All the focus on Astana this week has obviously been Mark Cavendish’s stage win. Yet what next? Cavendish is surely going to retire now, up to him to pick the moment.

The team goes on, or does it? Both both cyclingnews.com and L’Equipe have published items saying the squad is going to be taken over by XDS, a Chinese bike manufacturer keen to promote its X-Lab brand. This raises plenty of questions and some have to get answered quickly because the clock is ticking if a new owner wants to take over the team.

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The gravel stage with 14 off-road sectors spaced throughout the course. There are two races today, one to win the stage and the other to avoid losing time.

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Life in The Peloton by Mitchell Docker and Tom Southam

Want to terrify a neo-pro set to join the World Tour straight out of the junior ranks? Don’t warn them of the difficulty they’ll have on the climbs against Pogačar or having to rub shoulders with Van Aert on the farm tracks of Flanders. That’s what they’re looking forward to. No, ask them if they know how to collect a full musette while riding at 40km/h, or preferably two in case their team leader wants extra and remind them they need to master this otherwise they might be the guy who wipes out on first contact with a cotton bag, taking down Van der Poel in an early season race and being roasted alive on social media.

There’s a lot to master for neo-pros and Docker’s book is a manual for newcomers making their way in the peloton. This could mean a niche readership even if they’d do well to read it but reading the advice and anecdotes is of wider interest as it touches on tactics and other skills that sofa spectators can enjoy.

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A sprint stage? Probably but this is a deceptively hard stage with plenty of climbs throughout so if there’s a sprint it’s for a different cast of characters.

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A short time trial and significant day for the GC that will tell us plenty about the form of the contenders.

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Want to run the Tour de France? There’s no vacancy today but it’s starting to be talked about.

A front seat at the Tour de France, limitless food and wine, it sounds tempting…

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Another sprint stage but with the possibility of crosswinds later.

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Out of the Alps for a sprint stage and a tonal change as the race leaves the mountains for a week.

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Money makes the wheels go around and every pro team is reliant on funding from its title sponsors who can easily supply 90% of the income needed to keep the squads on the road. But do you want some Wanty, do you know what Visma does and do you know the connection between Cofidis and Arkéa?

There are 22 teams in the Tour de France with a variety of sponsors from household goods to governments. Here’s a quick explainer of what they all do, presented in the start list order…

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Stage 4 and its into the Alps… and over them with the mighty Galibier.

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