The Tour returns to French soil. If the start town sounds familiar it’s because it’s on the route of April’s Paris-Roubaix race, in fact it’s where they make the winner’s cobblestone trophy. But the Tour will stay on smooth tarmac all day – the first day of this year’s race without pavé.
Instead the difficulty comes from the climbs at the end. They might look small on the profile but they are a strength sap and a tactical trap.
With his win today in Tournai Mark Cavendish’s total of Tour de France stage wins stands at 21 stage wins, placing him in sixth place on the all time list of Tour stage winners. This puts him above übersprinter Freddy Maertens and now only one win away from André Darrigade, the French sprinter who took 22 stage wins from 14 Tour de France appearances.
A fast sweep across Belgium. In recent years the near-certainty of victory by Mark Cavendish would make this kind of stage almost dull to watch, even if this is testimony to Cavendish’s peerless sprinting. This year however it’s different, a sprint is still likely, “Cav” could win but there are many more sprinters who can challenge.
Today’s stage is a big loop to the south of Liège before it returns to Seraing, a suburb of Liège. It avoids some of the infamous climbs in the area but the race doesn’t need them to make the race come alive.
This is the opening stage of the Tour de France and there are several races on at once, from survival to the chance to take one of the leader’s jerseys.
That’s the youtube version of the advert showing on French TV for Accor Hotels, the French hotel operator. The company is a co-sponsor of the Europcar team and they’ve linked the team with their ad campaign. Hopefully the production didn’t cost much.
Liège should make you think of hills given it is host to the oldest classic on the calendar, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and its monts. But today’s prologue course is flat and for the time trial specialists.
Every day at 9.00am you will find a preview of the day’s stage with up-to-date information on the route, riders and more. In the first of a daily preview of each stage, let’s take a look at the route, the riders and plenty more.
With the official start list available, the 22 teams of the the Tour de France are now confirmed. Here’s the list of each squad with info on the sponsors, bikes and some thoughts on what they might do in the race.
For one of the biggest sporting events in the world the prize list is surprisingly modest. A total of €2,022,900 in prizes will be paid out and teams also share a pot of over one million Euros in expenses.
The amount is unchanged from last year. So thanks to inflation it is worth less and for non-European riders the Euro has fallen 20% against the US dollar since last summer. Not that anyone is counting, the ultimate prize is standing on the podium in Paris. Here is a breakdown of the Tour de France prize list.
Luxembourg’s Le Quotidien has a good piece on how to beat Wiggins, asking several team managers for their suggestions
Whilst Wiggins is the great favourite for the race I think the next three weeks can bring plenty of surprises. But let’s run with the idea that Wiggins is the rider to beat, here are the suggestions from the team managers plus some extra ideas.
You can now download summary details of the Tour de France for your electronic diary on a phone or computer: inrngTourDeFranceCalendar.ics.