"The obsession with elevation gain is worrying" – French Tour stage winner questions increasingly challenging parcours of his home Grand Tour

French rider Anthony Turgis has voiced unease at what he calls cycling’s “obsession with elevation gain”, arguing that the increasingly mountainous nature of the Tour de France risks alienating classics specialists and all-rounders.

Speaking to Cyclism’Actu following the official route reveal for the 2026 Tour, Turgis, himself a stage winner at his home Grand Tour in 2024, admitted that while the race’s design may thrill the climbers, it leaves riders of his profile with fewer realistic chances to shine.

“The Tour de France will once again be extremely demanding,” Turgis said. “The obsession with elevation gain is worrying for riders like me. The double ascent of Alpe d’Huez from both sides illustrates this perfectly.”

The 2026 edition of the race, unveiled in Paris this week, will feature an unprecedented double finish on Alpe d’Huez – first via the Col de Sarenne, then the following day on the legendary 21 hairpins themselves. Across its 21 stages, the men’s Tour will include more than 54,000 metres of climbing, the highest figure in recent memory.

After a Grand Départ in Barcelona featuring a team time trial, the route threads north through the Pyrenees and central France before concluding with those back-to-back Alpine blockbusters and a technical Montmartre finale in Paris. It’s a route seemingly built for the all-conquering Tadej Pogacar, whose UAE Team Emirates - XRG will once again start as overwhelming favourites for both the general classification and the mountain stages.

That, says Turgis, means the remaining riders must target smaller opportunities. “The key in the mountain stages is to make it through within the time limit, without burning too many matches, so that I can be at my best on terrain that suits me,” he explained. “A Tour de France in the North, with its plains and undulating roads, would be ideal.”

Turgis, who memorably won stage nine of the 2024 Tour de France, pointed out that the dominance of the GC favourites can open the door for outsiders on transitional or sprint-friendly days.

“Pogacar and his team are focused on the GC and mountain stages,” he noted. “As a result, we have more freedom on the flat stages. My victory last year showed that perfectly. If I want to raise my arms in celebration again, I’ll have to prepare as best I can.”

The TotalEnergies rider also reflected on the growing parity between men’s and women’s racing, noting that the Tour de France Femmes route – which in 2026 includes a Grand Départ in Lausanne and the first-ever ascent of Mont Ventoux – mirrors the rising standard of the women’s peloton. “The women’s Tour is also very tough,” he concluded. “We’re seeing levels becoming more even, with more races and higher stakes.”

Turgis’ comments echo a wider debate within the sport: whether the Tour’s evolution towards extreme altitude and vertical metres risks undermining its historical balance. With the 2026 edition now confirmed as one of the most mountainous in modern history, the conversation around what kind of rider the Tour de France truly rewards is unlikely to fade any time soon.