Sam Bennett's Deceuninck-QuickStep has welcomed the unveiling of next year's Tour de France route, saying there were many opportunities likely to suit sprinters.
Bennett took two stage victories this year - stage 10 and stage 21 - and also came away with the points classification on what was a breakthrough Tour for him.
Next year there are no fewer that eight stages classified as "flat", and likely sprint opportunities, by the Tour de France organisers.
The first two stages may suit riders like Bennett’s team
mate, world champion Julian Alaphilippe, as they include the Côte de la Fosse
aux Loups and Mûr-de-Bretagne.
Also in the opening week there’s a 27km TT and even the flat stages may be more eventful than usual with crosswinds, while a summit finish at Tignes is also included in the opening half of the Tour.
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The route also includes a double ascent of Mont Ventoux
on stage 11 and the race goes into Andorra before two summit finishes on Col de
Portet and Luz Ardiden followed by a 31km TT, as well as the sprint stages (details
below).
Deceuninck-QuickStep’s sports director Tom Steels says
the race can suit many of his riders. He pointed to the many sprint stages as
something for his riders as they bid to add more success to Bennett’s “superb”
stage wins and green jersey this year.
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“The start of the race will sure be an exciting one, with
some stages suited to Julian and others where we could be in for strong
echelons,” added Steels.
“Looking over the whole parcours, we can notice there
will be plenty of opportunities to show ourselves, and this is without taking
into account the numerous sprint stages.
“Even for the time trials we have guys capable of getting good results. The Mont Ventoux stage and the ones where we’ll go over 2000 meters promise to be very demanding and should play an important role in the final outcome. Overall, it’s a route we like very much.”
The sprinter stages are: stage 3 (Lorient to Pontivy, 182km), stage 4 (Redon to Fougères, 152km), stage 6 (Tours to Châteauroux, 144km), stage 10 (Albertville to Valence, 186km), stage 12 (Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux to Nîmes, 161km), stage 13 (Nîmes to Carcassonne, 220km), stage 19 (Mourenx to Libourne, 203km) and stage 21 (Chatou to Paris Champs-Élysées, 112km).
The abundance of opportunities is good news for Sam Bennett but it will also mean most teams will bring their top sprinters, increasing competition for victories and the green jersey.
For example, Arnaud Demare (Groupama FDJ), Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma), Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) and Pascal Ackermann (Bora-hansgrohe) were all missing this year but will very likely be on the start line next July.
Ackermann is the only rider over whom there will be a question mark as Peter Sagan has always been his team leader on the race. However, with Sagan looking like winning a bunch sprint is perhaps beyond him, his German team mate may also be included in the Tour line-up next summer.
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