Tour presentation next week
Comments
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Col de la Core!
I have beef with that mountain.
Absolutely destroyed me.
The first and final Pyrenean stages are pretty strong. The final one is also very pretty (well, up untill the final climb anyway)0 -
Rick Chasey wrote:First week looks horribly dull..
Not as dull as normally - Montee des Alouettes, Mur-de-Bretagne and Lisieux are all hilltop finishes. But yes, no cobbles...
Only surprise really is that the Izoard is not taken in the stage to Pinerolo but in the one after.
Pinerolo-Galibier, with Agnel, Izoard and finish on the Galibier does look old-fashionedly epic. Can't remember a stage with three such massive climbs in one TdF stage for some years.
Presentation is live now - http://www.letour.fr/2010/TDF/COURSE/co ... fr_hd.html0 -
You'd think that with all the GC contenders as better climbers than TTers, a TT heavy tour would be more interesting.
I guess you have to plan it so far in advance it's tough to cater for that.
Climb heavy Tour.
The Plateau de Beille is not particularly Pyranean (pretty even all the way up), but will still be good.0 -
avoidingmyphd wrote:
posited where? the big shame is that it's exactly the route that has been rumoured (posited?) for a long long time.calvjones wrote:It's a lot more evenly distributed between Pyrenees and Alps than was posited. Four MT finishes (2 in each) plus Super-Besse?
Hopefully, there will be some - or at least one? - surprise hidden in the detail.
Posited (well, yes, rumoured) on various internet forums in terms of being Alps-heavy to reflect the Galibier anniversary (IIRC?) - e.g. twice up the Galibier, or looping to do the Alpe twice (can't be @rsed finding the links sorry
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Looks dull to me too.___________________
Strava is not Zen.0 -
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That's a bit of a statement by ASO - starting with the 'chain-gate' images!
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Rick Chasey wrote:Any news on time bonuses?
They said during the Tour they will not be coming back any time soon.Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
iainf72 wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:Any news on time bonuses?
They said during the Tour they will not be coming back any time soon.
*groan*0 -
Provisional stage profiles now up:
http://theinnerring.blogspot.com/2010/1 ... rance.html0 -
FJS wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:First week looks horribly dull..
Not as dull as normally - Montee des Alouettes, Mur-de-Bretagne and Lisieux are all hilltop finishes. But yes, no cobbles...
Only surprise really is that the Izoard is not taken in the stage to Pinerolo but in the one after.
Pinerolo-Galibier, with Agnel, Izoard and finish on the Galibier does look old-fashionedly epic. Can't remember a stage with three such massive climbs in one TdF stage for some years.
Presentation is live now - http://www.letour.fr/2010/TDF/COURSE/co ... fr_hd.html
Nothing very selective untill after day 9 though.
Save for a TTT which always ruins the GC battle.0 -
don't forget its the riders that make the race so depends on if we have AC for AS or just AS winning it on his own.
Looks like the L'Etape rumours were true then0 -
sherer wrote:don't forget its the riders that make the race so depends on if we have AC for AS or just AS winning it on his own.
Looks like the L'Etape rumours were true then
Past form suggests the riders are much more focussed on results than spectacle in the Tour (understandably) so we can count on the riders not really making the race.0 -
Pleased to see Alpe d'Huez confirmed, I've missed it.0
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Its times like this I wish I could speak French :roll:Bianchi. There are no alternatives only compromises!
I RIDE A KONA CADABRA -would you like to come and have a play with my magic link?0 -
No doubt everybody will moan but as Tour routes go it looks like a good one, but as usual the riders and teams will decide how good it is as a race. I'm not ashamed to say that i'm looking forward to it already...let's see what The Giro can come up with!"I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)0
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Hourquette d'Ancizan instead of Aspin looks a nice little addition - anyone done that? looks a very small road on the map.
Together with Tourmalet and Luz-Ardiden not a bad stage0 -
FJS wrote:Hourquette d'Ancizan instead of Aspin looks a nice little addition - anyone done that? looks a very small road on the map.
Rode it on a Sportif last summer, if it's going up the Western side the descent will be absolutely crazy. It goes through the kind of forest one can easily imagine a bear emerging from..."In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"
@gietvangent0 -
It will be up the Eastern side, down the Western side - towards the Tourmaletdisgruntledgoat wrote:FJS wrote:Hourquette d'Ancizan instead of Aspin looks a nice little addition - anyone done that? looks a very small road on the map.
Rode it on a Sportif last summer, if it's going up the Western side the descent will be absolutely crazy. It goes through the kind of forest one can easily imagine a bear emerging from...0 -
I can't remember a Tour with no prologue - chance for Cav to take yellow? The short mountain stage could be interesting (so expect it to be dull!
). I like the inclusion of the Massive Central but would have like it in the last couple of days. I think it will just be another wearing down process though as I just can't see anyone attacking in the mountains and gaining big margins. 0 -
2008Pross wrote:I can't remember a Tour with no prologue - chance for Cav to take yellow? The short mountain stage could be interesting (so expect it to be dull! ). I like the inclusion of the Massive Central but would have like it in the last couple of days. I think it will just be another wearing down process though as I just can't see anyone attacking in the mountains and gaining big margins.
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Hmm, my memory has gone worse than ever :oops:0
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I think the finish of stage one is probably not suited to Cav - although he has history in proving that kind of prediction wrong.Pross wrote:I can't remember a Tour with no prologue - chance for Cav to take yellow? The short mountain stage could be interesting (so expect it to be dull! ). I like the inclusion of the Massive Central but would have like it in the last couple of days. I think it will just be another wearing down process though as I just can't see anyone attacking in the mountains and gaining big margins.
In the presentation, Prudhomme likened it to Barcelona last year, which Hushovd won but without taking any time out of Cav. So if Cav's going to get yellow, it'll presumably have to be at the TTT...0 -
disgruntledgoat wrote:FJS wrote:Hourquette d'Ancizan instead of Aspin looks a nice little addition - anyone done that? looks a very small road on the map.
Rode it on a Sportif last summer, if it's going up the Western side the descent will be absolutely crazy. It goes through the kind of forest one can easily imagine a bear emerging from...
i rode it also last year when over watching the tour, went over the Aspin first. It was incredibly mist and like DG says, you can imagine bears and wolves on the prowl. The mist was so thick on on the Ancizan climb you could barely see 50m ahaead.
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Looks good. A mix of stages to start with and loads of mountains throughout the race. It all looks hard. Especially since the Pyrenees are difficult by themselves, there's no hiding.
I bet Andy Schleck can't believe his luck. Contador's out of the way and now the race is suited to a climber, not to mention the Mountains competition has seen the rules adjusted to bias those who win the big summit finishes.0 -
interview.cyclingfever.com0
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Some of the campsites in Brittany are booked out already!'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'0
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Definitely a climbers' route. I think it's a better, more selective route, with more elements that make for interesting races than most of the TdF routes over the last 10 years or so, but nowhere near the level set by the Giro, and to some degree Vuelta.
Positives:
- The Pinerolo-Galibier stage. Agnel, Izoard, Galibier.
- no holding back in the first mountain week like last two years. The Luz-Ardiden stage and Plateau de Beille are proper mountain stages, not half-baked ones with 50km of flat at the end.
- seems ASO searched actively for hill-top finishes in the first week to spice it up, or at least have a variety of teams and sprinters featuring. Mur-de-Bretagne will be nice.
- the Central Massif before the Pyrenees, with some climbing in the first weekend
Missed opportunities:
- making the cobbles a permanent feature
- including the Finistere in the stage to Pinerolo
- including a stage longer than 226 km; it's all very short next year
- designing a proper Central Massif mountain stage for the GC riders to do battle. This is more for break-aways0 -
That 2nd photo of Celbianchis is the view coming down... It's a scary bit of road. I got up there hanging onto the tails of the first group including Nicolas Portal and Nicolas Jalabert I lost them within about 100m of the start of the descent. The road is about a car and a half wide for most of it, twisty and steep. Will be excellent to see them ride up it."In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"
@gietvangent0 -
Here's the map:
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