Your Ideal Tour 2013

[SetonHallPirate]

I think I'd have 16 MTFs, an MTT, and four ITTs. Sprinters are more than welcome to stay home.

 

[Netserk]

more or less like 2007

 

[Afrank]

A TTT to kick it off, mountain top finishes on Alpe d'Huez, Tourmalet, Galibier, Mt. Ventoux, Port de Bales (needless to say I like routes that have a lot of mountain top finishes). A mountain TT. Maybe at least one downhill finish, a couple flat stages that end in sharp uphills for the puncheurs. And a cobble stage.

Or this...

I want a cobble ITT !

Would be awesome

 

[Afrank]

I think I'd have 16 MTFs, an MTT, and four ITTs. Sprinters are more than welcome to stay home.

I like it, Who needs sprinters anyways, sprinter stages are only good when there are crashes in the final km's.

 

[will10]

The perfect Tour de France would be an event where only one rider finished.

 

[Bavarianrider]

The perfect Tour de France would be an event where only one rider finished.

This is what it was supposed to be!!!!

 

[Kwibus]

Something like this

1. TT 27 km (flat)
2. Flat
3. Flandern Classic type of stage
4. Uphill Finish
5. TTT 70km (Last 70 km of Paris Roubaix)
6. Flat
7. Very long Flat (300km +)
8. ITT 73km (flat)
9. Medium Mountain stage (Voges for example)
10. Flat
11. Alps: High Mountains (Mountain Finish)
12. Alps : High Mountains (Finish in town , Morzine)
13. Medium Mountain Stage (Mende)
14. Flat
15 High Mountains: Pyrenees, MF Aspin, Tourmalet, Luz Ardidien
16 High Mountains: Pyrenees, "MF Classic Pyrennes Stafe to Sain Lary Soulan
17 High Mountains: Pyrennes, Finish in valley directly after Aubisque
18 Flat
19 Uphill Sprint
20 MTT Carpentras - Mont Ventoux (36,5km)
21 Flat -> Paris

It's really not that bad imo. Well I would definately use less TT kms, but it's well compensated by mountain stages, allthough I'd put some harder ones in.
I like the TTT with the last 70km from Paris - Roubaix

 

[LaFlorecita]

4 flat stages (incl. Champs-Élysées)
3 hilly stages
1 cobble stage
3 HC mtfs
2 1st category mtfs
2 stages finishing after a descent(HC/1st category climb)
1 stage finishing after a descent (2nd category climb)
prologue
50 km hilly tt
Alpe d'Huez mtt
40 km ttt
1 steep uphill finish ("vuelta") stage

 

[bjaelkesex]

The perfect Tour de France would be an event where only one rider finished.

They should definitely do an elimination race like they have in track cycling. The 10 slowest riders are automatically removed from the race after each stage.

 

[Red Rick]

-Prolouge in Northern France
-First sunday with Cobbles finishing in Roubaix (following the route from Carrefour de L'arbe)
-Medium Mountain stage in the Vosges finishing after the Platzerwasel descent
-45km tt with some hill in the first week.
- Pyrenees: MTF on a cat 1 climb (not sure which), Finish in Ax le thermes after the descent of the Pailhères and a MTF on Croix de Lipodère (http://www.climbbybike.com/climb.asp?Col=Croix-de-Lipod%E8re&qryMountainID=8161)
Pyrenees on stages 7, 8 and 9 before the first rest day.

Second week has two MTF's in Massive Central, both steep enough for selection, but not too long (one is likely Mende) and a 73km flat tt before heading to the Alps.

second restday is the 3 monday

3rd week:
- has a mountain stage which finishes on montee de la bastille after descending a hard climb as close to Grenoble as possible
- a mountain stage into Italy with a descent finish after Fauniera
- a mountain stage with a combination of Agnello - Pic de chateau renard
And at last, a queen stage with Galibier, Col de Rosael as penultimate climb before descending into Moutiers to finish on the nearest side of Col de la Madeleine.

All the stages I didn't mention are possible sprint stages, so that's a total of 14 stages where the GC riders have to perform
Big amount of tt'ing, even bigger amount of climbing

Sorry for the chaotic post

 

[OlavEH]

Ok, a idael structure in mye opinion would be something like this:

A prolouge, 8-10 km. Should be quite technical
30 km hilly TT
50 km flat TT
4 high MTF
2 mouintain stages with decent finish
2 hilly stages with 2.cat finish, one of these should be fairly long 230-240km.
2 stages with short uphill (1-2 km) finishes
3 hilly/mountain stages which suits breakaway specialistis
7 flat stages, at least 2 of them in pretty windy areas

And for God's sake, use some other mountains than just Galibier, Glandon, Madeleine, Izoard and Alpe d'Huez in the Alps or Tourmalet, Aspin, Aubisque and Peyresourde in the Pyrenees.

They could climb the Mont le Chat with a decent finish to Chambery.

Use some of mountains in the Southern Alps; Cayolle, Champs, Allos. Is it possible to do a loop around these and a finish to Lac Allos?

A stage finish to Avoriaz after doing Col du Joux Plane.

Use some of the lesser known climbs close to the spanish border in Pyrenees, ex; Arnosteguy, Bagargui, Errozate, etc.

 

[Lupetto]

There is only one ideal Tour.

Fantasy Tours de France

Tour de France: Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 Stage 6 Stage 7 Stage 8 Stage 9 Stage 10 Stage 11 Stage 12 Stage 13 Stage 14 Stage 15 Stage 16 Stage 17 Stage 18 Stage 19 Stage 20 Stage 21 (Libertine Seguros)

 

[Richeypen]

They should definitely do an elimination race like they have in track cycling. The 10 slowest riders are automatically removed from the race after each stage.

I have no idea how it would work but I now want an elimination crit around the champs elysees

 

[RedheadDane]

Well... I want to transport from Corsica to the mainland to be in pedal-boats!

I've been saying it before and I'll say it again:

IT SHOULD HAPPEN!

 

[SafeBet]

And BTW there is this awesome thread:

Race Design Thread

Some of the race designed in there are epic. I'm always amazed by the job of those posters.



I'd have:
Prologue
Around 100 kms of ITT (55 flat, 30 hilly and a MTT)
One cobble stage
One Ardenne like stage (more than 250km)
5 flat stages (but a couple of them with something tricky near the end, be it a bump or some technical turns)
A couple more hilly stages
5 MTF (at least three in the first two weeks)
3 descent finishes after mountain stages

 

[Parrulo]

There is only one ideal Tour.

indeed, that design is just pure perfection

 

[The Hitch]

There is only one ideal Tour.

Prologue on a racing track in some small *** town = no fans. Grand depart of the Tour should have millions of them

Also, wtf no tourmalet

 

[will10]

And BTW there is this awesome thread:

Race Design Thread

And more specifically - the Tour de France library post from that thread:

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showpost.php?p=717612&postcount=291