Tour de France 2021 route rumors

[will-10]

GT winners are rarely the best overall rider. You'd probably have to get 10 minute bonuses on flat sprint stages, and have some classic like stages in the GT for that ( cobbles, long hilly stages like LBL design). Climbing and time trialing are only two aspects of the sport. A route with lots of time trialing just gives you the best time trialist who doesn't die in the mountains as the winner.

Based on that logic let's see a Mont du Chat downhill TT.

 

[will-10]

Do we really think the length of this stage had any bearing on the outcome? Make it 200km and nothing changes, everything happened in the first 90 minutes.

 

[titan31]

Based on that logic let's see a Mont du Chat downhill TT.

Well the logic of adding loads of TT Kms to get the best overall rider is nonsense anyway, as it's adding one aspect. Someone like Alaphilippe or Van Aert are probably the best overall rider in the Peleton but some of their biggest strengths aren't included in GTs

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Newest update from Velowire has the Andorra stage finish in Andorra la Vella. Maybe with Envalira as the last climb.

Could be good if they go Gallina-Comella-finish but much more likely we get Beixalis preceded by (probably the worst side of) Envalira. At least it means the race won't be a MTF overload.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Do we really think the length of this stage had any bearing on the outcome? Make it 200km and nothing changes, everything happened in the first 90 minutes.

It proves that long stages don't have to be softpedalled for the first 3/4 (like @yaco claimed) and the length absolutely had bearing on the rest of the race as it added to the fatigue.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Could be good if they go Gallina-Comella-finish but much more likely we get Beixalis preceded by (probably the worst side of) Envalira. At least it means the race won't be a MTF overload.

With the hard side of Envalira that would actually be a great finish.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

A route with lots of time trialing just gives you the best time trialist who doesn't die in the mountains as the winner.

Maybe they cut the previously rumored ~ 80km of flat TT kms now that the Quillan and Andorra la Vella stages (assuming no Beixalis) look like s.t. borefests. The latter stage was supposed to be harder, at least.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

With the hard side of Envalira that would actually be a great finish.

True, especially as they'd have to get there via Jau and Pailhères. Which is exactly why it won't happen.

Also, considering ASO's obsession with irrelevant dirt roads, I could see them climbing the first part of Cortals d'Encamp, taking the dirt road to Engolasters used in last year's Vuelta, then descend to the finish (possibly through the easy side of Comella which would make for an interesting finale if nothing else).

 

[Netserk]

Add Core on the route to Saint-Gaudens, according to Velowire. Nice.

EDIT: Okay, after mapping it, there's still way too much flat to be of use.

 

[gavia88]

rumors getting worse and worse, but let see what the final presentation will show tonight

 

[Red Rick]

I think think the idea of a rider winning because he's the 8th best TTer and 5th best climber in the race just is hella anemic in itself.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Oh, in the Tour the best GC TTer is usually one of the two best climbers.

 

[yaco]

It proves that long stages don't have to be softpedalled for the first 3/4 (like @yaco claimed) and the length absolutely had bearing on the rest of the race as it added to the fatigue.

Except it is a fact they have been consistently soft pedalled in the past - I'll add that once Sky got the yellow jersey they used to soft pedal like crazy until the final climb.

 

[Gigs_98]

Nah - The criticism by posters is that you fail to test endurance if you don't have a quota of longer stages - My risposte is that in the glory day's of the past we can tend to look through 'rose colored glasses' and fail to acknowledge that often these longer stages on flattish parcours are ridden like a club ride, except for the last 60 kms, which hardly tests endurance - So in other words, length doesn't necessarily impact on endurance - I have posted that I've been happy with the last few routes of the TDF because they mix things up - Even if the rumoured 50 km ITT is on the menu, at least it's different from the last 3 or 4 editions - If only the Giro would mix up their parcours.

That last sentence is clearly bait but hey, I'm falling for it. Care to ellaborate how the Giro isn't mixing up their route as much as the Tour?

Anyway, a 250 km stage is indeed not always raced hard for 250 km but a 150km cannot even theoretically be raced hard for that long. So at the end your average 250 km will test endurance more than your average 150 km stage. That's a fact.

 

[houtdffan]

GT winners are rarely the best overall rider. You'd probably have to get 10 minute bonuses on flat sprint stages, and have some classic like stages in the GT for that ( cobbles, long hilly stages like LBL design). Climbing and time trialing are only two aspects of the sport. A route with lots of time trialing just gives you the best time trialist who doesn't die in the mountains as the winner.

sprinting does not determine who was the best rider of that day. It says who the best rider was for the final minute of the day. That's why pure sprinters should never win a GT

 

[Gigs_98]

sprinting does not determine who was the best rider of that day. It says who the best rider was for the final minute of the day. That's why pure sprinters should never win a GT

This post gives me similar vibest to this:

Yellow Jersey most days wins Tour de France

The winner of Tour de France is the rider who has the yellow jersey most days in the race. If more riders have the same yellow-jersey-days the time will count. It is more fair and it will give us a complete another TdF. It is not fair a rider can winn TdF on the last mountain in the race as...

forum.cyclingnews.com

 

[guncha]

Newest update from Velowire has the Andorra stage finish in Andorra la Vella. Maybe with Envalira as the last climb.

Sounds horrible if true. It will destroy balance between time trials and mountains. Envalira is 11km at 6% followed by 30 km descent. It would be pointless to turn on TV for this stage. Saint-Gaudens which comes next is as horrible as previous stage. I really hate when they have some many stages with wasted mountains.

 

[yaco]

That last sentence is clearly bait but hey, I'm falling for it. Care to ellaborate how the Giro isn't mixing up their route as much as the Tour?

Anyway, a 250 km stage is indeed not always raced hard for 250 km but a 150km cannot even theoretically be raced hard for that long. So at the end your average 250 km will test endurance more than your average 150 km stage. That's a fact.

Even when you watch a sleepy long stage when the peleton is soft pedalling, they are still going around 40 kms hr, and they barely raise a sweat - My point about 'piano racing' in long stages is a fact.

 

[Gigs_98]

Even when you watch a sleepy long stage when the peleton is soft pedalling, they are still going around 40 kms hr, and they barely raise a sweat - My point about 'piano racing' in long stages is a fact.

You know what's harder than riding 40 km/h for 4 hours though? 40 km/h for 6 hours

 

[railxmig]

The shorter the race is the faster they ride. I'm in the camp that thinks an additional 100k flat makes no difference. However if you have a >200k stage with like Tourmalet in the 1st half it should stay in the legs no matter the tempo. However, i'm not a professional cyclist so i don't know the real impact of such things.

 

[Netserk]

Of course it makes a difference. Not always a great one, but it definitely matters. The go to example is the Poggio.

 

[Netserk]

The presentation is at 20:25 CET, so a bit later than earlier announced.

 

[ice&fire]

The presentation is at 20:25 CET, so a bit later than earlier announced.

That gives me more time to refill my dissapointment reserves after the Vuelta stage

 

[Red Rick]

That gives me more time to refill my dissapointment reserves after the Vuelta stage

Mine's been depleted since the Giro and Roland Garros final

 

[richwallone]

If the Tour 2021 is anything close to this, it'll be one helluva boring GT, just from the quick look of it:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1322971725802471425

View: https://twitter.com/laflammerouge16/status/1322971725802471425