Tour de France Teams Preview

Tour De France Teams

A look at the teams competing in the Tour de France, the riders to look out for, the best result they can expect and my prediction.

AG2R – As with most of the French teams, never lacking in attacking spirit, but outsiders for stage wins.

Jean Christophe Peraud sneaked inside the top 10 last year and could do so again, and Nicholas Roche will have to decide between whether he has the condition to go for a top 10 or whether to focus on a stage win.

Best Result – Stage win and Top 10       Prediction – Top 15 and placing on a stage

Argos-Shimano – Previously known as Skil-Shimano and, earlier this season, Project 1t4i.

The focus is on one man – Marcel Kittel, a contender for the green jersey and several stage wins and a pretender to Mark Cavendish’s crown of best sprinter.

Notable mention – Patrick Gretsch former HTC rider who can time trial well.

Best Result – Multiple stage wins and green jersey          Prediction – Stage win and multiple stage placings

Astana – A team full of potential GC contenders but not necessarily any one stand out performer.

Vinokourov is 38 and on the wane (be it a result of no drugs or getting older), Kashechkin doesn’t look the same rider as before his ban.

Brajkovic is their best prospect, a Slovenian beanpole climber, who can also time-trial. However for all his potential he has yet to fulfil his early promise. His best result remains the Dauphine in 2010 where he beat an in-form Alberto Contador.

Notable mentions – Frederik Kessiakoff and Robert Kiserlovski, two riders, who can on their day climb with the best, could prove valuable support for Brajkovic or become potential outsiders for a top 10 on GC.

Best Result – Top three and stage win    Prediction – Top 10

BMC – One of the strongest teams at the Tour de France, even without last years double stage winner Thor Hushovd.

The team is built around one man, the reigning champion, Cadel Evans. The route favours Cadel with more time trialling than last years edition, and Cadel has proved time and again, when it comes to the mountains he can hold his own with the grimpeurs (climbers).

Phillippe Gilbert is a key man in the team despite his underwhelming spring. He will be out to snare a stage victory at least, to restore his season.

Notable mentions – George Hincapie, it is impossible to not mention George who will be making his 17^th tour appearance and will be a key team helper.

Tejay Van Garderen is a future tour contender and definitely a white jersey contender, however his primary role will be to help Cadel. Tejay could still find himself in the top 10 and is the BMC wildcard should anything happen to Cadel.

Best result – Yellow and White jerseys and stage win Prediction – 2^nd overall, stage for Gilbert and top 15 Van Garderen (but 2^nd in White)

Cofidis – It’s hard not to look at Cofidis as a team of also-rans, and having recently sacked their team manager for lack of results, it’s hard to see how they will factor in the Tour de France.

The key men are Rein Taaramae and David Moncoutie. Taaramae is the young hope and Moncoutie the old stalwart.

Taaramae narrowly missed out on the white jersey and the top 10 last year, and is a contender once again for both.

Moncoutie has successfully focused on the mountains jersey at the Vuelta for the last few seasons, but for Cofidis the Tour polka-dot is worth a whole lot more.

Best result – Stage win, Top 10, white jersey and mountains jersey          Prediction – Top 15 (but 3^rd in White) and Moncoutie 3^rd in Mountains jersey

Europcar – Massively overachieved last year taking 4^th, a long spell in the yellow jersey and taking the white jersey. This year it will be hard to match those heights.

Thomas Voeckler was already a French hero, after his first spell in yellow back in 2004 and winning a stage in 2009, before he took the yellow and 4^th last year. However a knee injury at the Dauphine has meant that it is unlucky he will perform at last years levels, and he is likely to be restricted to breaks and attacks after he has lost considerable amounts of time.

Pierre Rolland was overshadowed by Voeckler last year but his performance still won plenty of admirers as he showed he was one of the strongest climbers in the peloton supporting Voeckler and winning at Alpe D’Huez. This year he is likely to become team leader and burdened with the expectations of a nation. He has the talent to make the top 10 and win the white jersey, again.

Best Result – Top 10, stage and White jersey                 Prediction – Top 10 and white jersey

Euskaltel – A team full of riders from the Basque region (and one from outside – Samuel Sanchez)

Samuel Sanchez hasn’t finished outside the top 10 in a grand tour since 2005, and this year he is likely to continue that trend. He may have one eye on retaining his Olympic title, but he is good value for a top 5 at the Tour, and will once again carry the team.

Mikel Astarloza returns after his ban for taking EPO, he was 9^th back in 2007 so we will see how he performs post ban (and post drugs).

Egoi Martinez may well challenge for the mountains jersey, as he did in 2009 narrowly missing out to the subsequently suspended Franco Pellizotti.

Best Result – Podium/Win for Sammy Sanchez and Mountains jersey      Prediction – Top 5

FDJ – The most aggressive team in 2011, it’s like getting the award for effort at school, they worked hard but weren’t very good.

Jeremy Roy will return to attack at will and win the much coverted (cough cough) most aggressive rider award, although his counterpart Michael Delage has not been selected.

Sandy Casar will be on the attack also, but he has never been a serious grand tour contender. The real shining light is Thibault Pinot, who at just 22 is a serious contender for the white jersey and potentially even a top 10.

Pierrick Fedrigo is a stage win contender with his pedalling action and class the only thing exceeding his nose.

Best result - Top 10, white and a stage win         Prediction – Top 20, and most aggressive award

Garmin – One of the strongest teams, alongside Sky and BMC. Garmin have 3 riders who have previously finished in the top 10 in Christian Vande Velde, Tom Danielson and Ryder Hesjedal.

Ryder Hesjedal is the stated team leader after winning the first grand tour of the year the Giro d’Italia. It remains to be seen how his form holds up post Giro, but Vande Velde and Danielson, as well as tour debutant Dan Martin are all able deputies.

Tyler Farrar is likely to challenge in the sprints, however he may find the competition too strong with the likes of Greipel, Cavendish, Sagan and Kittel.

Best Result – Team Prize, Top 3 and Top 10                   Prediction – Team Prize and 2 Top 10s

GreenEdge – The new Australian team has limited aims overall, with Michael Albasini and Simon Gerrans the best climbers in the team, with Pieter Weening also handy. However none of them have high overall placings in previous grand tours.

Matthew (Harley) Goss is the teams most focus, with a view to possibly the green jersey and certainly a stage win.

Notable mention – Old man O’Grady, Stuart O’Grady starts his 15^th Tour de France

Best result – Stage wins and Green jersey                      Prediction – Stage win

Katusha – A team of over 30s mainly, with Denis Menchov as the main contender, he’s won the Vuelta and the Giro but the Tour has eluded him, despite finishing on the podium in 2010. This year a top 10 is the minimum expectation of Katusha.

Notable mentions – Oscar Freire no longer has the kick of years gone by (probably due to groin injuries throughout the years) but could still contend for a stage win.

Best result – Top 3/Yellow and Stage                             Prediction – Top 5

Lampre – Lampre have been knocking about since 1991, but this is one of the weakest teams they have brought to the Tour.

Michele Scarponi is the grand tour hope after finishing 4^th in the Giro, however it is unlikely he will be able to maintain his form.

Alessandro Petacchi will be going for the sprints, however his time is coming to an end and without a win since May 2011, it is unlikely he will be able to change that at the Tour de France.

Notable mention – Matthew Lloyd is an outside shot at the mountains jersey.

Best result – Top 5 and Stage win                                  Prediction – Top 15 and very little else

Liquigas – Liquigas have Vincenzo Nibali, Vuelta winner in 2010, who is a contender for a good finish in the Tour de France along with Ivan Basso, although Basso has showed little form this year.

Peter Sagan has had a great year so far, dominating the sprints at the Tour of California. He is a contender for the green jersey and stage wins.

Notable mention - Sylvester Szmyd is a good climber who will be valuable help to Nibali and Basso.

Best result – top 3, green and stage wins                                   Prediction – Top 5 and stage wins

Lotto – Last year they were Omega Pharma-Lotto, but Omega joined their Belgian rivals taking a good deal of funding with them. However Lotto still has a few big riders.

Jurgen Van den Broeck crashed out of the Tour last year and recovered for 8^th at Vuelta. This year he will be active in the mountains as time trialling is a weakness.

Jelle Vanendert announced himself last year winning a stage and coming 3^rd in the mountains competition.

Andre Greipel will be chasing another stage win after beating Mark Cavendish in the sprint on stage 10 last year.

Best result – top 3, mountains and green jersey and stage wins   Prediction – Top 5 and stage win

Movistar – Last year Jose Rojas carried their biggest chance of success, making the green jersey competition competitive as well as placing on several stages. This year with the amount of quality sprinters he is unlikely to make the top 5 in the sprint stages.

Alejandro Valverde returns to the Tour de France after his absence for his involvement with Dr. Fuentes. He has returned well and could be a stage threat, although may not have the stamina for the overall.

Juan Jose Cobo, the 2011 Vuelta winner will look to follow his success, however his chance of success is much reduced as he rarely seems to succeed outside of Spain.

Notable mentions - Vladimir Karpets is mentioned, just for his stupid hairdo, a previous white jersey winner who has never delivered on his early promise (unless his early promise was to have a mullet – then he’s more than delivered)

Best result – Top 10 and stages, green jersey                             Prediction – Top 15

Omega Pharma-Quick Step – The team has had a great year so far with Tom Boonen winning both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, however he won’t be here.

Levi Leipheimer has a shot at a top 5 and Peter Velits is an outsider for top 10.

Tony Martin is good shout for the time trials, and is lighter this year but probably won’t be able to consistently climb with the best.

Best result – Top 3 and stage win                                               Prediction – Top 5 and stage win

Rabobank – Brimming full of young talent, with Robert Gesink, Bauke Mollema and Steven Kruijswijk. Kruijswijk is an outsider for the white jersey.

Mark Renshaw has the freedom to sprint but very little assistance and is an outsider for green.

Luis Leon Sanchez and Laurens Ten Dam are wildcards in the mountains, with Sanchez a stage win contender.

Best result – Top 3 and 2 in Top 10, white jersey and stage         Prediction – Top 5 and Top 15

Radioshack-Nissan-Trek – A merger as successful as Daimler-Chrysler (not very successful), the lead up has been as good as Radioshack’s Tour last year.

Andy Schleck is out injured, which puts the pressure on Frank Schleck, who pulled out of the Giro and is playing down Tour expectations.

Fabian Cancellara has recovered from his crash in the Tour of Flanders and will be contending for time trial honours.

The pensioner crew is lead by Chris Horner, with Andreas Kloden and Haimar Zubeldia all have finished in the top 10 of the Tour, they are all outside contenders to repeat that feat.

Best result – Top 5 and stage wins                                             Prediction – Top 10

Saur-Sojasun – They made their first appearance last year with little impact, Jerome Coppel took a solid but unspectacular 14^th. He is their hope for overall.

Brice Feillu won a stage a few years back, but was not selected for Leopard-Trek last year, he could be an outsider for the mountains jersey or a stage.

Best result – Top 10 and stage win                                             Prediction – Top 15

Team Saxo Bank – A shadow of their former selves since Leopard-Schleck was formed taking their best talent. There is very little here to talk about a couple of also ran sprinters Juan Jose Haedo and Jonathan Cantwell.

Chris Sorensen represents the best hope overall, Nick Nuyens could take a stage.

Best result – Stage win                                                              Prediction – Not much going to happen for Saxo Bank

Team Sky – Arguably the strongest team in the race, with solid contenders for the yellow and green jerseys.

Bradley Wiggins has had the dream lead up to the Tour de France, winning Paris-Nice, Tour of Romandy and Dauphine. With a parcours (course) that suits him with ample time trialling, Wiggins has his best chance of success.

Wiggins will be supported by Chris Froome who finished 2^nd in the Vuelta and is a good climber and time triallist.

Unlike last year where, once Wiggins was injured there was no real plan B, Sky have a plan B and C in the shape of Froome and Richie Porte.

Mark Cavendish has won 20 stages in the last 4 tours, an exceptional performance and won the green jersey at the last tour. He has already played down expectations, as his focus is split with the Olympics coming just after the Tour. He is still a force to be reckoned with in the sprint, however with Sagan, Greipel, Goss and Kittel up against him and a shortened train, a couple of stage wins maybe the best he can do.

Best result – Yellow, Green and stage wins                     Prediction – Yellow, green and stage wins

Vacansoleil – Last year Johnny Hoogerland was the unsung hero after he was unceremoniously turfed into a barbed wire fence, and carried on in the mountains jersey despite the pain.

Lieuwe Wiestra and Wout Poels can both climb and could contend overall. Kenny Van Hummel can sprint but not with the big boys.

Best result – Top 10 and stage win                                 Prediction – Top 15.

Tour de France Stages Preview

With the Tour de France just over a week away from starting, I'm going to do a series of previews of what to expect in the Tour de France.


The first one is a preview of the stages of the tour de france, what to expect on each one and where the best action will be.


Stages for Sprinters
Stage 2 - Vise - Tournai
Stage 4 - Abbeville - Rouen
Stage 5 - Rouen - St Quentin
Stage 6 - Epernay - Metz
Stage 13 - Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux - Le Cap d'Agde
Stage 15 - Samatan - Pau
Stage 18 - Blagnac - Brive-la-Gaillarde
Stage 20 - Rambouillet - Paris Champs Elysees


Stages for Puncheurs (Punchy climbers)
Stage 1 - Liege - Seraing
Stage 3 - Orchies - Boulogne Sur Mer


Stages for Climbers
Stage 7 - Tomblaine - La Planche des Belles Filles
Stage 8 - Belfort - Porrentury
Stage 10 - Macon - Bellegarde sur Valserine 
Stage 11 - Albertville - La Toussuire LesSybelles
Stage 14 - Limoux - Foix


Stages for Time Trialists
Stage 9 - Arc et Senans - Besancon (41.5km)
Stage 19 - Bonneval - Chartres (53.5km)


Stages for breakaways
Stage 12 - St-Jean de Maurienne - Annonay Davezieux
Stage 16 - Pau - Bagneres-de-Luchon
Stage 17 - Bagneres-de-Luchon - Peyragudes


I've separated the stages in to who I think they will suit. Although, stage 13, 15 and 18 I've listed as sprinters stages, they could equally be breakaways as they are not straightforward flat stages.


Where the Tour will be won
The time trials will be key, with nearly 100 km of time trialling compared to just 42.5km individual and a team time trial of 23km.


Last year the first 20 were separated by 2mins 41secs. This means that time gaps between time trialists like Cadel Evans and Bradley Wiggins and climbers like Robert Gesink could be 5 minutes.


With only two high summit finishes on stage 11 and 17 and one mid mountain summit finish stage 7, the Tour certainly favours the time triallists, especially without protagonists such as Rodriguez, Contador and Andy Schleck. The time gaps in the mountains are unlikely to be as high as without them.


Stage 7 is going to be a key one. This will be where the key contenders will come to the fore and we will see who the challengers for the yellow jersey, podium and top 10 will be.


Sprinters
On paper the sprinters have 8 chances to win a stage, however it is not that simple. Many of the stages have sharp climbs close to the end, stage 3 and 4 being the case and point. These could be a perfect springboard for an opportunist to get away. This could stretch the resources of Lotto-Belisol and Team Sky especially. Team Sky will have to try to measure their resources to ensure their is enough support for both Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins.


Even though the stages are not necessarily as exciting as previous years, it is the racers not the stages that make a great tour. I think this Tour is going to be as tight as ever and hopefully as exciting as ever.


I can't wait!