A flat route and a possible sprint finish but watch out for the weather as the forecast overnight has changed, suggesting stronger winds and it’s all on terrain so exposed it won’t take much to split the bunch again… if the stage goes ahead as last night the French government moved the threshold for permissible events from 5,000 down to 1,000 people.
Where to begin? Just outside Paris but with the spread of the coronavirus, one question is whether the race will reach Nice next weekend is as valid as who will win.
The sporting aspect is interesting with a revised startsheet, fewer of the large teams to control the race and the weather forecast says it’ll be windy for the opening stages.
The route for the 2020 Critérium du Dauphiné race (31 May- 7 June) has been unveiled today and for only the second time in the race’s history there’s no time trial. Instead it’s a race of two halves with a flatter first part before four consecutive stages in the Alps with beaucoup climbing. Often a highlight of the year, the route borrows from this summer Tour de France but there are also some “new” climbs.
The third highlight of the year is a vintage edition of Paris-Roubaix. Philippe Gilbert, a pre-race pick, won but it was the manner of his victory and the action for hours on end that made it memorable.
Having looked at the route in a procedural sense on Tuesday, now time to take a step back and look at things in more detail, from aspects of the course to details like the transfers and more.
The route of the 2020 Tour de France is out and it’s mountainous with mountain stages galore and more summit finishes than ever. Here’s a closer look at the stages and tomorrow we’ll look more closely at some of the details, themes and more.
The final climb of the final mountain stage of the 2019 Tour de France, the climb to Val Thorens is a giant, 33km long to reach 2,365m above sea level. Here’s a closer look.
Nobody knows how many roundabouts there are in France, only that their number has soared. The image of the peloton parting like a school of fish to navigate a roundabout has become a televisual staple and they sometimes form tactical features of the course, ask Jacob Fuglsang and Thibaut Pinot or see Edvald Boasson Hagen exploit one to get away for a stage win in 2017. They’ve become an unloved feature of France and even political. Let’s take a tour…
The Tour de France continues its procession down the east of France. The race tries to visit as much of the country as possible and each year it’s inevitable that some regions get skipped but there’s a trend now with the race directors searching for the geography needed to make for lively racing and the result is some parts of France are being skipped for years in a row.
Full stop, period, point. The cobbled classics season lasts for weeks and every time there’s always the consolation of the next race, if the E3 didn’t work out there’s Gent-Wevelgem and then the Ronde and each race can be used for training, a stepping stone to the next. This time there’s nothing more, reach Roubaix and the game of stones is done for 2019.