Your money would be much better spent on the fast men – Marcel Kittel (€9.5m) is favourite to win stage one, while versatile world champion Peter Sagan (€9.5m) bids to swap his rainbow jersey for either the yellow or green jersey during the first week – and you can swap them out once the climbing starts.
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At only 26-years-of-age, the Columbian has only competed in two editions of the Tour de France; however, two second-placed finishes for the Movistar rider show why he is rightly a race contender in the 103rd edition of the Grand Tour.
Dimension Data’s Mark Cavendish has won stages like this before, and Lotto-Soudal’s Andre Greipel won Stage 2 of last year’s Tour in similarly challenging conditions. Stage 8 into Bagneres-de-luchon is the first big mountain day.
Chris Froome may be the favourite to earn another Tour de France title, but the Team Sky leader and defending champion faces a battle to finish in yellow once again. Right now, I would probably have to go with Nairo Quintana [as the main rival], given that he finished runner-up to me both times that I have won the Tour de France.
It’s the Tour’s first mountain time trial since the 2004 race against the clock up l’Alpe d’Huez.
“I think I’ll allow myself to jump up and down a bit”, says a rider under orders to rest up until the race starts.
“I couldn’t follow him and I hope this year I will be able to be with him all the time”.
The first was Louison Bobet, the French hero of the 1950s, and the other was Greg LeMond, the American victor in 1986, ’89 and ’90 who does not see Froome joining him in the triple club, tipping instead his chief rival, Nairo Quintana.
“My wife and I have just had our first son so personally it’s been good for me to spend more time at home and ease into racing”.
Such is the severity of the race – which starts Saturday in Normandy – the temptation to take short cuts has proved too strong for the likes of disgraced seven-time victor Lance Armstrong – the most notable of a long list of cycling drug cheats. But it’s a long three weeks, a stressful three weeks, I’m just going to take it a day at a time.
The Welshman endured a hard last outing in the cold and damp Tour de Suisse, but has put it down as a learning experience and is confident he is in the right place ahead of the Tour.
The 19-year-old Belgian protested her innocence, claiming she was using another rider’s bike, but it did not wash and placed organizers of the Tour de France and other sports officials on red alert.
But having won the Tour in 2014, Nibali could take over team leadership if Aru struggles.
“We have a really strong team for this year’s edition”.
This year’s race is anticipated to be one of the tightly fought ones in years; the likes of Chris Froome, Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali, Fabio Aru, and Nairo Quintana will all be hoping for the Maillot Jaune at the end of the three week gruel-fest. In the races earlier this season, one of the guys I’ve been banging the bars with most was Luke Rowe, who also happens to be one of my best friends.
Security will be tight with about 23,000 police deployed and special forces ready to intervene amid concerns the race could be targeted after 130 were killed in last November’s coordinated Islamic attacks on Paris.
The Tour de France begins at Mont-Saint-Michel on Saturday.
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“Having said that we definitely can’t take anything for granted”.
