Tour de France Tour de France 2026 route rumours

[Mayomaniac]

I think RB will put a lot of pressure on Evenepoel to have him in the Tour, but with this route he should probably peak for the Giro.

Ib4 Jonas Wineyard shows up at the Giro...

 

[Netserk]

Gavarnie is a nice, but damned annoying (and very typical of ASO), that the Gaborisse climb is not included.

I only think so if you come from Aubisque. Tourmalet links just as well and is better as penultimate climb.

 

[Faserr]

Lipo-Pellizzari for the Tour while the 2 fresh effort specialists can fight it out at the Giro!

It will be Roglic Pellizzari Giro and Remco Lipo Tour I think.
The route ist good for Lipo and not so for Remco. They will go with Remco as clear leader but Lipo in his shadow.

 

[Unterlenkerfahrend]

First 6 stages look good. Then it's a long stretch of meh until the end of second week where I think the Vosgue stage and Solaison combination is good but not great. Third week is... weird. Not a fan of a short TT nor the double Alpe d'Huez gimmick but at least if they need to force it they've chosen the correct combination.

Main grip is that I don't see many opportunities for raids or to surprise Pogacar (which in itself is almost impossible but I take that chance over the wishful thinking that he'll somehow lose a w/kg festival on the likes of Solaison). Limited crosswinds, tricky terrain stages but maybe I'm overlooking things.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

So basically:
- Easiest Pyrenees in God knows how long. Foix should always have been a mountain stage, now there is only one proper GC day before the first rest day. Gavarnie is a massive gamble, it's a good stage in isolation but if it doesn't work out we could well have zero GC action in the mountains until stage 14
- Awful second weekend, stage 8 should always be a ITT if you don't want to put one in Barcelona
- Castrated version of the 2024 Le Lioran stage, what the *** is that side of Pas de Peyrol? Doubtful whether that will be a GC day.
- Then two MTFs with not much before them, one pseudo-MTF with nothing connected to it, a MTF that's too easy for GC action and another meme-tier TT, so nothing to get too excited about, before an admittedly-excellent stage 20

I get that they're hamstrung by the reality of Pogacar being Pogacar, but this is still not a good route. The best route if you aren't gambling on Evenepoel doing anything is to go quality over quantity on the mountain stages, hope Vingegaard can make something stick on one of them and if not, at least Pogacar won't win endless stages. The best route if you are gambling on Evenepoel doing anything is to put in a ***load of TT. This route is more a failure than a success in terms of option 1 and completely fails at option 2.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Some good stages. Le Lloran, Le Markstein and second Alpe d'Huez stage are good. Orcieres and first Alpe are awful. At least one of these should much rather have been replaced by a tough medium mountain stage.

You might want to look at what side of Pas de Peyrol they are using on the Le Lioran stage.

 

[OlavEH]

You might want to look at what side of Pas de Peyrol they are using on the Le Lioran stage.

Jeez. So they are not doing the toughest ascent of Peyrol?

It's design choices like this and the exclusion of Gaborisse which is just stupid choices of ASO.......

 

[Red Rick]

So basically:
- Easiest Pyrenees in God knows how long. Foix should always have been a mountain stage, now there is only one proper GC day before the first rest day. Gavarnie is a massive gamble, it's a good stage in isolation but if it doesn't work out we could well have zero GC action in the mountains until stage 14
- Awful second weekend, stage 8 should always be a ITT if you don't want to put one in Barcelona
- Castrated version of the 2024 Le Lioran stage, what the *** is that side of Pas de Peyrol? Doubtful whether that will be a GC day.
- Then two MTFs with not much before them, one pseudo-MTF with nothing connected to it, a MTF that's too easy for GC action and another meme-tier TT, so nothing to get too excited about, before an admittedly-excellent stage 20

I get that they're hamstrung by the reality of Pogacar being Pogacar, but this is still not a good route. The best route if you aren't gambling on Evenepoel doing anything is to go quality over quantity on the mountain stages, hope Vingegaard can make something stick on one of them and if not, at least Pogacar won't win endless stages. The best route if you are gambling on Evenepoel doing anything is to put in a ***load of TT. This route is more a failure than a success in terms of option 1 and completely fails at option 2.

It seems they basically want the race to die as slowly as possible, yet they've still put in the best stage for long range action as the first mountain stage.

Realistically I'm not sure what you can do againt Pogacar from a race-design PoV, apart from maybe have a lot of mountain stages hard enough to drop most domestiques but with finales easy enough they can come down to group tactics and not just Pogacar wafflestomping everyone. But then you also have take out HC MTF altogether almost and the Tour is never gonna do that.

 

[Red Rick]

So what did the TdFF have beside a TT, Ventoux and Nice stage?

 

[Samamba]

It seems they basically want the race to die as slowly as possible, yet they've still put in the best stage for long range action as the first mountain stage.

Realistically I'm not sure what you can do againt Pogacar from a race-design PoV, apart from maybe have a lot of mountain stages hard enough to drop most domestiques but with finales easy enough they can come down to group tactics and not just Pogacar wafflestomping everyone. But then you also have take out HC MTF altogether almost and the Tour is never gonna do that.

21 sprint stages.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

But then you also have take out HC MTF altogether almost and the Tour is never gonna do that.

IMO you can get away with (almost) completely eliminating HC MTFs from your route if you put in enough famous passes. As good a climb as Solaison is, it definitely isn't a bigger sell than a descent finish off the likes of Galibier.

 

[gavia88]

it seems they didn't want to repeat the same Le Lioran and Le Markstein finals. I guess, but they 100% should have done the steep Neronne + steep Pas de Peyrol. Bestides I think the Vosges stages would have been better with Grand Ballon + Firstein + Petit Ballon + Platzerwazel + Haag, instead of the Ballon the Alsace loop they do now. Ballon the Alsace is way to far till the next climb for action, while Petit Ballon + Platzerwazel is a sublime combo.

Stage 1-7 ok ---> great Tourmalet stage, Punchy Barcalona stage, the first Pyrenees stage as a reduced peloton sprint between the favorites, 2 sprint stage (do they at least some small hills before Pau??), TTT and a baroudeurs stage.
Stage 8 should have been a ITT around 30k
Stage 9 ok (although the first 2/3 of the stage seems really well, to fade a bit in the last 1/3. So clear escape action, no favorites)
Stage 10 have done the steep Neronne + steep Pas de Peyrol
Stage 11 ok
Stage 12 should have been a full hilly stage in the Beaujolais (and remove the Ballon d'Alsace in the next stage )
Stage 13 Pointless climb of Ballon the Alsace, spice up stage 12 instead and make this a sprint one.
Stage 14 ok, although I would have preferred Petit-Ballon and Platzerwazel instead of Peage and Ballon the Alsace)
Stage 15 ok
Stage 16 ok, if stage 8 would have been a ITT
stage 17 ok
Stage 18 pointless this way, you can make such a great combo's going to Orcieres (Col de Moissière + Serre Eyraud + Orcieres Merlettes of Chaillol 1600 + Serre Eyraud + Orcieres Merlettes)
Stage 19 ok (remove Noyer eventually to spicy stage 18
Stage 20 great stage, but can blockade a bit the whole race
Stage 21 3 times Montmartre again? Great!

 

[houtdffan]

giro vuelta is what Remco should do

and then if he can win the double, publicly state that he wont do the TDF until Gouvenou is fired

 

[Cycling111]

It will be Roglic Pellizzari Giro and Remco Lipo Tour I think.
The route ist good for Lipo and not so for Remco. They will go with Remco as clear leader but Lipo in his shadow.

I wonder what route is good for Remco in the Tour. Because the routes of the 90s had terrible mountain stages that he can't overcome like Indurain.

 

[Peyroteo94]

It seems they basically want the race to die as slowly as possible, yet they've still put in the best stage for long range action as the first mountain stage.

Realistically I'm not sure what you can do againt Pogacar from a race-design PoV, apart from maybe have a lot of mountain stages hard enough to drop most domestiques but with finales easy enough they can come down to group tactics and not just Pogacar wafflestomping everyone. But then you also have take out HC MTF altogether almost and the Tour is never gonna do that.

Pogacar can still rip a race with 60-80 km to the finish. Not a good strategy.
There is no route made to take down Pogacar so they should try to design the best route possible.

- Long TTs (2 flat ITT, one over 45 km, other over 30 km)
- Just 4 MTF
- 2 other mountain stages
- 6 stages for sprinters (2 for versatile sprinters)
- 4 hilly stages
- 3 MM stages (breakaway stages and GC stages)

 

[Devil's Elbow]

One thing that the riders will really hate about this route: the average transfer length seems unusually high. Le Markstein to Champagnole is especially egregious.

 

[Netserk]

With its placement, I think Orcières is good as a breakaway stage. GC riders will rest and hold hands.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

With its placement, I think Orcières is good as a breakaway stage. GC riders will rest and hold hands.

A soft MTF is on average the worst kind of breakaway stage. Severely limits both the pool of riders that can win and the length of the finale.

 

[Faserr]

I wonder what route is good for Remco in the Tour. Because the routes of the 90s had terrible mountain stages that he can't overcome like Indurain.

Early 2000.
But Pog in normal shape is just too strong.

 

[Netserk]

A soft MTF is on average the worst kind of breakaway stage. Severely limits both the pool of riders that can win and the length of the finale.

I think this one is soft enough and with a lot of rolling terrain before to have the break fight it out for a long time.

 

[Red Rick]

giro vuelta is what Remco should do

and then if he can win the double, publicly state that he wont do the TDF until Gouvenou is fired

Imagine being signed to win the Tour for ungodly amounts of $$ only to then immediately skip it because the route isn't enough to your liking.

 

[gavia88]

I think this one is soft enough and with a lot of rolling terrain before to have the break fight it out for a long time.

at least the start of the stage can be interessting, wouldn't surprise me if the peloton is really really small on the top of the Noyer. To be very boring from that moment on, till the last few kilometers.

 

[Cycling111]

A quick reminder that Remco lost 3 minutes only in Hautacam . No route will ever be good. Or yes, three time trials and 18 stages for sprinters .

The reality is that Remco has never been able to stay on the wheel of Pogacar or Vingegaard in the high mountains. It's impossible for him to think about winning a Tour.

Indurain not only managed to hold his own in the mountains against the best climbers, sometimes won in the high mountains and even holds the record climb on La Plagne.

You're debating as if Remco were Indurain, and he isn't. Remco would have lost minutes in those mountains in Indurain's Tours.

Unless they eliminate the high mountains, and they've made a point of doing so in the 2026 Tour, someone who loses time on every mountain stage won't win the Tour. What he gain in 50km time trial, he´ll lose in two mountain stages...... or in one like Hautacam.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

I wonder what route is good for Remco in the Tour. Because the routes of the 90s had terrible mountain stages that he can't overcome like Indurain.

Early 2000.

I think around 2005-2012 would be the most Remco friendly parcour.

2005 perhaps? Stage 15 to Pla dAdet would've been a real challenge.
2006 definitively. Two long ITTs and not very hard mountain stages (with steep climbs) outside the Morzine stage.
2007 maybe?
2009 only had like one really hard mountain stage to Le Grand Bernard.
2010? Brutal Madeleine stage and not a second long ITT.

And to clarify: if you read this post and think Im saying Remco could beat Pog on these parcours, then you are the problem.

 

[Peyroteo94]

A quick reminder that Remco lost 3 minutes only in Hautacam . No route will ever be good. Or yes, three time trials and 18 stages for sprinters .

The reality is that Remco has never been able to stay on the wheel of Pogacar or Vingegaard in the high mountains. It's impossible for him to think about winning a Tour.

Indurain not only managed to hold his own in the mountains against the best climbers, sometimes won in the high mountains and even holds the record climb on La Plagne.

You're debating as if Remco were Indurain, and he isn't. Remco would have lost minutes in those mountains in Indurain's Tours.

The best Remco loses 10-12 s/km to Pogacar in a mountain. This is a better metric. No chance he ever wins a TdF unless he improves drastically in the mountains. Next year will be a key year to see if he can really close the gap (different team).