5 Tips for coming between 10th and 20th in the Tour

With 7 days to go until the Tour begins, we continue our daily build up with an important question. Every year there will a rider who is ignored by the TV cameras every single day yet manages to come between 10th and 20th overall. It's important to note that the guys who can do that are excellent cyclists but they broadly fall into 5 categories and if you follow these tips then you could become a 10th-20th cyclist!

5. Have a Great First Week
As done by - Michal Kwiatkowski

You can have a few off days and still finish in these positions, in 2014 10th was 23 minutes back and 20th was 52 minutes in arrears. It's easier to be in a strong position before the mountains and then lose time than it is to be trying to catch up when the race is in the high mountains. The key to this is build a time buffer in an early time trial over the mountain goats and then make sure you only lose handfuls rather than buckets of time when the road heads uphill. You can also supplement your performance by getting into a transitional stage breakaway in the final week.

4. Be Team Leader of a Mediocre Team
As done by - Nicholas Roche
Nico Roche is the master of finishing 10th-20th, he's raced 13 Grand Tours in total, finishing them all, and he has finished in those positions 5 times! For almost all of those races he was either team leader or co-leader for Ag2r which means he was given the support of his team despite the knowledge that he was never going to get a top 10 let alone a top 5. In this scenario you need to make sure you don't lose any time on the flat and then make sure you're in the top 20 in the mountains. Leave the stage wins and glory to your other team mates, you're purely there for the decent GC result.

3. Be a Domestique for a Better Rider

As done by - Daniel Moreno
Dani Moreno has finished in the golden 10th-20th places 7 times but he's only been the best rider on his team once, 2007 Vuelta. It's a fine balance to strike if you choose to get your top 20 this way, you need to provide support for you team leader but if you stay with him for too long then you risk coming in the top 10 instead. However, if you sit up too early then you'll hand over too much time and you won't be close to the top 20. One good tip is to stick around in the mountains as well as you can and then take the time trials really easy, that way you should be able to lose just enough time to drop down the standings.

2. Be a Great Rider on Terrible Form
As done by - Andy Schleck
Pages of newspapers and magazines have been dedicated to you and how likely it is that you will win. Unfortunately, you and your team know that the chances of you winning are identical to the chances of 20 of the best cyclists in the World all crashing or getting ill in the month of July. You have to deal with the indignity of the cameras watching you as you unhitch from the back of the peloton on the bridge leading up to the first climb of the day. As soon as they lose interest, you job begins. Make sure that you unhitch slightly later each day and go on the attack in the final week, the media will talk about what could have been but you will have gained enough time to slip back into the top 20.

1. Be French
As done by - Sandy Casar
This is your biggest race of the year and as a French rider you can do one of two things; ludicrous long range attacks that will work out incredibly infrequently or go for the overall safe in the knowledge that as soon as you come 12th overall your career will change forever as the French press laud you as the next Hinault. To be fair to French cycling, in Bardet and Pinot they do now have genuine overall contenders but there's still a residual tendency to pile pressure on talented young riders. The key to coming between 10th and 20th in the Tour if you're French is to lose a bit of time in the first week and then get in the mega-break on a transitional stage in the second week and, as everyone forgets about you, just ease yourself down the standings and claim that mega contract for the next season.