The third Grand Tour on the calendar, the first in age, the second to be revealed, and the second to use the same intro. Predictability is cool right?
The Tour de France again starts outside France but we reach home a lot quicker than last year, with a two-day Grand Depart in Belgium, specifically Brussels. The organisers have given us a climber's route for sure, with very few ITT kilometres. Some very tough high mountain stages will see a grand arena as the organisers try to give a platform to match the epic duels that we saw in the race for yellow last season! And thankfully for any sprinters reading, it's a lot kinder in that area as well than the Vuelta!
Week 1: Belgium to the Vosges
A road stage to start and it's around Brussels and Flanders as the riders take an out and back route from Brussels to Charleroi and back. Crossing the Muur and the Bosberg, two of cycling's most iconic cobbled hills, they won't decide the stage but they will see an entertaining fight for the KoM lead. We then get into the action quickly on stage 2 as we travel from Belgium into France for a hilly last 30km in the Champagne region. Stage 3 takes us east towards the Vosges for a medium mountain stage which shouldn't see too much GC action, as it's followed a 35km team time trial to shake up the race a little. A very tough test and a good balance will be neeeded for the GC teams to bring some helpers for this event and flat days as well as the climbs! We then head back into the Vosges for the now-customary La Planche des Belles Filles stage.
However this time it has a new twist, as this year the riders go up past the previous finish line and take on a final kilometre following a gravel path with gradients up to 25% that could provide some proper gaps, and a very hard end to an already tough multi-mountain stage. Southwest to finish the week with the longest stage of the race, a 230km sprint stage into Chalon-sur-Saône.
Week 2: Southwest to the Tourmalet
Two transitional days in the Massif Central but no medium mountain fare this year, however the hills around Saint-Etienne should provide some entertainign stage win battles as the puncheurs, the breakaway and the sprinters all try to claim a prestigious victory. The sprinters should definitely get their hands on Stages 10 and 11 though, as we travel through the Auvergne into Toulouse. From Toulouse we have the typical mountain entry day, with a mostly flat stage finishing with two Cat.1 climbs and a descent into Bageneres-de-Bigorre. Whether the GC men play it safe or are lured out early is unknown, but you get the feeling the breakaway men will already be circling the date - with more added as climbers lose time in the first week!
Stage 13 is the first and only individual time trial of the race, a 25km, mostly flat, chrono around Pau with a few ups and downs that will please the climbers saving time. We then have a showdown on the Tourmalet after ascending the Aubisque, the Tour's most used climb is one of the showpieces of this year's edition and certainly of the Pyrenees this year.
Week 3: High altitude, high stakes
The Pyrenees aren't over yet by any means though with a deceptively hard Stage 15, 4350m of altitude gain. No HC climbs but a real multi-mountain affair with the Port de Lers and the Mur de Peguere, a strength-sapping duo with some awfully steep ramps (particularly the latter, whose back half averages 11.6%) preceding a first-time stage finish at the Prat d'Albis above Foix, a not-to-be-scoffed-at 11km at 7.4% with some tough ramps in the middle.
From there we get a day's respite for the sprinters and another day's respite for the climbers, as we have a flat stage followed by a transitional day into Gap which the baroudeurs are already salivating over, with a downhill finish off of a Cat.2 climb. A GC dig is possible here, but improbable given what is to come.
The Alps are here to impress and to bring back some rare gems, although you wouldn't be able to notice the latter as Stage 18's entry into the mountains once more serves up a classic combo of Izoard and Galibier to shake up the legs and stir fear into the hearts of many. Both from the "easier" side but certainly not the "easy" side, before a descent into Valloire where the stage finishes. Stage 19 and 20 do bring rare ideas and climbs back into the mix though though. The former with the just the third modern Tour appearance of the Col de l'Iseran, the highest paved pass in the Alps and a unique challenge - coming after a day of gradually rising valley roads before a tough "official" climb of 13km at 7.3%, peaking at 2758m! We then descend through Val-d'Isere to Tignes to climb back up a summit finish, a challenging 7.4km at 7% which will separate the riders if Iseran couldn't.
Stage 20 is short and hard. The finish at Val Thorens is a rare one for La Grand Boucle, and a 33km climb could be the scene of epic highs and lows and some big, big gaps. The average graident of 5.4% is deceptive due to some descents and flat sections along the way, with a majority of kilometres at least at 6-7%. Althoguh the favourites will have to save what they can for this monster, the Cormet de Roselend to start the stage is a tough one (20km at 6.1% with some kilometres over 10%) which could see the breakaway lay their claim to the race, or a daring attacker make one do-or-die GC raid. Either way, all three stages of the Alps promise to bring drama and decisive racing.
The riders then fly off to Paris, where the sprinters who missed the cut last time as the climbers fought for the stage will try to survive this time to compete for one of the most prestigious stage victories in cycling.
7 Flat
4 Hilly
1 Medium Mountain
7 Mountain (5 MTF)
1 ITT (25km)
1 TTT (35km)
Good work on the previews Jandal, and of course to whoever the race creator/finesser(s) are.
Watch out for crazy weather/landslides on the final weekend; maybe we'll get a MG feel for what might have happened IRL without the weather gods intervening.
Think both GT routes presented thus far are pretty balanced in terms of which the top stage racers may prefer to sign up for. Both also have hilly stage options in week 1 which might entice a sub-top puncheur or two to risk the RD's on a potential stage victory and spell in the leaders jersey (or not?). Does the relative lack of TT kms mean we can expect a TT heavy final GT, or is Phinney's current lack of a contract meaning that he has little corporate support in lobbying for longer TT's?
Spoiler
What' the internet for if not for idle speculation and rumours? TM: CyclingMews.com @ your service for needlessly English speaking biased cycling 'news'
cio93 wrote:
Stage 5 has a TTT indicator, is the profile correct or your description?
This seems like it's the 2019 route from real life, which had a TTT on stage 5 so most likely Jandal who couldn't tell those two apart
It was on Stage 2 so I guessed the swap made it an ITT. But yes I can't tell them apart, so will change now
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [PT] Xero Racing
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