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All sponsors get a note of thanks and it’s time to show some gratitude to Prendas Ciclismo for their support over the last month and beyond. Their ad has been here since the Vuelta a España, back in those days when Tom Dumoulin was seen as a time trial specialist.

Loyal readers will know the British bike shop already as they’ve had ads here before and sell the INRNG caps, armwarmers and jerseys.

If Prendas are new to you they specialise in clothing and have a range of stock including vintage and retro items including the GS Carpano jersey, as worn by Fausto Coppi and perhaps the inspiration for today’s MTN-Qhubeka jersey?

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Etixx-Quickstep have unveiled Lidl as a new sponsor for 2016, the German discount retailer’s commitment isn’t known yet but is expected to appear on the kit as a partner but the team’s name won’t change. It steps in just as construction materials group Renson pulls out after switching its allegiance to Giant-Alpecin for 2016.

In the other direction to Renson could be Marcel Kittel. Today brings news in Het Nieuwsblad that Marcel Kittel could move from Giant-Alpecin to Etixx-Quickstep, buying himself out of his contract to make the switch however cyclingtips cools things a bit.

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Tim Wellens won the Eneco Tour, repeating his victory from 2014. A talented rider he’s yet to have success elsewhere. Some riders seem particularly suited or lucky in some races. Think Rui Costa in the Tour de Suisse and Michael Albasini in the Tour de Romandie, or for that speciality niche, Jimmy Engoulvent and his four wins in the Tour of Luxembourg prologue.

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Peloton, soigneur, bidon. The lexicon of pro cycling has many French words and stagiaire, French for “intern”, is the topic du jour. It refers to riders who join a pro team on a trial basis from 1 August to the end of the season.

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Loyal readers will know all site sponsors get a public message of thanks and here is the thanks to Trek for their sponsorship of the site this month. If you’re enjoying the daily previews then support from sponsors helps it happen.

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Chris Froome won the Dauphiné, Alberto Contador and Nairo Quintana marked each other up the Port de Balès which leaves Vincenzo Nibali as the big name with questions over his form. He was thereabouts in the Dauphiné but his epic ride to Villard de Lans confirmed his audacity and not his form. When it came to combating gravity he lost a lot more time on the Alpine climbs than he did last year. Today’s Italian championships make a good test with the uphill finish to the Superga outside Turin, 5km at 9% and more famous to cyclists as the tough finish of the late season Milano-Torino race and to others of a grizzly air accident.

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It’s been a great season so far with plenty of lively races supplying action, sport and drama. But what makes the perfect race for viewers? There seem to be several ingredients ranging from a tight contest to a satisfactory winner.

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The stage we’ve all been waiting for. The race heads for the mountains and the Col d’Allos before the Pra Loup summit finish, a copy of Stage 17 of next month’s Tour de France. A hard day but an introduction to the mountains as Saturday stage is harder.

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10 days to go. Just as there’s a season-long calendar of all the major men’s and women’s races to download, here’s the stage by stage Giro ical for your phone or electronic diary ahead of this Saturday’s grande partenza in Sanremo.

The calendar file has proved surprisingly popular for each grand tour. It lists each stage along with the distance and a stellar rating. The Giro awards stars to each stage to indicate the difficulty or importance, from one to five stars for the biggest days.

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