Unzué comments on 2020 Tour de France route

Reaction from Paris

Movistar Team general manager reacts to route unveiled by ASO on Tuesday at their traditional event held in Paris' Palais des Congrès.

“To be honest, I don’t remember a single Tour de France which was held on roads from the Massif Central to the southern border for 85% of its length, and neither a route with so many different mountains all over the entire three weeks of racing, leaving such small room for the sprinters. It looks like, with those tough opening nine stages, we could well reach the first rest day with a clear picture of the final result. Obviously, it’s a route which will be applauded by the climbers, especially those able to do well on time trials, such as Thomas, Froome, Bernal, Dumoulin or Roglic amongst many others.

“It’s a really difficult Tour, at all levels. It’s a huge gamble on routes that really make the riders suffer, a mixture of mid-mountain stages and those with really long climbs, and it also features many climbs never used in the Tour or any other big race. It really shows that the organisers have made a big effort to leave their classic ingredients behind, staying away from that they’ve used for previous routes. Personally, we can’t feel sad about what we’ve seen here in Paris, and of course, it seems really difficult for anyone who’s not an excellent climber to get onto the podium in Paris.“