So... a Tour seemingly designed to favour good climber/demon descender/lousy TTist Romain Bardet ends up being decided entirely by 36km of TT. After a few 4+ minute blowouts in the last few years, we get a top 5 separated by barely over 3 mins, but without the unpredictability that descent finishes and small time gaps gave us in 2011. What now for ASO? Do they:
Thoughts?
- Hope Bardet learns to contre-la-montre? Or hope Pinot learns to TT and climb well in the same race?
- Forget about the French, and stack on the TT km to give Dumoulin a chance
- Go for as many Vuelta-steep climbs as they can find to force time gaps in bunch stages
- (please) Go back to classics-style stages with cobbles/short steep climbs in week one
- (please please please) Have plenty of medium mountain ambush-style stages where the hardest climbs are in the middle
- Announce Quickstep as new yellow jersey sponsors and confirm 21 pan-flat stages around northern France
Thoughts?