5 stages is taking the piss a bit isn't it? It's great that the tour visits other countries, but they'll have to rename it Le tour d'autres pays at this rate...
I think the Tour should pay homage to the traditions of British cycling. A prologue 10, followed by a 50, a 100 and a 12 hour on the fastest courses on successive days. All run to RTTC rules. Let's see the climbers fight their way back from that.
The traditions that saw UK cyclists and cycling in the basement of World cycling for many years?
We'll never know what British amateurs might have been capable of on a level playing field. Mens cycling never really had fairness as a priority, at either the professional level or at the amateur level dominated by the Eastern Bloc and the Italians.
The only indication we had was through women's cycling, which had no Olympic representation or a professional scene. Beryl Burton's dominance was probably exceptional.
I hope that British cycling hasn't achieved success by adopting dubious methods, but because those dubious methods have been stamped out. We haven't become more like them. They have been forced to become more like us. They may even develop a sense of humour like ours at some point.