I found it hot/ humid enough each afternoon for me to complain and, on the third day, to spend twenty minutes sitting on some grass in the shade. My stoker, on the other hand, seemed impervious. The lack of rain and warm nights benefited me. I wore arm-warmers for one night and didn't actually need to.
The route seemed about as lumpy as before with extra hills after Brest and a couple of flatter intermediate sections that didn’t seem familiar from the previous six editions.
Having spare legs on the bike meant that we kept moving fairly well, even when I wasn’t feeling particularly sparky. I slept at Brest for the first time and didn’t feel particularly sleep-deprived overall.
It was disappointing to find out that several of my friends DNFed. It used to be that 1:7 PBP starters would DNF, in a good year. It seems now that at least 1:4 starters DNF. After a while, those odds tend to catch up with people riding multiple PBPs. Many of those with multiple PBP finishes also include a HD or DNF in their palmares.