Tour de France 2025 route rumours and announcements

[Peter von]

I love the ttt as a spectacle;

But yeah if you make it long it will impact things too much and make it even harder if you aren’t on a good tea
; if you make it short it’s a waste of a stage.

I wouldn’t mind a short opener; but I am not too keen on them anymore.

Then again when was the last time we had guys from small teams in contention?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Then again when was the last time we had guys from small teams in contention?

Just because they aren't in contention now shouldn't be a justification to further marginalise them, though. It just exacerbates the haves-have nots divide and condemns several teams to also-ran status in perpetuity because they will then not be able to offer a viable home to a viable leader if they are guaranteed to be marginalised and placed at a disadvantage against a team equipped with a team full of leaders to deploy keeping your riders in their place.

 

[Cookster15]

When was the last year we had a TTT in the Tour, how long was it and did it affect the GC result?

It seemed to work in 2019?
Stage 2
28km

Likewise in 2011:
Stage 2
23km

+ No gaps which counted in GC in either of those years. I don't favor a long TTT like we saw in the 90s.

A TTT can be a great spectacle and can replace a boring sprint stage early in the Tour.

 

[staubsauger]

There's a difference between a true TTT like in 2003 & 2004 which @Libertine Seguros talks about and the ~12 kilometers parade opening TTT below we see / saw at the Vuelta a Espana & Giro d'Italia recently.

Maybe we should specify about which TTT we're actually talking about first.

 

[Cookster15]

Maybe we should specify about which TTT we're actually talking about first.

Agree. I gave two examples - 2011 and 2019, both held on stage 2. What was wrong with those years?

 

[Potomac]

I like a TTT in a grand tour

 

[staubsauger]

Agree. I gave two examples - 2011 and 2019, both held on stage 2. What was wrong with those years?

Frankly, I mainly remember the TTT at the 2015 Tour de France and that was pretty good too IMHO!

 

[Samamba]

A TTT with rich teams riding in rain and without any sunlight and other teams riding in perfect circumstances yes, otherwise no.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

There's a difference between a true TTT like in 2003 & 2004 which @Libertine Seguros talks about and the ~12 kilometers parade opening TTT below we see / saw at the Vuelta a Espana & Giro d'Italia recently.

Maybe we should specify about which TTT we're actually talking about first.

Actually while my opprobrium is largely fuelled by those true long TTTs, I still opposed the short ones because they achieve nothing that couldn't be done better and with none of the drawbacks with a prologue.

 

[houtdffan]

Actually while my opprobrium is largely fuelled by those true long TTTs, I still opposed the short ones because they achieve nothing that couldn't be done better and with none of the drawbacks with a prologue.

which is why we need BOTH a prologue and a very long (70-80km) TTT!

 

[tobydawq]

I think we should go back to the old times when Desgrange would use the TTT as a punishment for defensive riding. So if on a sprint stage, no breakaway would form, then the next flat stage would be ridden as a TTT.

 

[tobydawq]

Also, TTT is Tadej's kryptonite in Grand Tours. Every time he rode one in a Grand Tour his entire team crashed because of a leaky swimming pool and they would lose unspeakable amounts of time.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

which is why we need BOTH a prologue and a very long (70-80km) TTT!

If conducted in teams of four, national teams, at the world championships, then sure. As part of a stage race, never in a million years is too often.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I think we should go back to the old times when Desgrange would use the TTT as a punishment for defensive riding. So if on a sprint stage, no breakaway would form, then the next flat stage would be ridden as a TTT.

I still favour suspending a team's DSes and replacing them with a neutral DS panel consisting of Jacky Durand, Thomas Voeckler, Aleksandr Vinokourov and the ghost of Frank Vandenbroucke.

 

[tobydawq]

I still favour suspending a team's DSes and replacing them with a neutral DS panel consisting of Jacky Durand, Thomas Voeckler, Aleksandr Vinokourov and the ghost of Frank Vandenbroucke.

Ghosts don't exist.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Ghosts don't exist.

Neither does changing the format of a race on the fly to create 180km TTTs, and it's only marginally more realistic than my idea requiring raising the dead.

 

[tobydawq]

Neither does changing the format of a race on the fly to create 180km TTTs, and it's only marginally more realistic than my idea requiring raising the dead.

It was not really that serious a suggestion.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

It was not really that serious a suggestion.

And you treated mine like it was?

 

[tobydawq]

And you treated mine like it was?

Not really...

 

[Valv.Piti]

I don't see a problem with a TTT in the range of 15-25 km in week 1 honestly. Especially if week 1 is up in the Northern part of France..

 

[Ulle97]

Actually while my opprobrium is largely fuelled by those true long TTTs, I still opposed the short ones because they achieve nothing that couldn't be done better and with none of the drawbacks with a prologue.

Hoping I'm not the only one who had to 'Google' opprobrium.

 

[ice&fire]

Also, TTT is Tadej's kryptonite in Grand Tours. Every time he rode one in a Grand Tour his entire team crashed because of a leaky swimming pool and they would lose unspeakable amounts of time.

You may have confused your Slovenians GT riders.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

You may have confused your Slovenians GT riders.

Well, Roglič has ridden in multiple GT TTTs and his team has only crashed because of a swimming pool in one of them.

 

[tobydawq]

You may have confused your Slovenians GT riders.

No I don't. There were no cameras on UAE but they crashed too and finished 21st out of 22 teams.

 

[Valv.Piti]

No I don't. There were no cameras on UAE but they crashed too and finished 21st out of 22 teams.

Ah, good old Andaluciá (or whatever team it was)