The Swiss race is considered as a strong reference marker in deciding which rider goes on to win the Tour, with three of the last five winners lifting the title in Paris – Cadel Evans (2011), Bradley Wiggins (2012) and Froome (2013).
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The 26-year-old Frenchman is considered his country’s leading hope to end their miserable 31-year yellow jersey drought.
“I have trained to be able to respond to those strong attacks we see from Chris Froome”, Quintana said through a translator. And, like every year, the contestants dream of many things: winning on the Alps and Pyrenees, wearing the yellow jersey, and riding down the Champs-Elysees.
But the Colombian, who insisted that riders besides Froome and Contador could emerge as rivals, welcomed the mountainous route, underlining that he has “a powerful team, with plenty of good rouleurs plus talented climbers”, including Valverde, third a year ago.
Chris Froome is banking on a delayed start to his Tour de France preparations to help him win the yellow jersey and keep him in shape for a tilt at Olympic gold later this summer. There weren’t many straight finishes previous year, they were all technical.
‘I’ve been delaying reaching peak form, ‘ Froome said. “I know I have a great physical condition”. So hopefully I haven’t forgotten my good legs in Switzerland.
There is potential for further crosswinds on Saturday’s opening stage from Mont St Michel to Utah Beach, and Quintana admitted it was a concern. This enormous reputation makes Tinkoff’s terminator one to watch in terms of the points classification, and perhaps in terms of stage wins, with stage two featuring a kick that will suit puncheurs such as Sagan, giving him the flawless opportunity to end his drought.
Careful of maintaining a sense of suspense until the very end of the race, Tour organizers have chiseled a well-balanced route with many opportunities for Froome’s main rivals, Nairo Quintana, Alberto Contador, and Fabio Aru, as well as the French duo of Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet.
Adam Yates is really coming of age and I think he’ll probably beat Warren Barguil for the young riders jersey.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of Saturday’s first stage in Normandy, Porte said: “Off the bike we’re still friends, but on the bike it’s important to say we’re rivals”. The time lost there by Quintana, 90 seconds, arguably cost him the Tour, which he lost to Froome by 62. Many sporting icons have made their mark at the tour while many others have been brought to their knees. I have gained a lot of maturity and tranquility and I got a solid team.
Quintana has firmly established himself as a Grand Tour contender in recent years with strong performances in all three races – the Colombian winning the 2014 Giro d’Italia.
Adam Yates although, not Australian, rides for Orica GreenEDGE and is a good chance of a top 10 while Adam Hansen will continue to create history by lining up in his 15th straight grand tour.
Having two leaders can often backfire on teams as it leads to internal divisions over tactics, but Porte – excited as he is to be free of domestique duties – insists he is relaxed about it.
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Should the race go down to the wire, Stage 20 from Megeve to Morzine is the final mountainous leg where Quintana could very well stamp his credentials as the first South American victor. “We have two leaders in BMC, that suits the personalities of both the riders well, where both of them are a little bit more comfortable being in a slightly secondary role rather than as a primary leader and having the expectations on their shoulders”.
