For the last couple of days Team Sky have been wearing yellow helmets. A celebration of Chris Froome’s spell in yellow? No, they lead the team prize and the rules say they should wear yellow helmets and they get yellow race numbers.
The team prize is the least understood of the official classifications in the Tour de France but it can have a direct tactical influence on the race. With all that’s going on in the race this prize rarely gets any attention but it matters to some.
The hardest of the three stages in the Pyrenees with a saw-tooth profile. The stage is live on TV from start to finish.
The Tour de France tackles the hors catégorie Col du Tourmalet today for the 81st time. The race rates climbs with five labels, from 4th category for the easiest to 1st category and then HC for hors catégorie, “beyond categorisation”. A frequently asked question is how are these categories determined. Here’s the answer…
Some riders have complained about a hard start after the rest day, now who will have the energy after yesterday’s tough stage. We should get a fight to get in the breakaway and there’s a good chance the move sticks for a change.
Le jour sans. Sometimes a rider can have a day without good legs, today the Tour de France had a day where all the contenders seemed to fall off a mountain in one go. This evening the race appears to be settled after just one mountain climb, the equivalent of starting an Agatha Christie novel only to discover the identity of the murderer on page ten.
The first summit finish of the 2015 Tour de France and a brutal change in pace as the race switches from the plains to the mountains. After all the projection and speculation we’ll finally see what everyone has got as attitude makes way for altitude in the first of a Pyrenean trifecta.
Don’t miss the stage and its earlier than usual finish.
From Pau the Pyrenees sit on the horizon like ramparts of a distant fortress, the scene of battles to come. The opening week of the Tour de France has been dramatic and thrilling but in the race for the yellow jersey it’s merely been a qualification event.
0.62 seconds separated BMC Racing from Team Sky, nothing at all but a useful lesson in team work. The two teams were obvious picks for the day but such a close margin added some thrills to what could have been a boring procession of teams.
Cycling is an individual sport conducted with teams. Except today where it becomes a team sport and the best rider in the peloton is only as good as the fifth rider on their team. It crosses a subtle line.
A team time trial to shake up the first phase of the race before the rest day and the Pyrenees arrive. The “Big Four” all ride for big teams so the fight for the stage win and the GC align. Let’s see if a diminished Orica-Greenedge can still beat some full teams.