TOUR DE FRANCE
The Tour has been changing subtly over the last few years. On the surface, it settled into a real pattern during the 2010s, thanks to the dominance exercised by Sky/Ineos, who have won the race seven times in the last eight years. But Le Tour is still evolving, as it always has. It would be simplistic to say that it is getting harder - it has always been very hard, whether because of the marathon distances of the early years, or the introduction of more and more mountains through the second half of the 20th century. But ASO are still managing to turn the screw on the modern riders, not so much by increasing the size or number of challenges they face, but by reducing the quiet moments and making the race more stressful. Even through the 2000s, the Tour had quiet days - flat days for the sprinters, and occasional days off for the peloton as they let breaks go. But the route design of the last few years just keeps adding stress, danger and traps.
2020 is perhaps the hardest Tour yet in this vein. Of course, there are mountains, just like any other year, but this year’s riders will hit hard climbs from day one. Stage 4 is an
Alpine summit finish. The race goes from the Mediterranean Alpine foothills around Nice, into the Alps, through the Massif Central to the Pyrennes, then back through the
Massif Central to the Jura, then the
Alps, and finally a time trial in the Vosges, up the steep Planche des Belles Filles. There is only one instance of back-to-back flat stages, on stages 10 and 11 in the west of France following the first rest day. But even the first of these takes place right on the Atlantic coast, where the prevailing westerly wind could wreak havoc on the peloton, even if it is not blowing that strongly.
Comments were made after the route launch that this is a Tour for the modern attention span. The organisers can no longer find a place for the test-match-style long slow stages which used to be as much a part of the Tour as sunflowers and Didi the Devil. They’re competing for attention with whatever else is flashing across the screens of potential viewers.
Who’s going to win? Of course, Ineos, who look set to start with three previous winners, will be the favourites. But Jumbo-Visma are packing their team with stars - Dumoulin, Roglic and Kruijswijk - and climbing domestiques. ASO may have baked action into their route, but the presence of two such strong teams guarantees all attention will be on the French race in summer.