Tour de France Tour de France 2024 route rumours and announcements

Page 38 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Zoetemelk-fan

Zoetemelk-fan

Oct 5, 2009
1,544
1,833
13,680
Samu Cuenca said:
F9Rx8jyWQAA6SyM
Click to expand...
This climb of Col du Glandon has had a special place in my heart since first discovering by car in 1991. Then at my first vacation at l'Alpe some years later I was so naïve and silly (nowadays primarily the latter) and just HAD to climb Glandon from "the right side". So with two bottles on a rental 8-shifter (correction 2x front 8x back blades, don't remember the gear ratios, but heavy as they were in the 90ies) road bike down l'Alpe, steady up Glandon from "the wrong side".
A short picnic at a bar/coffee shop down in St.Ètienne-de-Cuines ...and then uphill.
It just took the breath away from me how brutal it was.
Atop I felt dizzy and excused the passing tourists that I enjoyed the view very much.
Then downhill - and l'Alpe felt like piece-of-cake, though only my 3rd time climbing the monster by the time!

The Col du Glandon from the north side - the real one - is so underrated and so often overlooked that it often makes me sick to my stomach, when it often gets close but no cigar in route designs, in favour of it's sibling Col du Croïx de Fer.

I really envy the women this stage!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: gregrowlerson and Sandisfan
H

houtdffan

Jul 20, 2019
2,760
2,426
9,680
pman said:
To a point. I think Remco puts 90 seconds into Jonas in a 50k flat individual time trial. It might not mean anything once Jonas puts 5 minutes into everyone on the queen stage a day later but it would make for more interesting racing which is supposed to be the point.
Click to expand...

and if Jonas has a bad day on the TT bike like he had at the Vuelta, it would be 2-3 minutes lost
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Sandisfan
roundabout

roundabout

Jun 7, 2010
19,196
3,091
28,180
houtdffan said:
my ideal tour would have downhill finishes and a real cobbled stage. Like the peloton would be going through Arenberg
Click to expand...

when Giro was announced 2 weeks ago with only 12km of gravel roads I did not see you wanting to have 30km (or however many there were in 2021) or wanting at all to bump up the number of gravel km.

So, excuse me, but I am going to take your post about what is an ideal tour for you with a pinch of salt.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sandisfan
P

pman

Oct 14, 2021
324
389
3,980
I really think the time trial debate routinely misses the point. An Individual time trial has two main objections 1) test a rider in a unique way against the clock, the same way a mountain tests a rider in an unique way. 2) To separate a rider from his/her team, It's why I hate team trials. In an era of super teams (sure, when haven't we had super teams), we need long flat time trials.

While we're on the subject, it seems like every Tour time trial of this era requires a gimick or beautiful tv. Clearly Stage 7 goes through vineyards and forests, didn't we have a Bordeaux area time trial a few years ago that went by vineyards too? We had another time trial through a beautiful city in the north a few years ago. Clearly Prudhomme requires beautiful TV for the medium.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sandisfan
H

houtdffan

Jul 20, 2019
2,760
2,426
9,680
roundabout said:
when Giro was announced 2 weeks ago with only 12km of gravel roads I did not see you wanting to have 30km (or however many there were in 2021) or wanting at all to bump up the number of gravel km.

So, excuse me, but I am going to take your post about what is an ideal tour for you with a pinch of salt.
Click to expand...

then you should really read more of my posts

I have long said we need stages like Morzine 1983 (which is NOT a Remco stage at all), I wanted Finestre on stage 4 of the TDF (again NOT Remco favorable) and true monster MTF stages (like a stage I proposed of about 250 km through the Pyrenees that included Core, Portet D'Aspet, Mente, Bales, Peyresourde, Aspin with a finish at La Mongie.

Hell, I even said another climb is needed on the Pla D'Adet stage (I'd personally add the Abisque)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Axel Hangleck, QueenStagiaire and gregrowlerson
Escarabajo

Escarabajo

Apr 16, 2009
17,378
6,467
28,180
red_flanders said:
Not sure I get what's wrong with it? Certainly you are hosed if you don't have a strong team with these long stretches between the climbs. Which I think is a good test of the teams. Looks like a super tough stage, which could decide the whole race. Can you expand on why it's weird? The climb at the start?
Click to expand...
The long flat stretches are a killer. In an ideal World it could create a lot of havoc. In the actual times with these strong teams it just creates boredom because the long flat stretches kill any attacks from any GC threat and even breakaways if the GC contenders decide to kill it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sandisfan
Y

yaco

Jun 20, 2015
14,658
5,474
28,180
houtdffan said:
You should accept reality that today's ultra short TTs have turned GTs from identifying the best overall rider to a competition that identifies those who climb mountains the best

Next year's giro is a bit different
Click to expand...

You truly live in the past - Lets go back to the Piano stages when the Patron of the peleton would decide when the break could form ,and it was often with 80kms to go in the stage when the TV coverage starts that the break would form - And this after soft pedalling the first 120kms. Rivetting racing!
 
  • Like
Reactions: ashhutch1997 and Sandisfan
ashhutch1997

ashhutch1997

May 27, 2022
955
1,641
6,180
houtdffan said:
then you should really read more of my posts

I have long said we need stages like Morzine 1983 (which is NOT a Remco stage at all), I wanted Finestre on stage 4 of the TDF (again NOT Remco favorable) and true monster MTF stages (like a stage I proposed of about 250 km through the Pyrenees that included Core, Portet D'Aspet, Mente, Bales, Peyresourde, Aspin with a finish at La Mongie.

Hell, I even said another climb is needed on the Pla D'Adet stage (I'd personally add the Abisque)
Click to expand...
Although I feel that every grand Tour should have at least one queen stage, in the 80's, 90's and 00's we would literally have a first week of dull flat stages. Nowadays we literally have GC action throughout most of the race, so if having shorter and tamer mountain stages is the comprimse, then I'm willing to take that for 3 weeks of entertainment.
 
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: KOM, Monte Serra, Sandisfan and 3 others
Netserk

Netserk

Apr 30, 2011
45,000
27,428
28,180
ashhutch1997 said:
Although I feel that every grand Tour should have at least one queen stage, in the 80's, 90's and 00's we would literally have a first week of dull flat stages. Nowadays we literally have GC action throughout most of the race, so if having shorter and tamer mountain stages is the comprimse, then I'm willing to take that for 3 weeks of entertainment.
Click to expand...
How many days of GC action do you expect next year, and what is the threshold for GC action?

Likewise, I'm not quite sure what you mean by dull flat stages. Was the stage Mohorič won this year a dull flat stage?
 
R

rallybanana

Apr 27, 2022
1,070
2,255
7,680
Devil's Elbow said:
The Tour released some more pictures of the gravel sectors today. Keep in mind they count down so these both are pretty early on.

Sector 13
https://twitter.com/x/status/1717473386287243470

Sector 11
https://twitter.com/x/status/1717485476334948574
Click to expand...

Could be an optical illusion but one of those pictures looks like the road camber slopes down to the middle of the road. It also looks like there's a gradient in the road so if it rains it could be like racing in a river.
 
  • Wow
  • Like
Reactions: Sandisfan and ashhutch1997
Extinction

Extinction

Jan 8, 2020
4,904
5,562
16,180
roundabout said:
I don't think I remember ever seeing you asking for more gravel roads and downhill finishes. I think all you ever asked for are more TT km even though you want to 'identify the best overall rider'.

Hmm, wonder why is that?
Click to expand...
No, the point is to bring the long, flat TT back, which has nothing to do with the presence of gravel roads or downhill finishes. Bring those in, but let's bring the long, flat TTs back too. They are necessary to test the all-around abilities, which is what the Tour should fundamentally be about. But if this is not the case, it's because it does not favor the French. For if it did, then surely we'd see them back.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Axel Hangleck, houtdffan and gregrowlerson
ashhutch1997

ashhutch1997

May 27, 2022
955
1,641
6,180
Netserk said:
How many days of GC action do you expect next year, and what is the threshold for GC action?

Likewise, I'm not quite sure what you mean by dull flat stages. Was the stage Mohorič won this year a dull flat stage?
Click to expand...
I was referring the Jean Marie Leblanc Tours on terms of dull flat stages. Look at the Tour's in the 90's of even 00's, you would literally have to wait for 8 -10 days to have actual GC gaps. Potential GC action days next year-
Stage 2
Stage 4
Stage 7
Stage 9
Stage 10 if it's like the 2013 stage?
Stage 11
Stage 14
Stage 15
Stage 17
Stage 19
Stage 20
Stage 21.
 
Last edited:
Netserk

Netserk

Apr 30, 2011
45,000
27,428
28,180
I know what the dullest flat stages are, but I would like to know what the upper limit is of that category. Crosswinds are non-dull. Big breakaway fight is non-dull? What of the day before when Asgreen won, was that a dull flat stage? Or is the category only about the inevitable bunch sprints where no strong rider would even bother to go in the break?
 
  • Wow
Reactions: Sandisfan
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom