Tour de France Tour de France 2026 route rumours

[Lurkerman]

This is the only professional sport where artificiality is required to prevent the best from winning.
They should give Duplantis a smaller pole to make it more exciting, or Bolt jumping over hurdles.

You can't plan a route like that. If Pogacar retires on the second stage due to an accident, you'll have a Tour that's been stalled until stage 20, just like in the 2023 Giro.

I don't think it makes sense to think of TDF as a sports event. Or, to be precise, it is primarily a TV event - then there is a bit of sports in it, sure, but that's far from all that the TDF is about, I think it's primarily a vehicle for showing French sunflower fields on TV. Something like the World Championships, on the other hand, probably should try and be a sports event

 

[Red Rick]

I think with this route the ASO is essentially telling Pog, "if you want a big lead before the penumtimate weekend you'll have to work for" it and I kinda like this approach. People complain about artificially close races but I think I still prefer an artificially close race over Pog being ahead by 3 minutes going into week 2. Maybe that will happen regardless but if he has to attack on the Tourmalet then at least that is kinda epic.

Also dont mind the boring mountain stages on stage 18 and 19. Anything else just would have made the race crazy backloaded and at least stage 20 is genuinely fantastic. In return I would have wished for a somewhat more interesting stage design on either stage 14 or 15 instead. Oh well, I don't love it, but I dont hate it either.

The race being over early has never really been a criticism on the routes, has it?

Several Giri that have been similar to this have been very similar to this one have been rated among the worst of the last 10 years and it's generally blamed on route design.

The 3rd and 4th hardest mountain stages are basically Unipuerto stages, and the 2nd hardest mountain stage is Aspin-Tourmalet on stage 6.

Then the Queen stage is very speculative and can easily drop a turd because it a large part of that stage is climbs that have long had a tendency to underdeliver, so you wind up questioning if action from Col de Sarenne onwards is enough for for a best stage in a GT.

 

[SafeBet]

2006 definitively. Two long ITTs and not very hard mountain stages (with steep climbs) outside the Morzine stage.

Lol I would have loved to see Remco in yellow in the Morzine stage with Landis up the road and nobody willing to help him close the gap.

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

@admin
I think it's about time making this thread sticky

 

[houtdffan]

Lol I would have loved to see Remco in yellow in the Morzine stage with Landis up the road and nobody willing to help him close the gap.

against Landis

Just go into TT mode and close the gap himself

 

[houtdffan]

Being discussed by Red Bull, Remco skipping the TDF

 

[Salvarani]

Being discussed by Red Bull, Remco skipping the TDF

Why?

 

[Berniece]

Being discussed by Red Bull, Remco skipping the TDF

They said: we don’t make schedule decisions before we know all GT routes. Might still be riding TDF

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Why?

They put proper climbs on the TDF route. Waste of time for him!

 

[red_flanders]

Being discussed by Red Bull, Remco skipping the TDF

I mean..."discussing" is fairly open to interpretation/walkback. If serious, quite surprising. link?

 

[houtdffan]

No decision at Red Bull - BORA whether Evenepoel will race Tour de France - "We're now waiting for the routes of the other Grand Tours"

Remco Evenepoel is the best time trialist in the world and a rider with the dream of winning the Tour de France one day. That may not be in 2026, as the route has been presented almost without a singl...

cyclinguptodate.com

 

[houtdffan]

I mean..."discussing" is fairly open to interpretation/walkback. If serious, quite surprising. link?

See the post below yours

Basically, if the giro comes out with a GT route, Remco will be in Italy.

I'd expect Giro, Vuelta, worlds for Remco as his main targets

 

[Peyroteo94]

See the post below yours

Basically, if the giro comes out with a GT route, Remco will be in Italy.

I'd expect Giro, Vuelta, worlds for Remco as his main targets

If he rides the Giro, he needs to make a tough decision. And that decision is to skip LBL.
Please, don't say he was going well in the 2023 Giro because he was 2 kg heavier and didn't race a single mountain stage.

 

[Berniece]

If he rides the Giro, he needs to make a tough decision. And that decision is to skip LBL.
Please, don't say he was going well in the 2023 Giro because he was 2 kg heavier and didn't race a single mountain stage.

Maybe it would be good if he does LBL at GT weight

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Maybe it would be good if he does LBL at GT weight

Yes. I see no reason why Evenepoel would suddenly be weaker in Liege at GT weight. He should benefit on climbs at the cost of slightly lower speed on flats (or maybe not lower as in the finale accumulated fatigue matters as well).

 

[Rob5091]

Same ol' thing every year ....

 

[Cycling111]

Being discussed by Red Bull, Remco skipping the TDF

They're not going to pay him 6 million to skip the Tour.

If they forced Roglic, they'll force Remco even more.

These are surely rumors created by Remco fans, not what Red Bull really thinks. Red Bull will send his star to the Tour.

So much fuss about the route, when Pogacar and Vingegaard have always been first and second on every course. Those who use the route as an excuse shouldn't complain when it's said Remco can't challenge them for the Tour, when none of these excuses apply to Pogacar and Vingegaard. They have to go, no matter the course.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Yes. I see no reason why Evenepoel would suddenly be weaker in Liege at GT weight. He should benefit on climbs at the cost of slightly lower speed on flats (or maybe not lower as in the finale accumulated fatigue matters as well).

For some reason every top GT rider is at altitude 2 weeks before the Giro or the Tour. Let's exclude Pogacar though, he is an outlier.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Not too bad, but once again, ASO really fails in regards to including proper time trials.

Is stage 5 to Pau a pure sprint stage? Stage 17 looks more versatile sprinter/break for me, and stage 21 obviously is more of a versatile sprint as well. So (hopefully) just 4 pure sprint stages which, if that is the case, already makes the route quite alright.

 

[Berniece]

These are surely rumors created by Remco fans, not what Red Bull really thinks. Red Bull will send his star to the Tour.

This is what RBH said after the presentation… Remco fans aren’t saying anything

 

[red_flanders]

See the post below yours

Basically, if the giro comes out with a GT route, Remco will be in Italy.

I'd expect Giro, Vuelta, worlds for Remco as his main targets

Thanks!

I would still be shocked, frankly, if he doesn't do the Tour. I think the team wants to keep their options open, see how training camp shakes out, look closely at all the riders' numbers, etc. and have room to make a call, but I just don't see why they would pay him all that money and have him not ride the Tour. That the Tour is fairly climbing-focused should be a surprise to exactly no one.

 

[Cycling111]

Thanks!

I would still be shocked, frankly, if he doesn't do the Tour. I think the team wants to keep their options open, see how training camp shakes out, look closely at all the riders' numbers, etc. and have room to make a call, but I just don't see why they would pay him all that money and have him not ride the Tour. That the Tour is fairly climbing-focused should be a surprise to exactly no one.

The Tour route isn't tough at all. The Giro's mountain will probably be tougher this year.

A signing like that isn't made to avoid the Tour.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Remco should 100% go to giro to try and win. For the tour Bora should send their climbers. Pelizzari, lipoproteins, Roglic.

Giro would be very big win for remco and he won't win the tour in 2026 no matter what

 

[red_flanders]

They're not going to pay him 6 million to skip the Tour.

If they forced Roglic, they'll force Remco even more.

These are surely rumors created by Remco fans, not what Red Bull really thinks. Red Bull will send his star to the Tour.

So much fuss about the route, when Pogacar and Vingegaard have always been first and second on every course. Those who use the route as an excuse shouldn't complain when it's said Remco can't challenge them for the Tour, when none of these excuses apply to Pogacar and Vingegaard. They have to go, no matter the course.

Agree with the first, but needing to "force" Remco to ride the Tour? Sorry, but that is veering into LOL territory.

All the hand wringing about which route is better for him isn't going to be shared by Remco and the team. It's the Tour. There's going to be a lot of climbing. No (realistic) amount of TT kilometers is going to make the difference in him winning or not. He knows what he has to do in order to win, he's got to climb with the best, period. He's got a big gap to close to be competitive. No course is going to make one iota of difference in that equation.

Talking about excuses and complaints at this point is certainly jumping the gun, and honestly fairly trollish.

 

[red_flanders]

The Tour route isn't tough at all. The Giro's mountain will probably be tougher this year.

I said it was climbing-focused, not "tough". Argue about the route with all the folks who love doing that. The route doesn't matter, both generally, and WRT his chances. He has to climb on another level (at least) to be competitive, whatever the route.

A signing like that isn't made to avoid the Tour.

I agree. I've said as much several times, since he signed. Before actually.