Tour de France on TV

Category: Tour de France

  • Rohan Dennis almost five per cent of the way to being a Grand Tour contender

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    Alex
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    The rider called Rohan (Dennis) won the opening time trial at this year’s Tour and so earned himself a yellow item of clothing for at least a day. At an average speed of 55.4kph it was the fastest individual time trial ever, pipping Chris Boardman’s 1994 prologue effort. A hot day and a relatively short…

  • Yellow jersey contenders in 2015

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    Alex
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    This year, the Tour de France delivers what it’s supposed to. All the various riders who have been off doing their own thing for the last couple of years all come together to face one another. Even better, there’s no one outstanding contender. Rather, there are four riders each of whom would normally expect to…

  • Which are the key stages in the 2015 Tour de France?

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    Alex
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    I normally pick out a few key stages – and you’ll see plenty of other websites and newspapers doing the same thing – but this year I’m not bothering. It’s not laziness (it is partly laziness). It’s acknowledgement of the fact that every stage is crucial. Last year, riders crashed on the most innocuous stages…

  • Green jersey contenders in 2015

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    Alex
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    The green jersey is awarded to the winner of the points competition. It’s been slightly tweaked this year to reward those who win sprint finishes in particular. It was widely believed that this would play into the hands of Marcel Kittel, who appears to have become the top sprinter over the last couple of years.…

  • Why time bonuses in the 2015 Tour de France really will matter

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    Alex
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    Or as Sean Kelly will always insist on calling them – bonifications. In the first week of the 2015 Tour, the first three riders across the line will earn 10, 6 and 4 seconds. Does this matter? Well, yes, it does. Or at least it does if you think that merely wearing the yellow jersey…

  • What will the changes to the 2015 Tour de France points competition mean?

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    Alex
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    I promised you a look at the changes to the Tour de France points competition. As promises go, it’s perhaps one you wouldn’t mind seeing broken. It’s maybe not in ‘I promise to break your kneecaps’ territory, but it would surely run ‘I promise to make something healthy for tea – maybe I’ll use up…

  • Chris Froome reveals that the sun will rise in the morning

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    Alex
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    I should probably react to the long-since-broken news that Chris Froome will be riding the Tour de France in 2015. Maybe if it wasn’t so blindingly obvious that was going to happen, I might actually have something to say. Froome had previously floated the possibility that he might ride the Vuelta and the Giro and…

  • The 2015 Tour de France route – who does it suit?

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    Alex
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    Former winner, Pedro Delgado, has called next year’s Grande Boucle ‘an anti-Froome Tour’. Chris Froome himself has gone all stroppy and said that he might not ride it and might try for a Giro-Vuelta double instead. What’s going on? Time trial kilometres The main thing that stands out when you look at next year’s Tour…

  • Best of the 2014 Tour de France

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    Alex
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    As I said when I did the same thing last year, everyone loves a ‘best of’. Best viewing option – mute What is it about cycling that attracts such mediocre commentary? Sean Kelly’s emotionless analysis on Eurosport is usually interesting and informative, but while his partner, Carlton Kirby, can have his moments, when he starts…

  • How did Vincenzo Nibali win the 2014 Tour de France?

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    Alex
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    Last year, I looked at where Chris Froome gained time on his rivals in a bid to explain how he came to win the Tour. That’s not really so necessary this year because the result was so much more clear-cut. Vincenzo Nibali gained time on pretty much everyone, pretty much every chance he got. These…