Here’s a look at the contenders for the biggest prize in pro cycling, the maillot jaune in Paris. Chris Froome returns once again but this time his rivals will hope to profit from fresher legs and the toughest route in years. With luck the predictions below will be totally wrong.
Here are ten riders to follow this year. They’re not picked as ten of the best who are forecast to top the rankings, more that some could go onto great things and others have different challenges.
Chris Froome and Ritchie Porte are the top picks. Spend too long watching them and someone else will ride away, just as we saw in the recent Critérium du Dauphiné when Astana set up Jacob Fuglsang for the win. With a varied route ahead it’ll be as interesting to see how the win happens as well as who stands atop the podium in Paris.
With enough unknowns to keep Heisenberg, Socrates and Karl Popper guessing here’s a closer look at the contenders and pretenders for the podium in Paris.
The last metres of the last stage. Jacob Fuglsang has attacked on the final climb, dropped Daniel Martin and the stage win is his. Behind Richie Porte has been chasing alone for the best part of 35km to defend his yellow jersey, first from an attack by Fabio Aru and Alejandro Valverde, then to contain Chris Froome and finally to try and prevent Fuglsang. But the Dane won the stage, took the time bonus and with it the overall classification.
The Critérium du Dauphiné starts on Sunday 4 June and lasts for a week. A concentrated version of the Tour de France including some roads ahead of July as well as an A-list of Tour de France contenders in action. Here’s a look at the contenders for the yellow jersey.
Richie Porte wants to ride the Tour de France and Olympics. “I didn’t leave Team Sky for BMC just to target the Giro d’Italia” he tells cyclingnews.com. This has always been the plan and it seems the idea is to keep Tejay van Garderen on his toes, to provide internal competition for him as well as one of the most well-funded teams in the sport simply being able to buy a strong leader like this. Rohan Dennis has to fit into this too.
Tirreno-Adriatico’s got the star factor with the “fantastic four” of Alberto Contador, Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali and Nairo Quintana leading the charge in Italy. The focus on four is obvious but the field is deeper with Joaquim Rodriguez, Rigoberto Uran and Thibaut Pinot who have all have stood on the podium of a grand tour.
All this makes Paris-Nice look secondary, two races equal in UCI label alone. Yet everyone wins as we get to see a rare clash in Italy before riders reconvene for the Tour de France while Paris-Nice offers a sweep of riders the chance to finally win the major stage race they need. If Froome or Contador rode to Nice the result could be just another line on an already long palmarès but for the likes of Tejay van Garderen, Andrew Talansky and Wilco Kelderman the yellow jersey in Nice is an important conquest.
Having looked at the other jerseys, now it’s time to assess the contenders for cycling’s ultimate prize, the yellow jersey and the overall win in the Tour de France.
Chris Froome is everyone’s pick and it’s easy to see why. But who are his rivals and how can he be beaten? Also the quantity of top-10 contenders stands out, promising a battle in the mountains.
Chris Froome rides to third place on Stage 4, a 32km time trial. The ride left him five seconds off the yellow jersey taken by the impressive Rohan Dennis but Froome well clear of his rivals for the overall, with 1.25 on Michael Rogers and then more on the likes of Dani Moreno and Alberto Contador. This was the moment the race was won.
Over the following days Froome won a stage, took the race lead, put time into his rivals and even helped team mate and friend Richie Porte secure second place overall. It was a mixed race with a variety of stages but an inevitable conclusion.
Stage 5 and the lead group is on the Montagne de Lure and just two kilometres from the finish. Andrew Talansky’s already put in two bold attacks. It’s audacious racing and useful too because the accelerations have dropped several riders, you can see a second group in the background of the picture. But it’s also fatal for Talansky’s overall lead because Richie Porte is taking a good look his power meter, at Talansky and the road ahead and will soon attack to finish 32 seconds clear and take the 10 second time bonus. Porte then followed this up with a powerful stage win on the Col d’Eze, extending his overall lead and leaving nobody in doubt as to who was the strongest rider of the week.
Here’s a look back at the race, including the arithmetic to show Talansky’s attacking didn’t lose the race, plus some lessons for the rest of the year, from the classics to the Tour de France.