Tom Sherman writes:

Tim McNamara wrote:
Pat writes:

How would a recumbent handle the Tour?

You mean, if the UCI rules permitted the use of recumbents?

They'd like have some advantage on flat breakaways and time trials,
but the disadvantages in sprinting and climbing would scupper them
compared to regular bikes.

Would the upright sprinter ever catch the recumbent breakaway so as
to be able to use their greater [1] sprinting power?

The sprinters don't always catch the breakaway on upright bikes, as we
saw several times on this Tour. So there is no way to answer that
question.