The Tour de France is upon us with a star-studded peloton set to contest cycling’s most prestigious prize.
For the first time, the four premier stage racers of this generation are set to battle at a grand tour, though questions surround each of Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel.
An intriguing route starting in Florence offers plenty of opportunities for the sprinters, too, even if there is no final-day dash down the Champs-Elysees due to preparations for the Paris Olympics.
A time-trial in Nice could instead prove a decisive denouement with the drama set to continue to the last across three weeks of racing.
Here, we pick out the five top contenders to win the yellow jersey, and five other riders to watch at the Tour:
Tadej Pogacar, UAE Team Emirates
The two-time champion arrives in Florence as the strong favourite to win again after a near-perfect season featuring wins at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Strade-Bianche, Volta a Catalunya and his first Giro d’Italia – the latter won with astonishing ease. The only question mark is whether his body can handle the stress of attempting to win the Giro-Tour double, a feat not accomplished for 25 years. But few are doubting Pogacar right now after such an imperious few months, and a third yellow jersey is in his sights.
Jonas Vingegaard, Visma-Lease a Bike
The last two summers have shown that not even Pogacar can match Vingegaard in full flow, but the defending champion arrives with major questions over his fitness and form. The Dane has not ridden competively since a horror crash at the Tour of the Basque Country in April and has said that anything beyond simply reaching the start line will be a “bonus”. A cagier character than arch-attacker Pogacar, it may be that Vingegaard is keeping his cards close to his chest but chances of a challenge seem slim. Losing Sepp Kuss, the best mountain domestique in the world and now a Grand Tour winner too, to Covid is another blow to Visma-Lease a Bike, with Wout van Aert also working his way back from injury.
Primoz Roglic, Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe
The defining image of Roglic’s time at the Tour so far is his ghostlike visage on La Planche des Belle Filles as a yellow jersey that seemed a certainty slipped away in 2020. Roglic has not finished the race since but will lead Bora-Hansgrohe this summer after an off-season switch out of Vingegaard’s shadow at Visma-Lease a Bike. If the Dane and Roglic’s compatriot Pogacar are on top form, completing the Grand Tour set may be beyond him, but Roglic has two useful mountain lieutenants in Jai Hindley and Aleksandr Vlasov at a team bolstered by backing from Red Bull. A win at the Criterium du Dauphine on return from injury was encouraging.
Remco Evenepoel, Soudal Quick-Step
The brilliant Belgian makes it a big four alongside Pogacar, Vingegaard and Roglic, and Evenepoel will add a different dimension to the yellow-jersey fight as he makes his long-awaited Tour de France debut. He is the time-trial world champion and that will prove handy in a race with two individual time-trials, including the unique finale in Nice, but does Evenepoel have enough climbing power in the mountains to stick with his rivals? The superiority of Roglic in last month’s Dauphine, in which Evenepoel won the time-trial but finished seventh overall, suggested he may not – the best young rider’s white jersey may be a more realistic target.
Carlos Rodriguez, Ineos Grenadiers
There are two Tour winners in Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas in the Ineos Grenadiers line-up, but Rodriguez is team leader after finishing fifth on debut last year. His relative lack of time trialling prowess will make challenging the lead quartet trickier, yet the Spaniard is a natural climbing talent, as he showed when beating Vingegaard and Pogacar on Stage 14 last year. The 23-year-old may well vie with Evenepoel for the white jersey and should have the edge over the Belgian in the high mountains.
And five more riders to watch...
Mark Cavendish, Astana Qazaqstan
The 39-year-old is riding what he says is his final Tour de France – although we have heard that before, of course. Will Cavendish finally win a historic 35th stage to eclipse Eddy Merckx’s long-standing Tour record? He is up against a stacked sprint field but there have been some promising signs this season, with two stage victories and a couple of near misses in an injury-free year, and the addition of his wise old lead-out man Michael Morkov to the Astana team this year is big boost.
Tom Pidcock, Ineos Grenadiers
The second series of Netflix’s Tour de France: Unchained hinted at dissension in the ranks at Ineos during last year’s Tour, with Pidcock shown to seemingly defy team orders. That portrayal has been summarily dismissed by the British rider, who will be afforded greater freedom this time around without having to worry about his general classification position. Ahead of a double gold medal bid on the way at the Olympics, Pidcock will instead pick and choose his moments but a demon descender and adroit bike handler will fancy his chances of a stage win or two.
Jasper Philipsen, Alpecin-Deceuninck
After winning four stages and the green jersey last year, Philipsen returns as the overwhelming favourite to dominate the points classification once more. Even in something of a down year he has still managed to pick up a handful of wins including the prestigious Milan-San Remo, and with Mathieu van der Poel dragging him into the finishing straight, Philipsen will certainly be the man to beat among the power riders in the peloton.
Derek Gee, Israel-Premier Tech
The surprise package of the Dauphine, a podium finish was evidence of Gee’s potential as he mixed it with the headline GC names at the traditional pre-Tour test. An avid twitcher, Gee could soar to new heights in an Israel-Premier Tech squad set to chase stages having left Chris Froome out of their selection. A top-ten finish may not be out of reach for the Canadian, who might also fancy a dabble in the fight for the polka dot jersey.
Lenny Martinez, Groupama-FDJ
The wait for a French winner will extend into a 40th year but in Martinez, the crowds might just have a new home hope to rally around. The dinky climber wore the red leader’s jersey at the Vuelta last year while barely out of his teens and has the capacity to challenge on steeper slopes. Teammate and fellow debutant Romain Gregoire may also be a threat on lumpier terrain when not supporting team leader David Gaudu.
The Tour de France begins on Saturday 29 June at 11am (BST). Coverage is on ITV4, S4C, Eurosport and Disney+
