'Remco Evenepoel will be rightfully disappointed': Ned Boulting's take on the route of the Tour de France 2026

With little opportunity for other riders to take the fight to Tadej Pogačar, as well as two ascents of a least favourite climb, "underwhelmed" is the first word Ned Boulting uses to describe his feelings about the route of the Tour de France 2026.

The broadcaster is preparing to shadow the race – and the Tour de France Femmes – next year with his former ITV co-presenters David Millar and Pete Kennaugh, as well as Lizzie Deignan, on their Never Strays Far podcast.

Boulting was impressed with the way the men's race was bookended, he said, welcoming the addition of new team time trial rules on stage one, and the inclusion of the Montmartre circuit in Paris – plus its longer stretch to the finish line.

But he lamented the lack of 'jeopardy' stages and the lack of a flat time trial that might give riders such as Remco Evenepoel any hope of taking on Pogačar.

Speaking about the 26km ITT on stage 16 – which is the only individual time trial and one dominated by the 9.7km, 4.3% climb over the Cote de Larringes – Boulting said: "It sounds really counter-intuitive, after years of railing against exactly this," he said, "but I now yearn for the time when you had a sort of 50, 60-kilometre flat individual time trial.

"And I think Remco Evenepoel will be rightfully pretty disappointed that he hasn't been thrown an incentive to come to the Tour de France and ride for the victory, because the sort of rider who's going to thrive on that individual time trial is called Tadej, and Pogačar.

"I mean, it does look like a course that, even if he turns up half-fit, he can't lose," he surmised.

2024's gravel stage around Troyes was one of the most spectacular stages of the race, but there is no repeat of the rough stuff and no obvious crosswind stages either Boulting notes.

"There's no cobblestones, no obvious crosswind stages, and no gravel. That's three things that we've grown accustomed to over the last 15 years," he says. "They have denuded this year, and that feels a little bit disappointing as well."

Of Alpe d'Huez, he adds: "I understand it's central to the way that the Tour de France markets itself to the world, but it doesn't necessarily produce great racing. And I sometimes think it shows the race off at its worst. To do it twice seems a bit much."

Two ascents of the mountain are featured, one on stages 19 and 20. The first time up is the standard climb, coming at the end of a short 128km day; while the second uses the Col de Sarenne to leapfrog almost to the top of the climb before turning onto the road already familiar to many of us.

While, he's no fan of Alpe d'Huez per se, Boulting reckons the brevity of stage 19 could make for some exciting race, while the brutal route of stage 20, which includes the Croix de Fer and Galibier, as well as an interesting approach to Alpe d'Huez, could be interesting.

"It's the fact it's not just this 13-kilometre climb," he says. "You've got a little right-hand turn that brings you on to the last few kilometres of the climb [of Alpe d'Huez]. But you've got a descent before that, and a bit of a plateau. And before that the Sarenne climb, which itself isn't hard once you've been over the Galibier. So it's just, it's more interesting. And if, if a small group gets over the Galibier together, then we've got a really good battle on our hands, potentially for the stage win."

Of the good bits, Boulting praises the Barcelona Grand Départ and the new team time trial rules, which see rider times taken individually rather than on the fifth rider.

"I think the rule change adds an extra layer of interest, because there's no one set way in which teams will play their cards," he says. "You know, there's a slight nuance in it."

And of the repeat visit to Montmartre, copying last year's 'special' Paris finish to celebrate 50 years of finishes on the Champs-Elysées, Boulting adds: This time last year, I was bemoaning the change from the traditional Champs-Elysées circuit. And I hold my hands up, I was completely wrong. I thought the Montmartre circuit worked brilliantly last summer. And I'm not surprised that they've included it again.

"I'm pleased that they've altered it slightly just to put it slightly back in the balance as to whether or not a sprinter could win it," he adds, alluding to the extra Champs-Elysées circuit thrown in after the final Montmartre climb this year.

In lieu of the ITV coverage he has been a part of for more than 20 years and which will be much missed next year, Boulting and his team will be following the Tour instead with their Never Strays Far this summer, producing what he terms "Tour-adjacent chat" – all live, it should be noted.

"What we're going to do, and this is the fascination of it," he enthuses, "is we might go to the odd stage start potentially, or kilometre zero, but we're not going to go near any of the finish lines.

"Every stage, we're going to set up somewhere interesting, somewhere relatively unknown, somewhere slightly low-key and somewhere very authentic in the middle of each course that perhaps has a little bit of interesting culture or history associated around it, and where the mayor will welcome us into the local village square and feed us with champagne and local produce."

"And we'll do these live broadcasts every race day, which are not commentary, but they are Tour de France adjacent chat. Let's put it that way."