edit: added profile of the circuits' climbs at the bottom.
(The website seems to be only in French?)
The TT race shares a little bit of the Boucles de la Drôme race: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/la-drome-classic/2025
The mass start races have a lot in common with the Boucle de l'Ardèche race: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/faun-ardeche-classic/2025
Calendar:
The program is more compact than on the World Championship. For example, all 6 categories of ITT are on the same day, starting one after another.
It starts with Time Trials:
- Wednesday 1, morning: Junior Women (12 km), then Men (24 km)
- Wednesday 1, noonish: U23 Women (24 km), then Men (24 km)
- Wednesday 1, afternoon: Elite Women (24 km), then Men (24 km)
- Thursday 2, morning: Junior mixed relay (2×20 km)
- Thursday 2, afternoon: Junior mixed relay (2×20 km)
Then come the mass start races:
- Friday 3, morning: U23 Women (86 km)
- Friday 3, afternoon: Junior Women (63 km), then Men (103 km)
- Saturday 4, morning: U23 Men (121 km)
- Saturday 4, afternoon: Elite Women (116 km)
- Sunday 5: Elite Men (202 km)
Here is the ITT map & profile, the same for everyone (only junior women start halfway, from Allex):
The mixed relay loops, with the same second half:
Here is the map and profile for the main Men race:
The women race has the same first part (deep blue), but then it does only 1 small yellow circuit + 1 blue circuit + 1 last small yellow circuit.
As you can see, the start of those two races is given in a climb!
Races for younger riders do not present the first part, only various combinations of the blue and yellow circuits.
The Wall of Cornas, extended by the irregular climb of St-Romain de Lerps, is located on the blue circuit. I can't tell why, but it sometimes reminds me of the climb in Imola (WC 2020) or one of the climbs in Liège–Bastogne–Liège.
On both the blue and the yellow circuit stand the Val d'Enfer (Hell's vale). It is short, yet when you believe you are done with it as you go through what looks like a pass, there is still 500 m to go.
Both (but especially the beginning and the end of the main one) usually offer spectacular views. I hope that the broadcast will be more reliable than on the TTs (but given the fact that the landscape will be way more steep than the TTs' plains, I fear it will be worse).
20 Comments
Deschanel2017@lemmings.world · 1 pts · 328d
Mixed relay TTT: it's gonna be quick, as there are only 7 teams... (but that's 1 more than in 2024, and there never was more than 8).
Official startlist (PDF)
Belgium didn't bother to send a team, after having finished more than 4 minutes behind in Kigali 😀
Deschanel2017@lemmings.world · 1 pts · 327d
Good performance by the Luxembourg🇱🇺 male team Kirsch (Lidl-Trek) + Kluckers (Tudor) - Wenzel (Kern). They were only 22 seconds behind France🇫🇷.
Switzerland🇨🇭 being Switzerland. When it is not Reusser being Reusser, it is Küng being Küng...
Italy🇮🇹 had a strong male team. The 3 men almost made it to the finish together, and they beat everyone else.
French🇫🇷 female team won the race for France. Even faster than Reusser's Switzerland🇨🇭, despite slowing down in the end (the 3^rd^ rider Borras being more of the fat ass track rider type, Labous had to finish the final climb with Kerbaol, who stopped before the final climb in Kigali therefore suffered a lot in the final mile today).
Luckily for France🇫🇷, the Italian🇮🇹 female team slew even more in the final, probably because their 3^rd^ rider Cecchini was dropped rather early, if I am not mistaken.
Deschanel2017@lemmings.world · 1 pts · 328d
Denmark coming with Vingegaard, Skjelmose and not 1 but 3 Pedersens will be something to see!
For the ITT today, will Küng be overtaken before or after Allex?
He starts second to last, the last being Evenepoel. There are only 24 km to go, but the gap between start times is only 1 minute, even among the last competitors.
Official startlist (PDF)
EvilCartyen@feddit.dk · 2 pts · 327d
Crazy bronze medal for Larsen, of all Danes. Unibet must be pinching themselves to have him signed, and probably for cheap too.
Deschanel2017@lemmings.world · 1 pts · 327d
Unibet are also crossing their fingers that they didn't recruit another Giovanni Carboni 🫣😰😰 😄
EvilCartyen@feddit.dk · 2 pts · 327d
Well, I think the risk of that is small, he's always been super strong but he's been focusing a lot on the track, this is his 'comeback year' to road racing.
Granted, this result is pretty crazy.
Deschanel2017@lemmings.world · 1 pts · 326d
Down to 2 Pedersens, the major one is ill. (And so am I).
EvilCartyen@feddit.dk · 2 pts · 324d
Hope you're feeling better today!
Deschanel2017@lemmings.world · 1 pts · 324d
Nope. Most likely the coronavirus epidemic which has been developing in France for a few weeks, and probably affects several riders too (even though they always pretend otherwise).
You have fixed the pinned threads now, haven't you? (As they do not heed my repeated commands, they've looked alternatively pinned or unpinned for a week or so 😀)
EvilCartyen@feddit.dk · 2 pts · 324d
The trick is to use a lemmy.world user, so when I remember (and I've been traveling) I log into lemmy.world in a browser and do it. I can't change them on this account either, something with federation I am afraid.
I hope you feel better soon!
Deschanel2017@lemmings.world · 1 pts · 324d
Yeah, the developers supposedly fixed it in 2024, but all 3 instances involved run 2025 versions, and it still doesn't work.
EvilCartyen@feddit.dk · 1 pts · 324d
That's software fixes for you! Or maybe rather lack of testing in production scenarios, which is to be accepted I guess.
Deschanel2017@lemmings.world · 1 pts · 328d
ITT: Strong headwind on the last third of the course. If so, there is probably some on the second third too, according to the map.
Deschanel2017@lemmings.world · 1 pts · 328d
Just after. He and Evenepoel were on the same picture at the intermediate line.
Deschanel2017@lemmings.world · 1 pts · 325d
Women's race
It wasn't a brilliant race. A single true attack in the whole race, the one by Vollering in the second part of the main climb. Nothing else at any place in the course or any level of the race. I hope the Men's race can be better, even if Pogatchar pogatchars the race. There usually are attacks in the same places on the Boucles de l'Ardèche.
Did the Italian rider have (correct) information? She should quickly have waited for the chase group instead of killing herself alone so much that she could even follow that group for 10 seconds when it caught her up.
Another fiasco for France, considering the shape Labous had shown. Present at the front of the peloton in the first part of race when it didn't matter, they worried me as soon as the first little climb (can't remember whether it was the tiny climb in the housing development or in the first Val d'Enfer): near the top, only one of them could be seen in the first 2 or 3 rows, the rest had gone backwards, despite the fact that there was no attack at all, and no true acceleration. Then when Vollering attacked, not a single Frenchwoman was present in the group of 4 which left with Vollering, nor were they among the first chasers (I think they were a Spaniard and a German).
The TV direction in the last 2 kilometres was abysmal (despite being more or less OK until then), only showing Vollering, before the line, after the line, in every which way, instead of showing us the following 2 groups (which had camera motorbikes on them!). So we couldn't understand Van der Breggen's attitude in the last 300 m, not why she appeared there in first position, before the Polish rider. And in the following group, were there attacks, by Garcia for example; was Labous dropped again at some points or did she stick easily to the group when it was flat? Who knows?
Deschanel2017@lemmings.world · 1 pts · 324d
Men's race
Official startlist PDF, which doesn't seem to have been updated with Pedersen's cancellation for example
It may simply mean that Pedersen wasn't replaced.
Anyway, that's a small peloton of only 100 riders.
Deschanel2017@lemmings.world · 1 pts · 324d
Despite the main result being as expected and decided early, we were given much more action today than on the women race.
And we probably only saw half of it, 'thanks' to the TV direction. Camera motorcycles did their work rather fine, covering as many first groups as there were camera motorcycles, even if after Evenepoel dropped the 3 guys sucking his wheel, one of the first two camera bikes could have shifted backwards, so that one other camera bike could stay with the group pulled by several French riders, from which Skjelmose and Skujins attacked. The use of the helicopter was so-so, but the main problem is that the TV direction never used the two fixed cameras of the finish line, to display a full situation at this fixed point.
Vingegaard was a victim of the first true acceleration by Belgium in the main climb; not in shape at all. So much for the expected match between him and Pogatchar.
On the French side.
The original idea must have been to stay cool as late as possible, hoping to stay with the two mutants in the bunch or to catch them up with domestiques, in order to bring Grégoire to the foot of the last climbs.
But after Grégoire fell in the first downhill, and his faculties were assessed, I believe the plan was changed. Hence, Sivakov attacking in the main climb, causing the first breaks and revealing the top lads. Belgium/Evenepoel's overconfidence did the rest: the race would not be decided late.
Seixas became France new leader by catching up with them first. And again by being the third man when Pogatchar attacked for real. And of course finally by getting the bronze medal, by dropping Ayuso and the Italian sticking plaster Scaroni in the final Val d'Enfer and the tiny climb in the descent just after.
The orders he got, not to relay at some point, caused the loss of his group. But it's not like the result would have been different : they couldn't any more catch up with Pogatchar, as to stay together they couldn't climb too fast, and Evenepoel was going to drop them anyway at some point (anywhere) as once the main climb wasn't to be climbed again, he was stronger than the 3 others on all terrains.
The French teammates pulling (for Grégoire ?) in the group behind could have turned dangerous for Seixas, as they didn't let the gap grow, only to get dropped by Skjelmose and Skujins later! It is lucky that even with a mediocre agreement within Seixas group, there was always someone pulling a bit.
Congratulations to Mats Wenzel (Luxembourg / Kern Pharma) who is the last finisher, 17^th^, alone several minutes behind the 16^th^, while all other riders behind were stopped by commissars.
Deschanel2017@lemmings.world · 1 pts · 329d
Selection for France 🇫🇷
Men
B. Armirail (Décathlon) and R. Cavagna (FDJ) for the ITT.
The same + Thibault Guernalec (Arkéa) for the mixed relay.
For the mass start race:
remark:
Women
C. Kerbaol (EF) and J. Labous (FDJ) for the ITT.
The same + M. Borras (Cofidis) for the mixed relay.
For the mass start race:
P. Ferrand-Prévot (Visma)illM. Squiban (UAE)illremark:
Deschanel2017@lemmings.world · 1 pts · 328d
Ferrand-Prévost and Squiban are ill and shall not compete.
I had forgotten J. Labous on my list. She will certainly be the unique leader then.
EvilCartyen@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 201d
Deschanel2017@lemmings.world · 1 pts · 326d
Short summary of U23 Women race on Youtube
Short summary of Junior Women race on Youtube