Featuring
- 8 member teams
- Possible echelon-inducing stages following a start in the Vendee and a couple of Brittany stages (starts in Brest and Fougeres)
- 31km TTT on Stage 3
- Double Mur de Bretagne climb on the Brest stage
- Another unconscious PBP nod with a start at Dreux
- Cobbles Baby! - 21.7kms worth on stage 9 Amiens to Roubaix.
- A Col de la Madeleine/Croix de Fer/Alpe d’Huez stage
- a partly unpaved climb to the Plateau des Glières on the Le Grand Bornand
- a 65km-long mountain stage (ie the stage is that length, it's not a single mountain)
- a 31km hilly TT on the penultimate day
Can't wait.
Predictions:
Geraint Thomas will fall off on the cobbles
Bardet will continue his plateau, and Pinot will continue to be a nearly-Bardet
Uran will miss out on the win due to team members leaving during their funding gap this autumn
Froome will feel a bit old, but so will Nibbles, so Froome will still beat him
Barguil, tomorrow's man, will do the Giro
Quintana, yesterday's man, will fail to feature
I predict a Froome/Dumoulin battle, based on how hilly it is - I haven't looked in detail yet. TD may well overhaul CF on the final time trial.