PARADISE POSTPONED: No Tour in the Tarentaise (again)

There are loads of good things about the 2016 Tour de France route:

• The opening days in La Manche will be beautiful - weather permitting
• The stage finish at the obscure Massif Central ski resort that is Le Lioran
• A more imaginative few days in the Pyrenees.  No Plateau de Beille. Hurrah!
• Mont Ventoux, itself an unlikely ski resort
• The excursion into Switzerland
• The three-week caravan follows a nice arc, Normandy to the Alps, with no long transfers (until the final day)

The only sad point is that (yet again) there is no racing in the Tarentaise.  Unless you count the stage start in Albertville.  Bourg St Maurice, Les Arcs, La Rosiere and Tignes can all claim some Tour heritage.  But it's been some time since the race went beyond Moutiers.  At least we haven't lost out to our friends in the Maurienne, which has been the usual scenario in recent years.  Roll on, 2017.....

The Miguel Indurain era ended
on the road to Les Arcs, 1986