....
To see it just a little bit earlier in a stage would be interesting, so some nice proposals there.
LS, epic stage with the Mont Du Chat you've done, and even better with the Bonette. Soooo much altitude on that stage; it's ridiculous! Four climbs at well over 2,000 metres, and 2,700 for Bonette....if this climb can be linked well with numerous others, then just why isn't it used more??
I always like your information on climbs, as well as your sound suggestions for not just single stage design, but for grand tour stage design. I think that many of us like the idea of having less MTF's, well I'm in that boat. More MTT's though. I don't see why there can't be at least one of these a year in one of the GT's, and Le Tour hasn't done a true one since 2004. I think that the TDF can use its smaller mountain ranges better too, and seven stages - as was the case this year - in the Pyrenees and Alps is surely too much. Sometimes less is more. I think that two stages in the first mountain range and three in the second is enough. MTF, descent finish; then MTT, MTF, descent finish.
Okay, I'm rambling.
Oh, and back to Arcalis. ASO were on the same wavelength as us LS. They wanted to encourage great racing on that climb, hence the foresight of giving us those following two stages
Keep up the great work guys. Novices like me are learning a little