The route of the 2024 Tour de France has caused some heated discussions this week. Not everyone is happy with the new route. Jens Voigt, for example, is a fan of some innovations, but he is highly critical of others.
The Tour de France 2024 presents riders and teams with completely new challenges. The organizers not only created new excitement with the mountainous time trial on the last stage. Even in the first week they demand everything from the participants. This is particularly true for the 4th stage, on which the first Alpine giant, the Col du Galibier, stands in the way of the peloton. Unusually early, but also unusually dangerous?
Ex-driver Jens Voigt sees a big risk in route planning. His concern: In the first week, the tension in the field is still high, (too) many riders could dare to make an extremely risky attack on the 4th stage, which doesn’t end at the summit, but only after a brutally fast descent.
Voigt is worried about tour descents that are as fast as an arrow
“The riders will take full risk, they have to. The peloton is probably still fresh in its legs and motivated after the first serious mountain test. So there will be a lot of pressure on the shoulders of the ranking aspirants and one or two may have to do more Dare to take risks than wanted,” Voigt expressed concerns in his “Eurosport” column.
The fatal accident of the Swiss Gino Mäder at the Tour de Suisse 2023 is still present to him and everyone else, wrote Voigt: “I never want to see images like that again.”
Today’s TV expert is similarly worried about the time trial on the final day. Here too, he felt “uneasy,” wrote Voigt, referring to the lightning-fast descent from the Col de Eze.
“At Paris-Nice, speeds of over 80 km/h are regularly reached – and the time trial bikes pick up much more speed. […] “I actually have a bit of nightmares when I imagine the professionals sailing down the mountain at 90 km/h and possibly a strong gusty sea wind blowing in,” Voigt sounded the alarm.