Category: Tour de France
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Yellow jersey contenders in 2014
Who’s going to win this year’s Tour de France? Probably one of these guys and most likely one of the first two. But plenty can happen over the course of a Grand Tour. Just think what you were doing three weeks ago. Okay, it was probably much the same, but you almost certainly aren’t operating…
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Green jersey contenders in 2014
Last year, I named just three contenders for the green jersey – awarded to the winner of the points competition. Peter Sagan, Mark Cavendish and André Greipel promptly finished first, second and third respectively. This year there’s a bit more uncertainty and I’m going to give you six names. The first three are out-and-out sprinters.…
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Team Sky are not British
They are in one sense, in that they have their roots in British Cycling and have their main base at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester. But in a more meaningful sense – from my perspective – they’re not, because they have fewer and fewer British cyclists. The Britishness increasingly seems like a branding exercise.…
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2014 Tour de France stage two profile
Just to let you know that my stage two preview now includes links to the profile. I mention this largely because it’s funny to see the Franglais. Highlights include: Cote de Blubberhouses Cote de Holme Moss Cote de Jenkin Road I love a stage profile at the best of times, but this is one of…
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Wiggins, Froome and Grand Tour fitness
You can ride hard one day and then feel good enough to ride hard again the next day or you can ride hard one day and then need to spend the next day on the sofa drinking tea, eating sandwiches and moaning like one of the undead each time you get up. That’s Bradley Wiggins’…
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The Schlecks are riding the Tour de France
The Trek Factory Racing team have announced that both The Schlecks (Frank) and The Schlecks (Andy) will be riding the Tour this year. As far as I can tell, the reasoning seems to be ‘because we haven’t really got anybody else’. Frank’s selection is fair enough. He has shown mediocre form all season long and…
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Alberto Contador’s team for the Tour de France
Yesterday, I wrote that Alberto Contador was devoid of team-mates for most of the final stage of the Dauphiné and so Pierre wrote to ask: “Were they all just knackered from the previous day’s efforts or are they just going to be shit at the Tour de France?” The short answer is that Contador was…
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The biggest names in the Dolphin
With respect to the bairns of this year’s Giro, it wasn’t the most stellar field. Nairo Quintana is a big name, but once Joaquim Rodriguez had pulled out, he was racing against riders we were all fairly certain were inferior. You can quibble with that and point to Rigoberto Uran, but I’d say he merely…
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Some of the key stages of the 2014 Tour de France
I’ve tried to work out which stages of this year’s Tour are likely to shape the general classification narrative. I say ‘narrative’ because while a later mountain stage might have a greater impact on the race as a whole, a few seconds snatched early on seem a lot more significant. Maybe it’s just the way…
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The Yorkshire Tour de France climbs – a stage two preview
Stage two: York to Sheffield, 198km – Sunday, July 6 (stage profile) Britain. Proper Britain. This isn’t some half-arsed parade into the centre of London, but proper, harrowing, British cycling. Stage two of the 2014 Tour de France starts in Yorkshire and passes through the Peak District. It’s also long. Don’t be deceived by the…