The German professional cyclist Maximilian Walscheid has criticized the increasingly spectacular route of the Tour de France.
“The tour has always been tough, but this year it’s brutal,” said the 29-year-old in an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. It’s not the first time there have been problems in cycling. “We have often had dangerous sections of the route that were only changed when something actually happened,” said Walscheid, for whom the 109th tour ended prematurely after he had to get off on July 19 due to a positive corona test.
Overall, it was too much of a spectacle for him. “Take a stage like that to Roubaix. For me personally it’s good because I can show myself as a classics specialist there, but it’s just total stress for 75 percent of the peloton. I don’t understand why everything is still faster , still has to be better. The way it is now, it’s more than enough, you don’t have to push it any further,” said Walscheid. On the fifth stage, eleven of the legendary cobblestone sectors with a total length of 19.4 kilometers had to be mastered. There were several falls. Among others, Primoz Roglic dislocated his shoulder, he is no longer there.
“Just as everything is optimized in every area of life, the spectacle is also optimized. Of course, the drivers make the race, but the course offers the platform for it,” said Walscheid. “If the Tour is as sprinter-unfriendly as this year, it doesn’t make sense to start as a sprinter.”