Tour de France Tour de France 2026 route rumours

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What seems more likely?
Change the rules which gives the power of race organizers to suspend the participation of one team.
Or
Remove one of the biggest events in the world of cycling which generates huge sums of money especially in Spanish speaking countries.
The answer is obvious.
 
A lot of BS from the UCI.
No Vuelta is a direct hit to ASO who pull the strings in World Cycling. It's never gonna happen.
Removal of the Vuelta means removal of the Spanish calendar which means a slow and painful death to cycling.
So the UCI can say what they want but they will bend the knee.
IPT won't race in Spain - simple as that.

unless a spanish suspension comes from the IOC itself. Marie Amary wouldn't take on Jacques Rogge back in 2008. Instead, she promptly fired the CEO Pactrice Clerc and ended the UCI standoff

ASO can do a 3 week race outside of Spain if they have to, Just don't unleash Gouvenou on America, Prudhomme, whatever you do!
 
unless a spanish suspension comes from the IOC itself. Marie Amary wouldn't take on Jacques Rogge back in 2008. Instead, she promptly fired the CEO Pactrice Clerc and ended the UCI standoff

ASO can do a 3 week race outside of Spain if they have to, Just don't unleash Gouvenou on America, Prudhomme, whatever you do!
A spanish suspension coming from IOC is virtually impossible. Spain is a prominent member of the EU and is in the heart of Western society.
ASO organising a 3 week race outside of Spain is not a game. The Vuelta has tradition, history and prestige.
Trump himself failed to start a reliable cycling race.
 
A spanish suspension coming from IOC is virtually impossible. Spain is a prominent member of the EU and is in the heart of Western society.
ASO organising a 3 week race outside of Spain is not a game. The Vuelta has tradition, history and prestige.
Trump himself failed to start a reliable cycling race.

Irrelevant. Larger countries than Spain have been suspended.
 
The Tour at times goes outside of France. They have done the Agnello a few times.

A Swiss stage could include some of the very high passes, but that would be more of a risk in July than September
The risk of winter snow keeping a pass closed into July is miniscule. (A pass that‘s open that short would be useless.) The risk of snowfall in September is higher than in July although both are unlikely. Of course a Tour of Europe would be more likely to use the Swiss Passes than the Tour but that would be unrelated to the weather.
 
Notwithstanding that the next Vuelta is still 11 months away and a lot can change in that time, there are a few things that they can do.

- no MTFs on climbs with multiple access points, enabling security forces to restrict access to the mountaintop (so expect a bunch of climbs like Peña Cabarga, Lagos de Covadonga or La Pandera where there is only one way up and a clear checkpoint that can be used)
- use Andorra to their advantage, we could have a stage like the 2015 one Purito designed and another MTF there.
- minimise stages hosted in the regions of Spain's internal nationalities - Catalunya, País Vasco and Galicia - as these regions' histories tend to make them hotbeds of protest of such causes. If using Andorra, they would almost certainly have to access via Catalunya one way or the other, but via the much more sparsely populated western part of the region which would be less accessible to protesters
- don't finish in Madrid, or at least not in Madrid city centre. In this case, the proposed Canarias stages, if all goes according to plan, would be a benefit, as although they have been protesting overtourism in recent years these are much less likely to be on such a scale or turn ugly, being a general cause rather than having any specific targets at the Vuelta
- perhaps utilising other sporting infrastructure, most notably motor racing circuits, to enable control of spectator access to stage finishes as well as the circuit gates giving a clear alternative timing point in the event of disruption. There are a lot of circuits in Spain that can be used including some that are near to big cities which may be the best option for involving such areas or cities while still being able to secure the stage finish (e.g. Cheste, outside Valencia, or Jerez de la Frontera. I don't know what state Jarama's circuit is in nowadays but that may be an alternative finale around Madrid)
- utilise multiple laps of a shorter course in ITTs and TTTs in order to require fewer roads be secured for the purpose
- if stage finishes are able to be secured in this manner, have alternative routes prepared for deployment if there are reports of protester activity on the way.

I don't claim that any of this would be perfect in any way, and it certainly places some restrictions on routing possibilities and would create some hassle in terms of cost of arrangement and deployment, but with 11 months at their disposal I think there's plenty that can be done to react to the disruption of the 2025 edition. The Vuelta has dealt with worse in the past, but it was before the Vuelta was as big a deal as it is now, and it was more geographically restricted in its impact back then.
 
Protesters from France are overworking with their frequent protests against their government. However, protesters fom Spain have been suffering from protest abstinence syndrome and the Vuelta offered the much needed opportunity for reactivation.
Absolutely and as the Tour is in prime holiday time, people will have some spare time on their hands.
Would it not be easier LS to say, plant a bag of something on a certain team's bus and then ban the riders until "the investigation is complete"? :)
 
"Stage 3 is 99% sure to finish in Les Angles".


Seems to be a very weak MTF in the Pyrenees. It was in Occitanie in 2022.
 
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"Stage 3 is 99% sure to finish in Les Angles".


Seems to be a very weak MTF in the Pyrenees. It was in Occitanie in 2022.
The finish is in a different part of Les Angles than the Route d'Occitanie stage, making for 1.6k at 7.1% - that's not even a MTF. This should be an uphill sprint after a lot of low-gradient climbing before it, somewhat akin to the 2016 and 2019 South Lake Tahoe stages in California but without the altitude and probably less vertical gain overall.
 
The finish is in a different part of Les Angles than the Route d'Occitanie stage, making for 1.6k at 7.1% - that's not even a MTF. This should be an uphill sprint after a lot of low-gradient climbing before it, somewhat akin to the 2016 and 2019 South Lake Tahoe stages in California but without the altitude and probably less vertical gain overall.
I wouldn’t want to be too negative. It’s only stage 3, and we can't expect the queen stage anyway at stage 3. But this could, for the first time in living memory, actually turn into “original” Pyrenean stages: Les Angles, Guzet-Neige, and Gavarnie. Okay, the last one will probably be combined with an ascent of the Tourmalet, but overall it’s more innovative than any other Pyrenean passage in the last 25 years (and probably before that as well).

There could also be some climbs before Les Angles, such as Col du Calvaire, Col de la Llose, or Col de Creu.
 
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ik zou niet te negatief willen zijn. Het is pas rit 3, de queen stage zouden we sowieso niet hoeven te verwachten. Maar het zouden hierdoor voor het eerst in mensenheugenis wel eens "orginele" Pyerneeën ritten kunnen worden, Les Angles, Guzet-Neige en Gavernie. Ok, dat laatste komt waarschijnlijk samen met een beklimmingen van de Tourmalet, maar het geheel is vernieuwender dan elke andere pyreneën passage in de laatste 25 jaar (en waarschijnlijk daarvoor ook).

Er kunnen ook nog wat beklimmingen voor Les Angles, zoals Col du Calvaire, Col de la Llose of Col de Creu.
I can somewhat understand what You’re saying, but…
 
ik zou niet te negatief willen zijn. Het is pas rit 3, de queen stage zouden we sowieso niet hoeven te verwachten. Maar het zouden hierdoor voor het eerst in mensenheugenis wel eens "orginele" Pyerneeën ritten kunnen worden, Les Angles, Guzet-Neige en Gavernie. Ok, dat laatste komt waarschijnlijk samen met een beklimmingen van de Tourmalet, maar het geheel is vernieuwender dan elke andere pyreneën passage in de laatste 25 jaar (en waarschijnlijk daarvoor ook).

Er kunnen ook nog wat beklimmingen voor Les Angles, zoals Col du Calvaire, Col de la Llose of Col de Creu.
Wrong language, mate.

They are starting from Granollers and then supposedly going via Collada de Toses and entering France in Bourg-Madame, that would already be a >180k stage via the shortest route so the big detour to take in Llose or Creu is almost certainly not happening. Calvaire is possible, but the hardest side they can do is 12.4k at 5.1% and that would be at 19k to go at a minimum if they don't go through the centre of Les Angles (unlikely) and at 23k to go if they do, so that won't do much.

Guzet-Neige is apparently out and we are going to Foix again instead (possibly a descent finish, possibly the return of Prat d'Albis).