Tour de France Tour de France 2024 route rumours and announcements

[valentius borealis]

I mostly wonder what they will do in the Alps. They'll probably enter the Alps already on stage 4. Will they then do a high mountain stage? Or just the easiest way crossing into France. And will they immidiately leave the Alps or do more mountain stages? And will they return doing a big Mercantour stage before the finish in Nice. This is a highly unusual route, so it will be very interesting to see what happens.

If they don't transfer across the border between stages, I reckon than Col de Montgenèvre or Col de Larche would be the most likely ways for the peloton the enter France, with the high Alpine stages being in the last week (and they surely have to do that big Mercantour stage).

 

[houtdffan]

would be nice if Gouveneou would grow a pair and have stage 4 be Finestre, Sestrieres, Montgenevre, with an uphill finish in Briancon

 

[valentius borealis]

would be nice if Gouveneou would grow a pair and have stage 4 be Finestre, Sestrieres, Montgenevre, with an uphill finish in Briancon

or Esischie, Sampeyre, Agnello, Izoard with an uphill finish in Briançon if we want riders to scream out "MURDERERS"!

 

[houtdffan]

or Esischie, Sampeyre, Agnello, Izoard with an uphill finish in Briançon if we want riders to scream out "MURDERERS"!

that's actually a good week 3 stage

 

[tobydawq]

would be nice if Gouveneou would grow a pair and have stage 4 be Finestre, Sestrieres, Montgenevre, with an uphill finish in Briancon

Do the original 2020 Giro stage 20 of which we were robbed.

 

[houtdffan]

Do the original 2020 Giro stage 20 of which we were robbed.

that 2020 stage was criminal. Should have simply done the 2005 stage once it was clear the peloton was not allowed inside of France

 

[Kyllingen86]

I am mostly surprised that the Tour decided to make three stages with 200 km or more. That is vastly against the trent from recent years where a stage of 180 km would be considered a mammoth-stage by Tour-standards.

 

[tobydawq]

I am mostly surprised that the Tour decided to make three stages with 200 km or more. That is vastly against the trent from recent years where a stage of 180 km would be considered a mammoth-stage by Tour-standards.

No one would consider a 180 km stage a mammoth stage...

 

[Red Rick]

Do the original 2020 Giro stage 20 of which we were robbed.

In before nobody goes nuts on stage 4 and people go "see stage design was bad"

 

[gavia88]

I mostly wonder what they will do in the Alps. They'll probably enter the Alps already on stage 4. Will they then do a high mountain stage? Or just the easiest way crossing into France. And will they immidiately leave the Alps or do more mountain stages? And will they return doing a big Mercantour stage before the finish in Nice. This is a highly unusual route, so it will be very interesting to see what happens.

I think it's more interresting to see what they will do with the middle part of the tour. How are they going to avoid to have to many unimportant stages consecutive? I mean, at the start they have option enough to make interesting stages (they can enter the alps in stage 4 already), and most likely they will have Pyrenees and southern Alps in the end. But what in between?

-3 stages Italie
-1x Alps light (something like in 2020 with the Orcieres-Merlette stage)??

-??

-end of 2nd week pyrenees (I guess the tradition is to big to completely skipp pyrenees)??
-can they resist the temptation to put Mont Ventoux in the route in the last week??

-finally a decent southern alps stage
-time time trial Monaco-Nice


If they want to go to the north and/ or west of France, somewhere in the route should be quite a big transfer.

 

[Ulle97]

Very nice opening! Two really hilly stages the first weekend like this year. This is something else than the previous years with flat stages or at best a Mur de Bretagne finish or something similar.

A bit disappointing that they finish in Torino without doing any significant climbs on the stage, but it's pretty difficult when they start in Piacenza. And it's okay if the following stage is a proper mountain stage of some kind. Could we hope for Agnello - Izoard and a hllitop finish in Briancon?

Have you ever seen the finish they use when the Giro visits Briancon??? It is about a 1km and very steep finish. The finish winds its way through very narrow streets and their is a gulley/ drain in the middle of the road. Have you seen this finish???
Am I right in saying that the Tour is too 'big' for such a finish???

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Didnt they use that narrow hilly finish in the Tour back in 2007 when Soler won?

 

[Netserk]

Didnt they use that narrow hilly finish in the Tour back in 2007 when Soler won?

No. Same finish-line, different route. Going through the old city shortens the length of the climb by roughly 200 m.

 

[Gigs_98]

Did I hear Finestre on stage 4???

 

[Red Rick]

Did I hear Finestre on stage 4???

Yes.

But strangely I didn't hear any about Sestriere and instead they're talking about some Strada dell'Assieta stuff

 

[houtdffan]

Did I hear Finestre on stage 4???

Only if Goveneou grows a pair

 

[OlavEH]

If they don't transfer across the border between stages, I reckon than Col de Montgenèvre or Col de Larche would be the most likely ways for the peloton the enter France, with the high Alpine stages being in the last week (and they surely have to do that big Mercantour stage).

Yeah, probably. It it wasn't so short, a stage (form Pinerolo) with Pramartino, Sestriere, Montgenevre and a uphill finish in Briancon would be okay. Or they could continue over Lautaret and finish in Les Deux Alpes. I at least hope they to something more than a couple of cat 2 climbs the first half before a flat second half.

I think it's more interresting to see what they will do with the middle part of the tour. How are they going to avoid to have to many unimportant stages consecutive? I mean, at the start they have option enough to make interesting stages (they can enter the alps in stage 4 already), and most likely they will have Pyrenees and southern Alps in the end. But what in between?
-3 stages Italie
-1x Alps light (something like in 2020 with the Orcieres-Merlette stage)??
-??
-end of 2nd week pyrenees (I guess the tradition is to big to completely skipp pyrenees)??
-can they resist the temptation to put Mont Ventoux in the route in the last week??

If they are back in the Alps somewhere around stage 17-18, it will be 12-13 stages between to fill. I think it will be a pretty standard mix of an ITT, two or three Pyrenees stages, a couple of hilly/medium mountain stages where the GC riders attack and the rest flat or breakaway/transistional stages. They could possible make a great and very non-standard Tour with the published GD and the finish in Nice. Let's hope they take advantage and do just that.

 

[rghysens]

I think it's more interresting to see what they will do with the middle part of the tour. How are they going to avoid to have to many unimportant stages consecutive? I mean, at the start they have option enough to make interesting stages (they can enter the alps in stage 4 already), and most likely they will have Pyrenees and southern Alps in the end. But what in between?

-3 stages Italie
-1x Alps light (something like in 2020 with the Orcieres-Merlette stage)??

-??

-end of 2nd week pyrenees (I guess the tradition is to big to completely skipp pyrenees)??
-can they resist the temptation to put Mont Ventoux in the route in the last week??

-finally a decent southern alps stage
-time time trial Monaco-Nice


If they want to go to the north and/ or west of France, somewhere in the route should be quite a big transfer.

Plenty of goodies in northern France:
*) murito stage in the hills west of Dijon and Beaune
*) gravel roads around Bar-sur-Aube as in this years women tour
*) hills around Epernay
*) couples

If we assume stage 4 will be an Alpine stage, we still can have 4 interesting stages in the remaining five of the first week.

In the second week you can create very hilly stages in Normandy to start, some flatter ons to cross the Loire plains, some good medium mountain stage in the Central Massif and finish with some Pyrenean stages.

 

[Andy schleck]

Only if Goveneou grows a pair

The last tours had a very nice route, sometimes better than giro or vuelta's routes. The tour this year, had the best route between the 3 GCs. Goveneou wasn't been that bad.

 

[houtdffan]

The last tours had a very nice route, sometimes better than giro or vuelta's routes. The tour this year, had the best route between the 3 GCs. Goveneou wasn't been that bad.

I'd say it was the least crappy of 3 crappy ones

The thing with Gouvenou's routes is they only need minor tweaks to go from crappy to amazing. The Alps were fine. The Pyrenees simply needed some more distance on the stages. The Peyregudes stage needed to add Tourmalet as the first climb. The Hautacam stage needed to add Marie Blanque. Add 15 km to the TT and then we'd have had a classic TDF

The giro and vuelta... WOOF

 

[tobydawq]

I'd say it was the least crappy of 3 crappy ones

The thing with Gouvenou's routes is they only need minor tweaks to go from crappy to amazing. The Alps were fine. The Pyrenees simply needed some more distance on the stages. The Peyregudes stage needed to add Tourmalet as the first climb. The Hautacam stage needed to add Marie Blanque. Add 15 km to the TT and then we'd have had a classic TDF

The giro and vuelta... WOOF

The thing is that it doesn't take anything in this forum's most avid posters' opinions for a route to go from amazing to crappy. Amazing is a utopia and one deviation from there makes a route crap.

 

[OlavEH]

The Hautacam stage needed to add Marie Blanque. Add 15 km to the TT and then we'd have had a classic TDF

Yeah, because the Hautacam stage this year was soooooooooooooooooooo medicore!

 

[OlavEH]

*) gravel roads around Bar-sur-Aube as in this years women tour

I'm all for gravel roads in the Tour, actually I prefer that before cobbles, but they should really find some better ones than used in the women's tour this year.

 

[houtdffan]

Yeah, because the Hautacam stage this year was soooooooooooooooooooo medicore!

being bailed out by an ultra aggressive Pog does not mean the stage couldn't have been designed a bit better. Back to back ultra short mountain stages should not occur

 

[tobydawq]

being bailed out by an ultra aggressive Pog does not mean the stage couldn't have been designed a bit better. Back to back ultra short mountain stages should not occur

Actually yes, it does.

It's the quality of the racing, not the potential for racing that matters in the end.