Paris-Tours 2020 Preview

By David Hunter

Chartres > Tours 213km

We head back to the gravel.

The route is almost identical to last year, which means QuickStep continue to act like babies and not attend the race. Nothing should happen until we reach the first sector after 160km.

The next 37km is rammed full of little climbs and off-road sectors. Remember, this is not Paris-Roubaix, it’s more like mountain biking. The hardest sectors all come after short climbs which put the riders into the red even before the have to tackle the gravel. One slight chance this year is the reduction in the Chançay sector, down from 2.1km to 900m, which certainly reduces the impact of that sector.

For me, the hardest sector is still the first one, Grosse Pierre, this is where Jelle Wallays launched his race winning move last year, despite it being around 50km from the finish. This is a race where being in front of the peloton isn’t a bad thing.

Luck

One of the reasons QuickStep don’t come here is the size of the stones in the sectors. It is almost inevitable that riders will get punctures, which turns this race into one where luck plays a massive part. You must have good legs, but you also need to have lady luck smiling down on you.

Weather

The wind can often rip this race apart, as the road south from Chartres is very exposed. This year the wind is coming from the north, which means a nice tailwind until near Tours. There is a short section from km 25 when the bunch head west, and we have a very exposed crosswind, but that only lasts for around 20km, and there’s still a long way to go in the day. Someone will probably split the bunch, but it should come back together.

Tactics

Good legs, luck, and teammates to help. This race isn’t one for clever tactics, the legs will do the talking.

Contenders

Søren Kragh Andersen – won here in 2018, tried a long-range attack last year, but his legs weren’t good enough. This year we’ve all seen just how strong he is, SKA starts this race as the overwhelming favourite. After winning two stages in the Tour de France, he went very close to also winning the Binck Bank Tour, he is flying just now. He knows what is required to win here, and he’ll be full of confidence. Their team is real mixed bag, as they have three youngsters, with some of the big names racing over in Belgium. However, don’t think they have a weak squad as Pedersen and Nieuwenhuis should be able to last deep into the day, which will be very important for SKA. All three have a fast sprint, which is ideal if the race ends in a reduced sprint.

Benoît Cosnefroy – current form is excellent, he finished second in Flèche and third in Brabantse Pijl. The Frenchman was third here back in 2018 when SKA won, you might remember he annoyed Niki Terpstra and had to endure the death stare at the finishing line. With such good legs, Cosnefroy will start the race as one of the big favourites, and he also has Romain Bardet to help. AG2R have a good team, but I’m not sure how many riders they’ll have to help Cosnefroy towards the end of the race.

Aimé De Gendt – this is his type of race. This season has been excellent for the Belgian, all that’s missing is a win. As a previous winner of the Antwerp Port Epic, he knows how to handle gravel roads. He was sixth here last year, which was a solid result, but he’ll be wanting better than that this year. He has the quality to win this race.

Quentin Pacher – he impressed me during the Tour and could surprise in this race. He won’t win, but a top 10 result would be good.

Valentin Madouas – the FDJ rider seems to have left the Tour with okay legs, but he’s not flying. FDJ normally like to control this race, but they don’t have the team to do that this year. Madouas was fifth in 2018, I think he’d be happy with that type of result this year.

Arkéa Samsic – they are desperate to score some world tour points, in the hope of getting back ahead of Alpecin-Fenix, but I’m confused by their squad. They arrive with Bouhanni, but this race doesn’t end in a sprint, maybe they’ve not noticed the route change in the last few years! Barguil is also here, and he seems in good form, but it’s not really the race for him.

Prediction Time

Sunweb will have the cards in the finale of the race, they should have three of the strongest riders, as long as they don’t puncture. This will make life difficult for De Gendt and Cosnefroy, but it’s still possible for them to win. I’ll stick my neck on the line and go with Aimé De Gendt, this is a great race for him, but he needs to go early and put pressure on Sunweb. If it gets tactical towards the end, keep your eye on Pedersen and Nieuwenhuis.

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