Tour de France 2018: Vincenzo Nibali, Tom Dumoulin lead challengers to Chris Froome’s throne at 105th edition

The 105th edition of ‘Le Grand Boucle’ commences this Saturday as the riders pedal out of the sea shores of Vendee at the western coast of France. Before finishing on the usual ramparts of the Champs Elysees in Paris, the riders would have covered 3,329 km of undulating roads, stunning scenery and hopefully provided us with a few twists in the tale. As is the case every four years, this iteration of the Tour has to fight for television eyeballs with the FIFA World Cup, and the organisers have pushed the start by a week to limit the overlap with the mega competition in Russia. Football fever notwithstanding, the cast, crew and, most importantly, the route, has enough potential in it to keep any sports fan engaged. Here, we preview the upcoming three weeks, which should be an appetiser to the hardcore fans, while also kindling the desire of any causal fan. [caption id=“attachment_4682391” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Team Sky rider Chris Froome of Britain trains ahead of the Tour de France. Reuters[/caption] This year’s route limits itself within the boundaries of France, which is an aberration considering the Tour organisers’ penchant to take the race to neighbouring countries. There is no let up for the riders, who need to be mentally alert right from the first stage, where the infamous crosswinds can spell disaster for any team found lacking. Riders caught on the wrong side of a split caused by these crosswinds can lose considerable time, having to play catch up right from Day 2 of the race. The Tour is of course famous for its mountain stages and fans often await the “Queen Stage” which filters the best from the rest. As attractive as a high intensity mountain stage is, there are a few other crucial stages which might turn out to be the game-changer in this year’s route. Especially Stages 3 and 9 are to watch out for, which promise exciting racing and should come up with some race-defining moments. Stage 3 is the Team Time Trial which last featured in the race schedule in 2011. It is the ultimate demonstration of a team’s strength against the clock, as each team races as a single unit on a predefined route, trying to cover it in the shortest time on the day. In addition to the potential for time gaps to build up, the stage is also a visual treat to watch. The carefully synchronised moves of the riders on the road are so mesmerising that I call this stage “ballet on wheels”. However, pure strength may not be enough to win the stage as it also needs tremendous coordination and team planning. Team Sky have never won a team time trial, so we can expect them to go all guns blazing on this stage. One of the main attraction of this year is Stage 9, with the much-feared cobbles of the region home to the “Paris-Roubaix” one-day race. This year the riders will cover a total of 22 kms of pavé, distributed across 15 sectors. Experienced fans may note that the last time Froome did not win this race was in 2014, when he crashed on similar cobbles, as Vincenzo Nibali’s agile bike handling effectively won him the race on similar roads. This is the last stage before the first rest day, which may end up with a few riders nursing injuries and maybe pondering on the lost time. Surely expect fireworks from lower-ranked teams, which will set a high pace, aiming to unsettle the top contenders. Apart from these highlights, we have the usual legendary climbs, noteworthy being the Alpe d’Huez (Stage 12) and Col du Tourmalet (Stage 19); and lastly an Individual Time Trial on the penultimate day (Stage 20). If the Tour has taught us one thing, it is to expect the unexpected, with a seemingly harmless stage causing chaos among the peloton or an unfortunate crash upsetting the GC (General Category) standings. Coming to the GC contenders, we have a full cast, from the big names, to the young challengers. After the end of last year’s Tour, we had looked at a list of riders who can potentially crash the Team Sky applecart and prevent Chris Froome from winning his fifth Tour and fortunately all those riders are starting this year’s race in mint condition. Let’s look at the main contenders and their prospects in this year’s race. Starting with Froome, whose recent victory in the 2018 Giro d’Italia continues his reign as the king of the jungle. He presently wears the crown of all three Grand Tours and seems in peak fitness. Team Sky are as strong as 2017 if not stronger, and it will take a monumental effort to stop Froome from equalling Eddy Merckx’s record by winning his fourth consecutive Tour. On the downside, Froome is not coming to the Tour this year in ideal conditions. He has been involved in a protracted legal battle over his disputed salbutamol test. On 1st July, the Tour organisers, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), stated that Froome will not be allowed to compete in the race, pending a final decision by UCI. As Sky’s legal team warmed up to battle the organisers, UCI cleared Froome of any wrongdoing a day later on 2nd July. So while Froome competes legally, there is egg on faces of the organisers and a cloud hanging over the defending champion. The above legal battle notwithstanding, defeating Froome will not be easy as he demonstrated in the Giro recently. His main challenge is still expected from the established pros, who have the experience of racing and winning Grand Tours. Vincenzo Nibali appears to be focused and up for a fight, but whether his team can sustain his challenge through the 21 days, is open to questioning. Tom Dumoulin is a strong candidate who was absent last year in France, but finished second behind Froome in the Giro this year. His Team Skyweb were the revelation in 2017, winning two overall jerseys and capturing every opportunity that came their way. Dumoulin is the reigning World Individual Time Trial Champion and can match Froome pedal for pedal in the time trials. Whether the Dutchman will be able to match the Briton in the mountains, is what will decide which jersey he wears in Paris. Apart from Sky, the strongest team on paper appear to be Movistar with their three power centres — Nairo Quintana, Mikel Landa and Alejandro Valverde, who are all capable of challenging for overall victory. Quintana, a multiple Grand Tour winner, has only the Tour de France lacking from his impressive list of achievements. Landa, who was held back by Sky last year (to support Froome), has a point to prove against his old team and would be raring to win at their cost. Valverde is the elder statesman in the team, who has experience on his side. On a cautionary note, the strength of Movistar could also prove to be their weakness if they cannot designate an undisputed team leader after the initial stages. But if they judiciously use these three giants to batter Team Sky, they might finally end up breaking the wall around Froome. Then there is Richie Porte, the Australian with incredible talent, who has been on the receiving side of bad luck in the past two years. Last year, he was in pole position to challenge Froome, when he suffered a career-threatening crash on Stage 9. If the Aussie can keep himself out of trouble and his Team BMC perform to their expected strengths, he is the strongest contender from the main challengers to Froome.

In addition to the main battle, we have several interesting parallel stories to watch out for. The charismatic Peter Sagan was unceremoniously disqualified last year, which was a big loss for the fans. Expectations from him are as high as ever, to bring his explosive pace and hard racing attitude, which will be a major attraction away from the GC battle.

Mark Cavendish was at the receiving end of Sagan’s aggressive riding in 2017. Their clash last year ended in disqualification for Sagan, while Cavendish had to withdraw from the race with a broken shoulder. Cavendish has said that his shoulder troubles him during sprints and it will never be the same again. But that surely won’t stop him from trying to match and outdo Merckx’s record of 34 stage wins (Cavendish presently has 30 wins to his name). With his steely determination and a strong team, one could count on him to achieve this monumental feat. There are many more side plots running along the three-week story that is the Tour de France, but they can’t all be covered here. It is the intangibles, such as the colourful fans, team tactics, surprise turn of events and most importantly the incredible spirit of the riders, which make the Tour so special. Starting 7th July is this amazing roller-coaster of scenery, emotion and sport, and every sport fan should tune in for some incredible moments ahead.