Tour de France 2020 hogs the south and favours day-to-day climbers | William Fotheringham
15 October 2019 04:11
Route described as ‘the toughest’ by Chris Froome as race organisers plan to use all the mountain ranges and include only one time trialThe Tour de France’s search for novelty and excitement in recent years has taken it in one direction: hillier, shorter, more intense, with occasional ventures off the Tarmac. The 2020 route heads down that road at breakneck speed, with only one time trial – and that up a severe climb – only one stage over 200 kilometres, and so many climbs that they risk becoming interchangeable, a blur of constant action.“The toughest Tour I’ve ever seen,” said Chris Froome, who hopes to return from a severe crash to try for his fifth title, as long as his teammate Egan Bernal does not snatch the leadership of Ineos from him. The toughness comes not so much in the actual volume of climbing – there are relatively few classic set-piece ascents in the Alps and Pyrenees, no Mont Ventoux, no Alpe d’Huez – but in the constant day-to-day intensity that will make it virtually impossible for the race to settle down. “It’s more a mid-mountain all-rounder route. I don’t think that makes it more difficult to control,” said Froome’s boss, Dave Brailsford. Related: Downpours, forensic analysis and lots of pasta: on the team bus at the cycling worlds | Kieran Pender Continue readingread full article
