Let Me Entertain You

The 2018 Tour route has twists and surprises aplenty as organisers try to ignite the race

The biggest innovation of the 2017 edition of the Tour de France was that every kilometre was broadcast live. For the first time ever viewers could watch each of the 21 stages from start to finish. The wall-to-wall TV coverage, however, left the organiser ASO and the route glaringly exposed. Many commented that the race, won for the fourth time by Chris Froome, wasn’t actually all that exciting. Considering all the extra television coverage, the criticism is likely to have stung.

Much has been made of the idea ASO have tried to design routes in the past with the aim of breaking Froome and Sky’s stranglehold on the Tour, but for 2018 it seems they’ve accepted that whatever type of race they conjure up it will not faze the team. Instead, they appear to have designed a course that is the antithesis of boring. It’s packed with novelties and new terrain that will keep teams guessing. A team time trial, cobbles, gravel tracks, a short 65km mountain stage, new Pyrenean climbs, a hilly individual time trial and a new bonus time rule all feature in next year’s 21 stages, packing the route with enough different elements to keep the viewers entertained.

The 2018 Tour is a race of two halves split across northern France and the Alps and Pyrenees.