Tour de France 2022 - Route Presentations

rick_chasey

I have a theory that they don’t want to do mountain stages over 200km since they agreed to broadcast the whole thing live.

takethehighroad

I have a theory that 200k+ stages (on the whole) have large chunks of boring parts

As you say though, a 3.5 hour smash through the mountains is more palatable to the television viewer and won't change the result all that much

rick_chasey

takethehighroad said:

I have a theory that 200k+ stages (on the whole) have large chunks of boring parts

As you say though, a 3.5 hour smash through the mountains is more palatable to the television viewer and won't change the result all that much

Disagree with the final point (Ferrari’s tank vs engine metaphor).

If some classics riders do better or worse over 250km than under 200km surely the same applies for GT stage hunters and overall contenders?

DeVlaeminck

Yes plus the simple fact maybe one stage stands out as the "toughest" would attract interest. No doubt we'd see rider objections but haven't we always.

lettingthedaysgoby

18km over a bridge? That should be entertaining

jimmyjams

blazing_saddles said:

jimmyjams said:

Dorset_Boy said:

Surprised there hasn't been any chat about this, but the presentations are underway for both the men's and women's races.
Looks like they've been presenting the women's route first, but only been dipping in and out, but looks like they are hitting Alsace, and the various Ballons there, plus a finish up the gravel section on the Planche des Belles Filles.

Generally the farther the women get, the harder it becomes, although I think the next-to-last stage (with the loop back up to Le Markstein at its end) may be the deciding one, not the final stage up Belles Filles, that is just there to defend.
The next-to-last stage loop appears to include the Grand Ballon beforehand, the climb up which can be very tough, depending on route – I'm guessing they will go up from Wilier, not the hardest but not the easiest, and like them all, long (=16 km).

Grand Ballon is 13.5km at 6.7 per cent.
The stage also includes the ascents of the Petit Ballon (9,3 km, 8,1 per cent) and Col du Platzerwasel (7,1 km, 8,3 per cent)

Do you know from where they are ascending Le Grand Ballon? I don't know of a 13.5 km climb, only climbs slightly shorter or longer.

It's a few years since I rode the Petit Ballon, but I'm guessing the women will ride it in the opposite direction to that I did. Which is just as well, unless things have changed, because the descent I did, to the NE from its top, was one of the worst surfaced descents I have ever ridden.

It's also a few years since I rode Platzerwasel, but I remember I found it harder than I expected – although I was starting up it cold, in two senses.
I had camped in a flimsy tent just outside Munster to the NE of the pass, and the night was pretty cold, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling freezing, although it wasn't quite that cold, but evenso there was frost in the morning.
Then I had only 6 kms to warm up before I reached the foot of the climb at Sondernach (to which the women will likely descend from the Petit Ballon). If I remember right, there are 3-4 sections at +/- 12%, comprising about 3.5 km of its 8.5 km length.

jimmyjams

DeVlaeminck said:

A TT with extended sections of cobbles or gravel roads would be interesting.

I agree, and I think/hope these will eventually come – the Tour de Suisse, with a TT which included both a climb to the top of a pass, but then also the descent from it, could have been a forerunner for a new era of different TTs.

blazing_saddles

jimmyjams said:

blazing_saddles said:

jimmyjams said:

Dorset_Boy said:

Surprised there hasn't been any chat about this, but the presentations are underway for both the men's and women's races.
Looks like they've been presenting the women's route first, but only been dipping in and out, but looks like they are hitting Alsace, and the various Ballons there, plus a finish up the gravel section on the Planche des Belles Filles.

Generally the farther the women get, the harder it becomes, although I think the next-to-last stage (with the loop back up to Le Markstein at its end) may be the deciding one, not the final stage up Belles Filles, that is just there to defend.
The next-to-last stage loop appears to include the Grand Ballon beforehand, the climb up which can be very tough, depending on route – I'm guessing they will go up from Wilier, not the hardest but not the easiest, and like them all, long (=16 km).

Grand Ballon is 13.5km at 6.7 per cent.
The stage also includes the ascents of the Petit Ballon (9,3 km, 8,1 per cent) and Col du Platzerwasel (7,1 km, 8,3 per cent)

Do you know from where they are ascending Le Grand Ballon? I don't know of a 13.5 km climb, only climbs slightly shorter or longer.

It's a few years since I rode the Petit Ballon, but I'm guessing the women will ride it in the opposite direction to that I did. Which is just as well, unless things have changed, because the descent I did, to the NE from its top, was one of the worst surfaced descents I have ever ridden.

It's also a few years since I rode Platzerwasel, but I remember I found it harder than I expected – although I was starting up it cold, in two senses.
I had camped in a flimsy tent just outside Munster to the NE of the pass, and the night was pretty cold, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling freezing, although it wasn't quite that cold, but evenso there was frost in the morning.
Then I had only 6 kms to warm up before I reached the foot of the climb at Sondernach (to which the women will likely descend from the Petit Ballon). If I remember right, there are 3-4 sections at +/- 12%, comprising about 3.5 km of its 8.5 km length.

It's from Willer sur Thur, I assume off the RN66, above Thann. The climb stats are from the official route release on LeTour website.

No_Ta_Doctor

Regarding the bridge & klaxons... Yes, Denmark is fairly breezy, and there's likely to be a fair amount on the bridge, but they're riding east - west and prevailing wind is SW, so we probably won't see a cross tail unless we're lucky.

And yes, I'm up for a beer if anyone's coming over for it 😉

RichN95.

No_Ta_Doctor said:

And yes, I'm up for a beer if anyone's coming over for it 😉

It's something I may consider as I keep meaning to visit Berlin and the two could be combined. Hotel prices permitting.

Edit: Malmo! Maybe I could stay there. I've never been to Sweden. I'm genuinely interested in this idea now.

yorkshireraw

No_Ta_Doctor said:

Regarding the bridge & klaxons... Yes, Denmark is fairly breezy, and there's likely to be a fair amount on the bridge, but they're riding east - west and prevailing wind is SW, so we probably won't see a cross tail unless we're lucky.

And yes, I'm up for a beer if anyone's coming over for it 😉

Was looking at trying to do a family holiday (with Legoland etc) then onto the TDF depart.
Was also looking at needing a second mortgage (I know it's never been cheap in Scando, but thanks to Brexit....) .....

So may just try and pop over on me own... will keep you posted.

takethehighroad

Probably best to go in here, but the UK Govt have confirmed they will support British Cycling in a bid for the Grand Depart in 2026

blazing_saddles

takethehighroad said:

Probably best to go in here, but the UK Govt have confirmed they will support British Cycling in a bid for the Grand Depart in 2026

Not sure the riders will be too keen. £30 million to back the bid for one stage in England, one in Scotland and one in Wales.....

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/britain-to-bid-for-2026-tour-de-france-grand-depart/

(sorry folks who are limited by this 5 articles a month, lark)

shirley_basso

Amusing comment on twitter today about authoritarian governments sports washing

andyrac

Another Tour Grand Depart; really? What about the Giro? Oh yes, only the Tour counts....

pblakeney

andyrac said:

Another Tour Grand Depart; really? What about the Giro? Oh yes, only the Tour counts....

To the general public? Yes.

kingstongraham

andyrac said:

Another Tour Grand Depart; really? What about the Giro? Oh yes, only the Tour counts....

The Giro started in the UK only two months before the last Grand Depart in the UK.

DeVlaeminck

Be interesting to know the relative costs of bringing the Giro vs the Tour.

Personally one would be as good as the other and whilst the Tour is obviously higher profile I got the impression there was a buzz around the Giro starting in N Ireland that time.

blazing_saddles

The RCS have come up with a crazy idea to release next year's Giro route: no less than 5 presentations.

The first was yesterday, where the Grande Partenza in Hungary was announced.

Stage one, Budapest - Visegrád, 195km


Stage two, Budapest - Budapest, 9.2km ITT


Stage three, Kaposvár - Balatonfüred, 201km


That's all they gave us.

pblakeney

Teasing the sprinters and TTers prior to releasing the climbs. 😉

Pross

Doing a short TT as a second stage seems really weird.

salsiccia1

Apparently it's to do with Budepest not wanting to completely shut down on a Friday

Pross

salsiccia1 said:

Apparently it's to do with Budepest not wanting to completely shut down on a Friday

Surely that comes under the heading "If you want our race these are the rules"?

jimmyjams

Pross said:

salsiccia1 said:

Apparently it's to do with Budepest not wanting to completely shut down on a Friday

Surely that comes under the heading "If you want our race these are the rules"?

The original plan for the 2020 Giro was for TT to be on the Saturday.
The TT is still on the Saturday, so there nothing has changed.

Maybe from the beginning the Hungarians made it clear that the TT through the Budapest 'old town' had to be on the Saturday and it is the Giro organisers, who have chosen to alter the schedule so that now the opening stage is a Friday and the TT is stage 2.

The schedule now includes a rest/travel day between Hungary and Italy. No bonus day was planned for the original 2020 version, but which I doubt pleased teams - so possibly the change has come about after pressure from teams.
For the organisers, it was probably logistically and PR-wise easier to squeeze in the extra rest day by modifying the Hungary end, rather than keeping to the 2020 schedule for Hungary and shifting stages/dropping a stage in Italy to accommodate the bonus day.

It would have been good had the organisers, as gesture towards COP26, included the extra rest day so that teams could travel not by plane but by coach to wherever the next stage is. However I will be very surprised if the next stage starts in Trieste, Udine or anywhere in NE Italy (a coach journey away, so when that argument could have been used), and not, as highly rumoured, down on Sicily.

Eitherway, I rather like the alteration at the beginning, the swopping of stages 1 and 2 around compared to the 2020 plans – I think it is more likely to mean an immediate change of rosa jersey (whereas the other way around, whoever won an opening stage TT, would probably still have it after stage 2).

(Does this thread title also need modifying?)

phreak

Pross said:

salsiccia1 said:

Apparently it's to do with Budepest not wanting to completely shut down on a Friday

Surely that comes under the heading "If you want our race these are the rules"?

Maybe the Giro are just really keen to give an authoritarian regime in a country with no cycling history some publicity.

blazing_saddles

Didn't post the 6 pointless, sprinter profiles which were released on Monday.
Here are the Giro's "hilly" stages:

Diamante - Potenza, 198km (4490m of climbing, which is top of the 2022 Giro pops)



Napoli - Napoli, 149km



Pescara - Jesi, 194km



Parma - Genova, 186km



Santena - Torino, 153km



Marano Lagunare - Santuario Di Castelmonte, 178km (Includes Monte Kolovrat 10kms at almost 10% average)

blazing_saddles

With the mountain stages now revealed, it leaves me thinking that in 2022 we have a Giro "Light".

Avola - Etna, 166km



Isernia - Blockhaus, 187km



Rivarolo Canavese - Cogne, 177km



Salò - Aprica, 200km



Ponte Di Legno - Lavarone, 165km



Belluno - Marmolada, 167km

salsiccia1

blazing_saddles said:

With the mountain stages now revealed, it leaves me thinking that in 2022 we have a Giro "Light".

I agree. It's still tough, but nothing like recent editions. Short stages too.

I wonder if they've got an eye on:
- weather issues, so they're avoiding the really high stuff
- tempting certain riders to try the double (with a little diversion into Slovenia to help), so they've dialled the toughness back

kingstongraham

Maybe they'll ride the whole route this time.

Pross

Doesn't look that easy to me, they are still going well over 2000m which is always going to be a risk at that time of year with several other climbs over 1800m.