Prepa, form, weather… What does the postponement of the Tour de France change?

• Due to the Covid-19 coronavirus epidemic, the Tour de France was officially postponed until the end of the summer.
• The runners will surely have only one month of racing to prepare before the start in Nice on August 29.
• They will also have to do with very different climatic conditions. This could benefit some.

Hope is reborn. Like the French when hearing the date of May 11 in the mouth of Emmanuel Macron Monday evening, bike lovers got a bit of the hair of the beast this Wednesday noon by learning the official report of the Tour de France (from August 29 to September 20). "This is very good news, welcomes Dominique Arnoult, it is the showcase of our sport and a cancellation would have been catastrophic for cycling".

If there are still many "unanswered questions and it will also be necessary to follow the evolution of the epidemic very much" for the boss of Team Total Direct Energie, "at least that sets a course" rejoices Mikaël Cherel, runner of AG2R La Mondiale. Be ready on the start line on Saturday 29 August in Nice. This new calendar necessarily involves adaptations. Preparation, form, weather… What does that change?

Go to the mountains and make volume

For now, the time is still in confinement and in home trainers for runners in France and it will take time to recover the fresh air of road trips even after May 11: "I don't think I can reunite in an internship and maybe not even bring them together ”, recognizes Dominique Arnould. The runners will surely have to work in small groups. Mikaël Cherel intends, for example, to quickly leave “at an altitude camp, like many, to regain form, sensations and eat a positive drop, especially since the tour will be very mountainous. It will climb on the second day as a reminder.

The Tour de France will take place on the planned route, without change, from Nice to Paris, from Saturday August 29 to Sunday September 20, 2020.
More info ➡️ https://t.co/Ik9vmcp7sN#TDF2020 pic.twitter.com/2o6D0GVPal

"Even if as a high level sportsman we will not start from scratch and the current work is very qualitative especially on the muscular chains, it will be necessary to make volume very quickly to be competitive. Today, that's what we miss the most and that's what the Grande Boucle is asking for, ”explains Romain Bardet's teammate. This postponement which will avoid a last minute cancellation will also make it possible to make up for a certain delay, according to the boss at Direct Energie: "If all goes well, we will be able to reduce the level differences a bit between the start between those who do not drive at all at the moment and the others. It is not the ideal preparation but we can prepare well. "

Prepare yourself yes. But being on top form is yet another matter for Steve Chainel:

“Finding a good level of performance in three months is possible. But from there to win the Tour, it's clear that it's a big problem. There are races that must serve as preparation, automatisms, group spirit, recognition ... We will not have it. On the French side, we are penalized by confinement, that's clear. The confinement will cause a certain non-equality of opportunity, for example in Belgium they can roll outside. Training does not replace competition, much less home trainer. "

One month of shopping to get ready

The other consequence of this postponement and this unprecedented 2020 edition will be the few races that the runners will have in their legs before ending up on the Côte d'Azur. A month or even six weeks at best according to Christian Prudhomme, the big boss of the Tour de France. Enough to be in good shape? "Yes, that may suffice, especially since there will be a well-supplied calendar and normally all the runners will be able to compete in the various races," says Dominique Arnoult. A way for sports managers to surely make an inventory.

"The spirit of the Tour will be the same", believes its director Christian Prudhomme via @ 20minutesSport https://t.co/BfSHfAtOIi

For athletes, it is now imperative that the new UCI (Unions Cycliste Internationale) calendar be developed based on the new dates of the Great Loop. And above all "as soon as we can resort it must be done" insists the former French runner for whom it will take minimum "ten days of racing" in the legs before the Tour. He even imagines a small program with the French championships, a few one-day races and a Dauphiné Libéré even shortened in August. This is also how Mikaël Cherel sees things: “I think I will need two stage races, the Dauphiné and why not the Route d'Occitanie plus the championships to be good. "

But obviously in these very special conditions of preparation, the characteristics of each runner could play because "the rhythm will have little" according to Chainel. “After that it depends, Pinot doesn't need 15 preparation races to be good, he can hurt himself in training. Froome or Thomas is the same. But anyway, there will be breakage, the workforce will be turned upside down. You can't ask a 205 GTI to be in the garage for three months and go out for the 24h of Le Mans! ", He adds.

What if the weather benefits some?

Finally, if the course will not change with a few exceptions, the weather will surely be different. September is not July. We didn't invent anything. On the other hand on the subject, there are indeed two schools. The first for which this factor will “really not have an impacting role” on the race according to the words of the consultant from Europort “because we have exceptional back seasons and we stay in a summer period. For David Gaudu of Groupama-FDJ, the question does not even arise because "in principle for me a good runner must be ready to face all climatic conditions. "

🤩 Here it is, the route of the # TDF2020 🤩

🤩 Here is the route of # TDF2020 🤩 pic.twitter.com/Npe3u3FYJl

The second (school) of course thinks the opposite. Starting with Gaudu's teammate, Rudy Molard:

“It will have a major role because we will not know the heat waves of July and we risk taking heavy showers. It will be a time close to that of the Giro. At the organizational level, not everyone reacts in the same way. "

For comparison in July 2019, the average temperature in France had been 23 degrees with heat waves while in September 2019, it was 18.5 degrees.

“This is good news, rejoices Mikael Cherel, because with more difficult conditions, it will inevitably give more spectacular races. Bardet, Nibali, Alaphilippe can take advantage of this time. Pinot likes this too. In any case, it can clearly put the Ineos machine in difficulty because it always disrupts a train, even if it is very well adjusted. And whoever took the lead in the descent of Domancy in 2016 to offer victory to Romain Bardet in the deluge knows what he is talking about.

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