The 2025 Paris-Good route has been launched. No surprises for the beginning exterior Paris and the end in Good. In between there are some acquainted stops and a few novelty.
It’ll run between Sunday 9 March and Sunday 16 March. Right here’s a more in-depth take a look at the eight levels…
Stage 1 is the routine circuit race within the Yvelines départment to the west of Paris. It’s a possible dash end however keep in mind 2024’s race the place Matteo Jorgenson received the hilltop time bonus forward of Remco Evenepoel earlier than the end? The duo would end in the identical order general in Good.
Le Perray-en-Yvelines is a small city whose mayor coincidentally occurs to be vice-president of the Yvelines council, curiously he’s simply turned 30 so there’s the possibility he shakes arms with a stage winner older than him.
Stage 2 is the dash stage with the copy-paste line from previous editions that if Mom Nature intervenes then this will turn out to be a semi-classic the place the bunch is shredded by crosswinds and a few riders bid adieu to any GC ambitions. That is simply what occurred in 2019, the final time went to Bellegarde.
When an area newspaper reported Paris-Good would use the Magny-Cours motorsport circuit hearts might need sunk. These tracks by no means make for good bike races, an exciting chicane in a Formulation 1 race is barely a bend at 45km/h throughout a motorcycle race. So the excellent news is Stage 3 begins on the monitor however shortly heads for actual roads within the countryside on the way in which to Nevers. There are two climbs. These are essential as a result of this can be a 28km workforce time trial and the acquainted “Paris-Good guidelines” will apply whereby time shouldn’t be taken on the fifth rider, however on the person time taken to finish the course. GC riders usually are not held again on the ultimate climb and rouleurs can be utilized up on the method to Nevers whereas the successful tactic can be to retain some help for the ultimate sprint downhill.
Stage 4 is the primary summit end and encompasses a return to the Loge des Gardes climb that featured in 2023. That day noticed Tadej Pogačar smile to the digicam as he sat on Jonas Vingegaard’s wheel earlier than dispatching the Dane and David Gaudu constructed his second place general by coming in behind Pogačar.
The day has 3,100m of vertical acquire from a mixture of set-piece climbs and lumpy roads. The end more durable than the 7.1% common suggests as a result of it’s obtained a flat penultimate kilometre, more often than not it’s a difficult 8-9% and so this can be a selective summit end.
Is Stage 5 a breakaway day? The course fits however lengthy vary strikes hold being mowed down lately. The ultimate third of the course – paired with TV protection – options a number of small backroads, if this was Tirreno-Adriatico we’d name it the “wall stage” and positioning in addition to punchy using will rely for lots.
The novel shock is on the end. Your blogger did a recon of a Dauphiné stage years in the past and serendipitously left the race route at La Côte-Saint-André, most likely to see the views, and rode up this climb. It’s very steep and slender, the chapel on the high evokes Mont Brouilly however that is extra intense, assume the Flèche Wallonne’s end as a substitute.
Stage 6 goes to the coast and racing across the Rhone river delta, residence of the Mistral wind so a dash end stage with the obligatory crosswind caveat. The end is beside the saltwater lagoon with its seashores, maritime pine forest… and the close by large petrochemical works of Berre and Fos.
Stage 7 goes to Auron… hopefully as a result of this stage makes use of quite a lot of roads from 2024’s deliberate 173km stage which needed to be rerouted to the Madonne d’Utelle on the final minute due to snow, a hiccup however good publicity for a ski resort. 2025’s route is shorter however nonetheless has the Colmiane earlier than the summit end to Auron and past, the highway climbs past the village to 1,600m for a end on the foot of the ski pistes. It’s a clean summit end on a large highway and quick at “solely” seven kilometres.
Stage 8 is the standard Good-Good cliffhanger. The course is new as an entire however the synthesis of previous finales, it borrows the Col de la Porte from 2020, earlier than linking as much as the acquainted format of current years with Peille after which the Col des Quatre Chemins tackled by way of the steep Vinaigrier highway.
The VerdictFamiliar options all through to the purpose the place any day by day stage previews subsequent March can raise chunks of textual content from earlier posts, no less than relating to describing the route every day. It’s not as if it’s annual repetition: Stage 4’s summit end is simply deployed for the second time, the subsequent day’s stage with a number of wall-like climbs and the slender uphill end is novel, so is the massive Auron end.
The 2 summit finishes are solely seven kilometres which is brief in comparison with the same old Colmiane or Couiolle hour-long slog so issues might be nearer going into the ultimate stage.
Up for grabsHeard the joke about social science exams the place the questions are the identical yearly, as a substitute it’s the proper reply that modifications? Now the course is understood, the intrigue is who will win. Particularly as a result of this a World Tour stage race sans Tadej Pogačar. Ditto Primož Roglič as a result of the Slovenians, each previous winners, have introduced their plans already. Runner-up final time Remco Evenepoel is more likely to miss this due to harm and rehab however don’t rule him out but.
Nonetheless Jonas Vingegaard is beginning based on organisers ASO, one thing repeated within the Danish paper Extrabladet minutes in the past too. It will produce other groups and rival GC contenders sighing as their shot at a World Tour stage race win simply obtained a lot more durable. Vingegaard has but to win this race and should properly have 2024 winner Matteo Jorgenson in help, the workforce can be a pressure within the workforce time trial and seeking to get again on monitor. However he’d select longer climbs if he may.
For now there are 80 days to go and the wildcard invitations haven’t been introduced both. There are nonetheless two weeks left for rider transfers too.
