The Art of The Jersey by Andy Storey
Pro cycling requires a working bicycle and once that’s taken care of surely the jersey is the next most important thing? When people think of the Tour de France many associate it with the yellow jersey, a genuine icon. More than a textile the jersey has become a shop window to display the sponsors who make the wheels turn around and once you look over time the jersey chronicles design, consumerism and technology.
Who’s going to win the Tour de France? This is sometimes the central question to the season. We view so many races as contests through yellow-tinted lenses and in turn no sooner does a rider thrive during a one week stage race than they’re projected as agrand tour contender. One regular question is why don’t some riders aim for week long stage races instead of charging headlong into inevitable defeat in a grand tour? Is there room for week-long specialists?
Chris Froome attacks in the final kilometres of Stage 5 as the road climbs to the Vaujany ski station. After biding his time on the ascent he attacked and only Richie Porte could follow. This was the moment the race was won.
The final stage sees the race end with a tricky mountain stage packed with technical descents – La Rochette might ring a bell – and the unheralded but difficult climbs of the Col de Moissière and the Col du Noyer. Don’t miss the earlier finish time.
For the Romans all roads led to Rome. In cycling they lead to Paris and as the Tour de France looms large the peloton is congregating in the Alps for the Dauphiné and Tour de Suisse. Here’s a quick look at the route and the overall contenders for the win and more.
Another short stage, just 141km and crammed with 4,570 metres of vertical gain. Yesterday’s saw Chris Froome win the stage and yellow jersey meaning Team Sky will have to control the race today.
The race heads for the mountains and a hard ski station summit finish. Vaujany isn’t famous in cycling now a swank ski resort but it is a hard, selective climb and all this on an intense 140km stage.
This week has seen several comment pieces like the one in London’s The Guardian shown above (and here and here) saying the new Bahrain cycling team too controversial and unpleasant for the sport because of the multiple allegations claiming the team’s backer Prince Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, son of the the ruler King Fahd, tortured people. He denies this. Public statements like “Whoever calls for the fall of the regime, may a wall fall on his head” are a matter of record. With headlines like “UCI urged to halt Bahraini-bankrolled WorldTour team over rights abuses” can the team be stopped?
A stage promised for the sprinters and an uphill finish to test them and maybe invite some extra names into the contest.
A stage with a difficult climb towards the end, steeper and longer than the roadbook suggests and it should prove ruinous for many of the sprinters.