Tour de France 2016 route prediction

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

"But the Pyrenean stages need more than mixing up the order. The Andorra stage needs nuking."

I don't quite agree I must admit. I think the review after it was released was very good among CN-posters comparatively to previous years, I'd say about 7/10 in average, no? So whats your take after seeing all stages... surely, that isn't more bad than 2006, 2009, 2012, fx?

Lol, I was at least hoping for there to be some interesting stages beside the ones we got to see already dammit. Now all I got to see extra is like 10 sprints, a medium mountain stage and the Lac Payolle stage

Yes, its kinda lacklustre.

LS, in regards to the placements of the Pyrenées stages, I'd like to think that ASO has made a concerted effort not to throw in Arcalis at stage 8 or even stage 7. We all know what happened in 2013 and 2015, Froome pretty much sealed the deal on the first MTF of the race.

 

[veji11]

Re:

One of the worst Tour profiles in recent memory. 95% of the stages will be a snoozefest.

One of the worst post in recent memory. 95% of it is just nonsense.

 

[RattaKuningas]

Re: Re:

One of the worst Tour profiles in recent memory. 95% of the stages will be a snoozefest.

One of the worst post in recent memory. 95% of it is just nonsense.

I don't think that his post is nonsense. It probably comes down to personal preferences but I think that this years stages are slighthly worse compared to previous years.
I'd like Tour do become more like Vuelta but this probably won't happen.

 

[veji11]

Funny how some comments here are super negative, fans are the best haters I suppose. First of all as said by some in october when it was unveiled this route was touted as very good one by the majority. It is not perfect because perfection doesn't exist, but it's good. Several things standout :
- Sure the last week is hard but for once we don't have an excessively backloaded GT where the race really starts on the 3rd weekend like in this year's Giro with the Corvara stage last saturday. In this tour de France BEFORE the first rest day you have 2 hard high moutain stages (Luchon with a descent finish, Andorra with a MTF), 1 light mountain stage (Payolle with just the Aspin climb, and 1 potentially very painful and selective medium mountain stage with the long Le Lioran stage (216k) and its very painful last 40. Add to this 4 sprinter stages and the hilltop finish in Cherbourg and the first 9 stages are as balanced as one could hope. Only gripe one could have is that an ITT in that first half of the tour would have been nice, but really for once a leader cannot just wait for the last week of a GT : if you are not ready you will lose the Tour already. And let's not forget the potential for échelons in those first 4 flat stages as well.
- That second week could have had more medium difficulty stages, you have 3 very hard stages (Ventoux, ITT, Culoz) and 4 flatter ones for sprinters or some courageous breakaway. But the Revel stage has an interesting geometry with that big climb to begin with and the Culoz stage is a major *** and will be very painful. Not perfect but interesting.
- That last block of 4 decisive stages is interesting as well : Sure the stages are a bit too short but the route are tricky, very irregular with a nasty climb than some flat than consecutive climbs then some flat, etc.. Emosson is like the Ventoux a classic "dry"" MTF where Forclaz is really part of the final climb, the ITT is an good design, very irregular with flat/very hard wall, regular climb, flat, hardish climb, flat, hardish climb, short descent. It's not a linear cronoscalata, it's something a lot more trickty, and the last 2 stages are drawn in a way that offensive teams can use lieutenants sent forward to support an attacking strategy from afar.

Many stages will probably be snoozefests because it's the way it is in all GTs, you can't expect all stages to be ridden hard, sometimes even the best designs give you nothing and you are at the mercy of circumstances, for example the big fall that costed Pozzo in the Sestola stage suddently made the last 30ks action packed, whereas the Pinerolo stage saw all the big leaders just do nothing.

But really it's a very solid route overall, guys shouldn't be too picky.

 

[veji11]

Re: Re:

One of the worst Tour profiles in recent memory. 95% of the stages will be a snoozefest.

One of the worst post in recent memory. 95% of it is just nonsense.

I don't think that his post is nonsense. It probably comes down to personal preferences but I think that this years stages are slighthly worse compared to previous years.
I'd like Tour do become more like Vuelta but this probably won't happen.

Oh god please no !!

a 1km MTF sprint is in no way better than a 1km flat sprint, it remains a sprint. The pandemic proportions taken by all those stages with a short and very steep mtf in the Vuelta is a trauma more than anything else... the best routes like the 2015 Giro avoid those like the plague they are.

 

[RattaKuningas]

Re: Re:

One of the worst Tour profiles in recent memory. 95% of the stages will be a snoozefest.

One of the worst post in recent memory. 95% of it is just nonsense.

I don't think that his post is nonsense. It probably comes down to personal preferences but I think that this years stages are slighthly worse compared to previous years.
I'd like Tour do become more like Vuelta but this probably won't happen.

Oh god please no !!

a 1km MTF sprint is in no way better than a 1km flat sprint, it remains a sprint. The pandemic proportions taken by all those stages with a short and very steep mtf in the Vuelta is a trauma more than anything else... the best routes like the 2015 Giro avoid those like the plague they are.

As I said it comes down to personal preferences. I found last year Vuelta very entertaining and even better than Tour.

 

[MikeTichondrius]

Anything rumoured for the 2017 route yet?

 

[Red Rick]

Anything rumoured for the 2017 route yet?

Start in Germany. That means

Long prologue/ short opening TT. not too technical.
3 other flat TT's
16 flat stages. The finals km's vary from drag race type run ins to somewhat bumpy so that Greipel can take a few stages as well.

One MTF on the Peyragudes.

 

[veji11]

Anything rumoured for the 2017 route yet?

Start in Germany. That means

Long prologue/ short opening TT. not too technical.
3 other flat TT's
16 flat stages. The finals km's vary from drag race type run ins to somewhat bumpy so that Greipel can take a few stages as well.

One MTF on the Peyragudes.

More seriously a start in Germany could mean fairly quickly an Ardennes type stage in the Eifel massif for example.

 

[Breh]

Are there any options to not make a Ventoux stage look like ____/ ? Montagne de Lure perhaps?

 

[MikeTichondrius]

Anything rumoured for the 2017 route yet?

Start in Germany. That means

Long prologue/ short opening TT. not too technical.
3 other flat TT's
16 flat stages. The finals km's vary from drag race type run ins to somewhat bumpy so that Greipel can take a few stages as well.

One MTF on the Peyragudes.

I should put a tenner on Major Tom and Panzer now...

Kidding aside, it seems like it should be a Germany finish on stage 1 after going out and back into Dusseldorf. Or a Spa finish if they're going into Belgium. Sure hope we get a touch of cobbles, bergs of the Vosges in week 1 in the midst of the inevitable flats.

EDIT: Regarding Ventoux, I always wanted to see what Lure+Ventoux would look like. But another option would be climbing to Chalet Reynard from Sault, descend into Bedoin and climb again from Malaucéne...

 

[Netserk]

Re:

Are there any options to not make a Ventoux stage look like ____/ ? Montagne de Lure perhaps?

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

Are there any options to not make a Ventoux stage look like ____/ ? Montagne de Lure perhaps?

Just ride it twice and if I would decide I would also not finish on the top which would make it a __/\/\_ stage