Tour de France 2025 route rumours and announcements

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Sep 22, 2020
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Superbagnères followed by a Peyragudes MTT sounds horrible ngl..
Yeah the best way to do it would be to have the Peyragudes TT come on the day after as a half stage. But I don't know realistically what is feasible with the time constraints, You could do Luchon > Saint-Girons via just Mente and Portet-d'Aspet which is only 75km I guess.
 
Oct 25, 2020
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If Finestre is not used as a MTF then Sestrieres would be the obvious finishing climb..... or is there another finishing climb nearby that links well with Finestre??
 
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Feb 20, 2010
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If Finestre is not used as a MTF then Sestrieres would be the obvious finishing climb..... or is there another finishing climb nearby that links well with Finestre??
The best alternative would be a Pinerolo finish with Pramartino like in the 2009 Giro and 2011 Tour.

Compare the end of this:
Giro10alt.jpg


To this:
giro-2015-sestriere.jpg


The Sestriere ascent from the latter is the first part of the descent in the former. It would put the Finestre summit 57km from the line.

You could, in theory, use Moncenisio directly backing into Finestre as the descent of Moncenisio deposits you in Susa and essentially just redo the 2009 stage with Finestre instead of Sestriere, replacing the part from 155km to 211km with the section from the 2015 stage from 151km to 182km, so reducing the length by 25km and still being a very long and tough stage.
 
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Apr 10, 2019
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The best alternative would be a Pinerolo finish with Pramartino like in the 2009 Giro and 2011 Tour.

Compare the end of this:
Giro10alt.jpg


To this:
giro-2015-sestriere.jpg


The Sestriere ascent from the latter is the first part of the descent in the former. It would put the Finestre summit 57km from the line.
Approved!
 
Apr 30, 2011
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Oh I've looked at that road! Trust me, it's ridiculously dangerous...
If the finish is at Colle dell'Assietta, the flatter middle section is the only part that is more dangerous than Cirque du Litor. All hope is not lost.
 
Jul 16, 2024
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If the finish is at Colle dell'Assietta, the flatter middle section is the only part that is more dangerous than Cirque du Litor. All hope is not lost.
Something like this wouldn't be too much of an issue, I don't think. Other than the first bonus climb perhaps being too rough, and there not being much space for the finish.
 
Apr 30, 2011
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There's not much space atop of Finestre neither, but that still seems a viable option.
 
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Oct 25, 2020
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If they do indeed use the Finistre this year, it will definitely be the hardest climb used in the Tour outside of France (some may argue the hardest of all time, France included)

What other climbs outside the borders of France would be classified as being HC status, which of course have been used in the Tour??

Agnello??
 
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Aug 3, 2015
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Agnello is same ballpark as Finestre. Some might even argue Agnello is harder due to altitude, but I dno. Agnello was the first climb of the day though

Andorra Arcalis was a HC if I remember correctly, allthough a very, very shitty one and obviously not a real HC. I think Envalira only was 1st. Finhaut Emosson in 2017 should be HC as well, and the climb before that one was 1st if I remember correctly although much harder than Arcalis for example. Can't remember anything else, have they done Malbun?
 
Jul 16, 2024
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Grand St. Bernard and Émosson have also been HC climbs in the tour.
 
Sep 20, 2017
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They also did the Italian sides of Lombarde in 2008 and Mont-Cénis in 1999. So that makes five real and one fake non-French HCs, quite a low number actually if you compare to everything the Giro's been up.
 
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Apr 30, 2011
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Col de la Croix was only categorised as a cat. 1 climb in 1997, but they did the hardest side then:

CroixW.gif


I count Cenis as French, even if the lower slopes are in Italy.
 
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Oct 25, 2020
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They have never really used climbs in the Spanish Pyrenees??? I remember Pla de Beret was used in 06. That's a 13k climb at 5.5%. Not too gruelling. Cat 1 at a push.

What Spanish Pyrenean climbs are we missing out on?
 
Sep 20, 2017
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They have never really used climbs in the Spanish Pyrenees??? I remember Pla de Beret was used in 06. That's a 13k climb at 5.5%. Not too gruelling. Cat 1 at a push.

What Spanish Pyrenean climbs are we missing out on?
The Spanish Pyrenees aren't that crazy for the most part, you have good-but-not-special HC MTFs and strong cat.1 passes at best, with one key exception...

fumanyapradell.PNG
 
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Sep 20, 2017
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Rasos de Peguera..... I think the Vuelta used it in the 1999 edition.
That's not a pass, or at least not unless they pave the final 2 kilometres of the northern side. Until it is, borderline HC MTF so not something we're sorely missing out on.
 
Feb 20, 2010
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They have never really used climbs in the Spanish Pyrenees??? I remember Pla de Beret was used in 06. That's a 13k climb at 5.5%. Not too gruelling. Cat 1 at a push.

What Spanish Pyrenean climbs are we missing out on?
Also don't forget one of the only things where you might find Sepp Kuss and I high fiving one another in agreement:

Pal.gif

Hasn't been seen since a one-off appearance in the now-departed Setmana Catalana back in 2005, when some guy you may have heard of won.

 
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Oct 25, 2020
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That's not a pass, or at least not unless they pave the final 2 kilometres of the northern side. Until it is, borderline HC MTF so not something we're sorely missing out on.
So not much on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees to avail of.