Tour de France 2013

[Christian]

Wow, that is amazing! Idk how "good" a route it is, but let me tell you in any case it is a very beautiful route. I am really stoked about Mont Ventoux being back, that is my favourite mountain (in any bike race).

I will definitely try to go see a stage in Marseille/Aix/Montpellier/Mt. Ventoux area, I hope it will work out with the dates!

Just saw Vaison-la-Romaine is in there too!!!

 

[Ferminal]

Loooooooong way to the finish.

By long you mean 10km shorter than than the Peguere and Grand Colombier disgraces?

 

[Bavarianrider]

No Pau, i am shocked

 

[airstream]

For the 1st time the route duplicated rumors completely. Yeah, no Pau and a 240k stage to Ventoux are biggest surprises

 

[Leonardus]

Pretty much as expected. But looks like a lot of sprint stages and very few hilly/medium mountain stages for a nice break or a bit of gc fight for a few seconds. This route has roughly 9 possible sprint stages, that's too much in my opinion.

 

[Ferminal]

It should only be 8 if they do the right thing on the Lyon finish.

Could also do something going into Albi but I doubt it.

Ugh, 8 is still a couple too many, maybe they can give us the P-T finish.

 

[jens_attacks]

it looks good. now let's hope there will be riders around in 2013 to contest it.

indeed too many flat stages though damn it

 

[Arnout]

For the 1st time the route duplicated rumors completely. Yeah, no Pau and a 240k stage to Ventoux are biggest surprises

240k to Mont Ventoux? I know there will not be a lot of climbs leading up to the final, but that's a nice departure from the every mountainstage should be no longer than 150km mantra.

 

[Eshnar]

Well we already have a medium mountain overkill in the Giro (and uphill overkill in Vuelta). Let the sprinters win something next year

 

[luckyboy]

240k to Mont Ventoux? I know there will not be a lot of climbs leading up to the final, but that's a nice departure from the every mountainstage should be no longer than 150km mantra.

Might as well be 150km with no other climbs there

 

[airstream]

Great parcours actually. Either the Legend or the Alien will win.

 

[barmaher]

I am trying to work out the sprint stages. There could be many:

Bastia
Marseille
Montpellier
Albi
St Malo
Tours
Saint Armand Motrand
Lyon
Gap (unlikely)
Paris

But surely some of those will be made difficult?

 

[Eshnar]

I am trying to work out the sprint stages. There could be many:

Bastia
Marseille
Montpellier
Albi
St Malo
Tours
Saint Armand Motrand
Lyon
Gap (unlikely)
Paris

But surely some of those will be made difficult?

Gap should be the same finish of 2011 I read somewhere.

 

[Ferminal]

Yeh Gap will be Manse, question is, where will Contador lose time beforehand

 

[Eshnar]

Yeh Gap will be Manse, question is, where will Contador lose time beforehand

In a random flat stage crash.

 

[Ferminal]

Vlad Karpets may help.

 

[RedheadDane]

Route pres on now.

And for some reason I got... what I assume are Flemish commentators... it's weird!

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Great parcours actually. Either the Legend or the Alien will win.

Yeah agree. I think that the Legend will win, the Alien will be second and then Wiggins and Andy will be the favorites for the rest of the top 4.

 

[The Blues]

Where are you watching it?

http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2012/streaming/us/player-high.html - this one is English.

 

[barmaher]

I think Lyon will be flat, as it is the last flat stage possibility before Paris if they do the Manse.

Finding it really hard to see how they could make the others hard.

 

[airstream]

Yeah agree. I think that the Legend will win, the Alien will be second and then Wiggins and Andy will be the favorites for the rest of the top 4.

In this case your legend runs a risk to finish the first mountain stage in handcuffs

 

[roundabout]

Semnoz MTF seems like overkill

But the Dauphine thinks it will happen

 

[Hugo Koblet]

In this case your legend runs a risk to finish the first mountain stage in handcuffs

While you legend runs a risk of not finishing the first mountain stage at all, if 2012 is anything to go by

 

[AussieEdge]

what's the TT like this year?

 

[Ferminal]

What one...?