Tour de France 2022 - Route Presentations

blazing_saddles

Pross said:

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.

When TGH won his Giro. just over a year ago, there was 65kms of time trialing and the penultimate mountain stage over the Stelvio defined the race.
This Giro has just 26kms of time trialing, 11kms of which is either going up or coming down a hill and has a hilly penultimate climbing day, rather that a full mountain stage.
Week 2, which usually has a couple of really significant mountain stages has just by far the weakest visit into the mountains and the Torino circuit.

Vengi has pretty much admitted it is an undisguised attempt to get Pogacar to try for the double.
Kinda sad.

jimmyjams

blazing_saddles said:

Pross said:

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.

When TGH won his Giro. just over a year ago, there was 65kms of time trialing and the penultimate mountain stage over the Stelvio defined the race.
This Giro has just 26kms of time trialing, 11kms of which is either going up or coming down a hill and has a hilly penultimate climbing day, rather that a full mountain stage.
Week 2, which usually has a couple of really significant mountain stages has just by far the weakest visit into the mountains and the Torino circuit.

Vengi has pretty much admitted it is an undisguised attempt to get Pogacar to try for the double.
Kinda sad.

Does less TT really advantage Pogacar that much? I'm not so sure.

The highlighted bit isn't true – the penultimate stage this time is the Fedaia day. It is the antepenultimate stage which is the hilly one.
The antepenultimate in 2020 was more or less flat, so in 2022 there is more 'spice' in stage 19; the climb at its end could well be more decisive than at first appears.

I agree about the earlier part of the race perhaps not being as attractive/interesting as it could be; I like to see more stages in central Italy. But at least the route, and relatively short stages, appear to allow several changes of the maglia rosa, before the GC becomes serious.

I can imagine, after the first pink of stage 1, and before the last rest day, there could be a few other riders in pink. Stages 2 (Budapest TT), 4 (Etna), 7 (Potenza), 9 (Blockhaus), 14 (Torino), and 15 (Cogne) all have the potential to create a new leader. And I like when the picture constantly changes.

I'm not a big fan of the sprint stages but the sprinters seem to have done well out of it all – as well as the 7 stages said to be sprinter ages, I'd also include the Naples circuit stage (for those sprinters who can climb okay).

m.r.m.

MvdP will win it! 😉

blazing_saddles

jimmyjams said:

blazing_saddles said:

Pross said:

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.

When TGH won his Giro. just over a year ago, there was 65kms of time trialing and the penultimate mountain stage over the Stelvio defined the race.
This Giro has just 26kms of time trialing, 11kms of which is either going up or coming down a hill and has a hilly penultimate climbing day, rather that a full mountain stage.
Week 2, which usually has a couple of really significant mountain stages has just by far the weakest visit into the mountains and the Torino circuit.

Vengi has pretty much admitted it is an undisguised attempt to get Pogacar to try for the double.
Kinda sad.

Does less TT really advantage Pogacar that much? I'm not so sure.

The highlighted bit isn't true – the penultimate stage this time is the Fedaia day. It is the antepenultimate stage which is the hilly one.
The antepenultimate in 2020 was more or less flat, so in 2022 there is more 'spice' in stage 19; the climb at its end could well be more decisive than at first appears.

I agree about the earlier part of the race perhaps not being as attractive/interesting as it could be; I like to see more stages in central Italy. But at least the route, and relatively short stages, appear to allow several changes of the maglia rosa, before the GC becomes serious.

I can imagine, after the first pink of stage 1, and before the last rest day, there could be a few other riders in pink. Stages 2 (Budapest TT), 4 (Etna), 7 (Potenza), 9 (Blockhaus), 14 (Torino), and 15 (Cogne) all have the potential to create a new leader. And I like when the picture constantly changes.

I'm not a big fan of the sprint stages but the sprinters seem to have done well out of it all – as well as the 7 stages said to be sprinter ages, I'd also include the Naples circuit stage (for those sprinters who can climb okay).

I wrote penultimate climbing stage, not penultimate stage.
The Stelvio was climbed on stage 18 in 2020.

jimmyjams

Okay, I recognise I didn't properly read your sentence.
But if the- then stage 18 equivalent is (sort-of) now stage 16 or 17, all the more suspense in the last 3-4 stages surely?

phreak

It's nice that the Fedaia gets a stage finish. Often it seems to be one of the climbs in the middle of a stage rather than the finale, which given its difficulty always seemed somewhat wrong. It's lovely to see they're able to go through Sottoguda as well after the awful flooding that damaged the road through the gorge.

blazing_saddles

jimmyjams said:

Okay, I recognise I didn't properly read your sentence.
But if the- then stage 18 equivalent is (sort-of) now stage 16 or 17, all the more suspense in the last 3-4 stages surely?

Maybe. That must be the hope and it's clearly the reason as to why there are negligible TTing kms.
Maybe it will lead to more aggressive racing, at the expense of the spectacle a few big climbs.
We will have to wait until next May to find out.

The point I was trying to make, without actually mentioning it, was the effect of collective fatigue over successive, big mountain stages..
Which is why that flat stage you mention was supposed to be 251kms long, until the rider protest saw it shortened to a token 124kms.
There isn't a 200km stage in the final week, after Tuesday.

rick_chasey

Booo

m.r.m.

Selfishly, I would love to see Pogacar try to do the double (and triple).

RichN95.

m.r.m. said:

Selfishly, I would love to see Pogacar try to do the double (and triple).

I would like him attempt it and fail a couple of times first.

blazing_saddles

I hadn't realised this was scheduled to be released, but next year's Vuelta route has been presented. It features 6 summit finishes between stages 6 and 15.

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/vuelta-a-espana-2021-route-no-madrid-finish-and-a-historic-new-climb-on-the-menu

rick_chasey

Of course it does, haha.

Will we ever see a GT winner who is a fundamentally TTer who can climb a bit again?

andyp

Doesn't that label fit Roglic?

rick_chasey

andyp said:

Doesn't that label fit Roglic?

I dunno you don't see him regularly lose time uphill and then spank everyone in the TT...

pblakeney

That's cos he is a TTer who can climb more than a bit.

rick_chasey

pblakeney said:

That's cos he is a TTer who can climb more than a bit.

Mm, I'll believe he's a proper TTer when he doesn't lose a Tour to a climber in a TT

gsk82

rick_chasey said:

Of course it does, haha.

Will we ever see a GT winner who is a fundamentally TTer who can climb a bit again?

Not until the best climbers aren't also among the best TT'ists. Pogacer would only need 1 mountain stage to overturn any deficit Ganna or Van Aert put into him in the TTs.

pblakeney

rick_chasey said:

pblakeney said:

That's cos he is a TTer who can climb more than a bit.

Mm, I'll believe he's a proper TTer when he doesn't lose a Tour to a climber in a TT

He's up against a younger and better self.
If a climber beats GC contenders in a TT then what does that say about the GC TTers?