The Winners and Losers of the Tour so Far

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We're six days into the Tour but we've already had some of the best stages in recent Tour memory. In this article we look at the 3 big winners and the 3 riders who have had a woeful start to the 2015 Tour de France.

3 Biggest Losers
Cofidis

This just about sums up the French team's Tour so far.

Most people would consider the title of "biggest loser" to be a sleight, however it's not the case for the small French team who have made a career out of being honourable losers. Unfortunately, this year they might just be a team of losers. They came into the Tour and their best chance at glory was a Nacer Bouhanni with bruised ribs. He crashed out on stage 5 to Amiens and left Cofidis in a bit of a hole. They have no real stage win threat and their usual top 20 rider, Dani Navarro, is currently lying almost 27 minutes back. They got themselves into a break with Kenneth Vanbilsen on stage 6 but it looks like it's going to be a very lean 3 weeks.

Yellow Jersey Holders
A yellow jersey is always a great honour. Unfortunately this year it seems to have brought bad luck along with it. So far we've had 4 holders of the maillot jaune (Dennis, Cancellara, Froome & Martin). I'm writing this after stage 6 where Martin has abandoned with a collarbone break. That would mean that of the 4 jersey holders; 2 have crashed out injured and one, Dennis, prematurely lost his jersey. Only Froome has "voluntarily" handed his jersey back. Froome will have the jersey back, but will he also have the terrible luck that has so far accompanied the jersey?

Thibault Pinot

Pinot during his meltdown on the cobbled stage 4

He came into the race with huge expectations and raised them on the first stage when he was the highest placed GC rider in the time trial. Since then his face has lurched from one disaster to another. He lost time in the crosswind splits on stage 2, then he lost time after getting dropped on the penultimate climb on stage 3 to Huy, then he lost even more time on the cobbled 4th stage. He's now in 30th place 6.30 down. He's still a brilliant climber so expect him to make time back as soon as we start heading uphill but he's lost too much to be a genuine podium consideration.

3 Biggest Winners
Warren Barguil

Barguil has flown under the radar so far.

He came to the Tour with the intension of learning and maybe trying for a stage win in the mountains. He had a terrible opening time trial, finishing in 127th place, but since then he's always been at the head of the peloton and as other riders lost time in crosswinds and crashes he hasn't and now lies 11th overall. The media haven't quite caught up with Barguil's excellent performance yet, he's the highest ranked Frenchman, so he has had a pressure free start to the race. He needs to try and keep up his high overall placing when the race hits the Pyrenees, if he can do that then we have a legitimate future star on our hands.

Chris Froome
Froome again had a poor start but he's been expertly guided through the difficult classics style stages by his team and he's now back in yellow. He went into the Tour as one of four huge favourites for the Tour, Quintana, Nibali and Contador are the others. After just 6 stages he is ahead of them all on GC and has a significant advantage going into the second weekend and the Pyrenees beyond that. One thing that will have worried the Brit is that his mountain domestiques haven't looked on top form yet. Richie Porte has missed every single break and lies in 158th position, Nicolas Roche has also missed the breaks and he is back in 69th position. This means that a huge amount of work has landed on Geraint Thomas' shoulders and Sky would've liked to save him for the high mountains.

African Cycling

An African hero!

When Daniel Teklehaimanot rode down the start ramp in Utrecht he became the first ever black African cyclist to start a Tour de France. On stage 6 he rode up 3 geographically insignificant climbs on the north coast of France but, in doing so slightly quicker than his two breakaway companions, he rode himself into a position that can never be taken away from him. He is the first ever black African cyclist to wear a Tour de France jersey and looking back at his performance in the Dauphine Libere, there's no reason to think he can't hang onto it.

Three Things we've learnt so far

Wow! What an opening weekend of the 2015 Tour de France. We've had the fastest stage in Tour history on Saturday and the most exciting stage for a number of years on Sunday. In this post we will look at the three things that we've learnt from the first two stages.

3. Quintana is in Crisis

Quintana is in a dangerous place at the moment.

It might be a bit early to suggest that Quintana is in crisis but he didn't have a good time trial and he's now lost 1.23 to the other major favourites before we've even hit the cobbles of stage 4. He is the best climber in the race so this time loss isn't decisive yet, but, he would've hoped to have lost that time for the whole first week rather than just the first two days. He now has to face the cobbled stage 4 and team time trial without losing any more time to guys like Froome or Contador. It's going to be a frantic week as the Columbian focuses on maintaining his time gap to the favourites, he might even be able to reduce it on the stages finishing on the Mur-de-Huy or the Mur-de-Bretagne.

2. Bardet vs Pinot

Pinot is storming ahead in the French battle.

In the battle of the French riders, Pinot is definitely winning. He had a storming time trial on Saturday where he finished best of all the realistic GC contenders and then he was caught behind the split on Sunday. Bardet, on the other hand, has had a very difficult start to the race. He's been overshadowed by Peraud, his elderly team mate and he lies 3 minutes behind Cancellara and 1.53 behind Pinot.
Both have the potential to finish in the top 5 but Bardet will need his luck to change drastically if he's to do this. Pinot is in a similar situation to Quintana in that he needs to stop losing time in this first week, the difference however is that Quintana has a team who can turn in a decent time trial, Pinot doesn't have that luxury.

1. Van Garderen for GC

Could Van Garderen surprise us all?

I was a little unsure of Van Garderen's chances in the Tour. He's a strong rider but his time is sub par and his climbing is not as strong as the other overall challengers. However, in these two stages he's shown that he does have an important characteristic which is that he's always at the front. His team is built for the opening week and they need to build as large a buffer as they can now and in the TTT before they wilt in the mountains.
Tejay is the highest ranked of the overall contenders at the moment and he should fare well on the cobbles, he also has one of the best team time trialling squads behind him so, if he takes advantage of all those opportunities, he could enter the Pyrenees with a minute advantage over everyone else. If that happens then he could hold it to Paris.

The Debutantes: What to expect

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Every year we have a bunch of debutantes making their first steps in the biggest and best grand tour of the lot. This year is no exception but, this year, we have an incredibly talented pool of Tour virgins who also qualify for the white jersey, I have listed them all here along with a brief description of what the race might hold for them.

Kudus is one of 2 Eritreans on the Tour.

 Merhawi Kudus

Country: Eritrea

Team: MTN-Qhubeka

Age: 21

GT Experience: 92nd 2014 Vuelta

What to expect in a sentence: Youngest rider on the Tour and a fantastic climber who will ride in support of Louis Meintjes and may be given is own chances later in the race.

Florian Senechal

Country: France

Team: Cofidis

Age: 22

GT Experience: None

What to expect in a sentence: Very strong classics style rider, he will be targeting the first week, look to see him on the attack in the cobbled stage.

Adam Yates

Country: Great Britain

Team: Orica GreenEDGE

Age: 22

GT Experience: 82nd 2014 Vuelta

What to expect in a sentence: He will probably be deployed to ride in support of his brother but he might have his own chances on the mountainous stages.

Dylan Van Baarle

Country: Netherlands

Team: Cannondale-Garmin

Age: 23

GT Experience: DNF 2014 Giro 

What to expect in a sentence: Tour of Britain winner last year and strong time trialler, could be a top 10 on the opening stage.

Louis Meintjes

Country: South Africa

Team: MTN-Qhubeka

Age: 23

GT Experience: 55th 2014 Vuelta

What to expect in a sentence: Unbelievable talent, he will have the support of his team and a top 10 overall certainly isn’t out of reach.

Christophe Laporte

Country: France

Team: Cofidis

Age: 23

GT Experience: None

What to expect in a sentence: A bit of an unknown quantity, he showed some good form earlier in the season on the hilly races so expect him to go well in the first week.

Bob Jungels

Country: Luxembourg

Team: Trek Factory Racing

Age: 23

GT Experience: DNF 2014 Vuelta

What to expect in a sentence: He comes complete with the Luxembourg time trial and road race champion’s jersey and he has a good chance of a high GC placing after the first week.

Emmanuel Buchmann

Country: Germany

Team: Bora-Argon 18

Age: 22

GT Experience: None

What to expect in a sentence: Surprise German national road champion and excellent climber, came 7th on the stage to La Toussuire in last years Tour de l’Avenir.

Michael Valgren

Country: Denmark

Team: Tinkoff-Saxo

Age: 23

GT Experience: 128th 2014 Vuelta

What to expect in a sentence: Good rider in the hilly classics but he will be used to shepherd Contador through the difficult first week.

Wellens is already a classy all rounder

Tim Wellens

Country: Belgium

Team: Lotto-Soudal

Age: 24

GT Experience: 54th 2014 Giro

What to expect in a sentence: Very classy rider, winner of the Eneco Tour and 4th in Lombardy last season, he will be giving freedom because the team don’t have a GC threat.

Eduardo Sepulveda

Country: Argentina

Team; Bretagne Seche Environment

Age: 24

GT Experience: None

What to expect in a sentence: Missed out on his debut Tour last year with illness, he should be the protected GC rider for this small French team.

Wilco Kelderman

Country: Netherlands

Team: LottoNL-Jumbo

Age: 24

GT Experience: 17th 2013 Giro, 7th 2014 Giro, 14th 2014 Vuelta

What to expect in a sentence: The current Dutch time trial champion, LottoNL-Jumbo have a woeful record so far this season and it will be interesting to see who they support for the overall.

Marco Haller

Marco has already tasted overall success at the Tour des Fjords
this year.

Country: Austria

Team: Katusha

Age: 24

GT Experience: None

What to expect in a sentence: He has been on remarkable form in the last few months and capped it off by winning the National championships, the first week suits him best.

Warren Barguil

Country: France

Team: Giant-Alpecin

Age: 23

GT Experience: 38th 2013 Vuelta, 8th 2014 Vuelta

What to expect in a sentence: There’s huge pressure on the Frenchman’s shoulders, he has been talked up as the next Tour de France winner from France but he’s had an indifferent season so far, don’t write him off.

Kenneth Vanbilsen

Country: Belgium

Team: Cofidis

Age: 25

GT Experience: None

What to expect in a sentence: There’s not a huge amount to recommend Vanbilsen, he has got a decent sprint on him so maybe he will be used in Bouhanni’s leadout.

Angelo Tulik

Country: France

Team: Europcar

Age: 24

GT Experience: 123rd 2014 Giro

What to expect in a sentence: Slots nicely into Europcar’s Tour strategy, which is to get into breakaways and hope that one of them stays away until the end of the stage.

Luke Rowe

Country: Great Britain

Team: Sky

Age: 25

GT Experience: DNF 2013 Vuelta, 141st 2014 Vuelta

What to expect in a sentence: The Welshman is purely there to guide Froome through the difficult, classic’s style opening stages, he’ll then be there to do the early pace setting later on.

Georg Priedler

Country: Austria

Team: Giant-Alpecin

Age: 25

GT Experience: 36th 2013 Vuelta, 27th 2014 Giro

What to expect in a sentence: The newly crowned Austrian time trial champion is a very handy climber and should be used in support of Barguil.

Matthews is a prolific winner at the Vuelta and Giro

Michael Matthews

Country: Australia

Team: Orica-GreenEDGE

Age: 25

GT Experience: 110th 2013 Vuelta, DNF 2014 Giro, 7th 2014 Vuelta, DNF 2015 Giro

What to expect in a sentence: Amazingly Matthews is yet to start the Tour but he’s won 5 stages in the Giro and Vuelta combined and he is one of the favourites for the green jersey.

Sam Bennett

Country: Ireland

Team: Bora-Argon 18

Age: 24

GT Experience: None

What to expect in a sentence: Bennett is an incredible sprinting talent but it’s probably a little too early in his career to expect a stage win, he goes very well in the wind so he might be able to get some podium places in the opening week.

The Best and The Worst Kits at The Tour

There's only four days to go until the best 198 riders in the world set off for their 3 week schlep around France. We've talked about who will be riding and where they will be riding but we've yet to mention what they will be wearing. Cycling kits exist in a perfectly balanced vacuum, there has to be an equal amount of rubbish kits for the brilliant ones to exist and today we're calling out the bad ones and praising the stylish gems that our favourite riders will don for July.

Abbie Saunders is Bike Route Hub's resident fashionista. With her sharp tongue and sharp style she's perfectly happy tearing chunks out of the kit designers who have punished 25 poor riders by making them wear their hideous creations for a year. When she isn't doing this she also writes on figsandfootprints.blogspot.com which focuses on healthy living and exercise. Maybe finish that burger and pint whilst reading this blog.......

Five Worst

Trek Factory Racing ~ 3.5/10

Despite the futuristic appeal of the silver space-age gloves and ankle contour moon boots, Team Trek’s kit seems a little, well, effeminate. The slick body contour fit and bizarre reverse plunge neckline not only looks like a leotard design more suited to a performance gymnast, but also strikes me as an immediate sunstroke hazard. In the mid-Summer heat of Tour De France, I wouldn’t fancy myself with those tan lines…

Europcar ~ 3/10

If you’re Irish, green may well be your lucky colour. But otherwise motor folklore dictates that green is a veritable car crash. Type ‘green cars crashing’ into Google and you will be met with images of Andy Warhol’s famous painting ‘Green Car Crash’ and headlines such as ‘Green Party leader delivers “car crash” performance’. Would you trust anything green on the roads based on this correlation? Sorry Europcar…

Lotto NL-Jumbo ~ 2/10

If, like me, you find yourself asking what your own chances are of winning the lottery, you may also, like me, find yourself asking what the chances are of Team Lotto NL winning the Tour De France… Needless to say, the team’s official sponsor emblazoned across the front does not instil me with a huge amount of confidence.

Team AG2R-La Mondiale ~ 1.5/10

In essence, there is very little wrong with Team Ag2r’s kit. It is well streamlined, with good coverage and neat brand representation. However if you are inclined toward the immature, you may want to question the colour scheme. I can’t help but think that turquoise shorts may have been a little more fresh and eye-catching than these ‘I soiled myself on the Tour De France’ meggings.

Tinkoff-Saxo ~ 1/10

Poor Team Tinkoff… The very misguided decision to photoshop the team mates in against a black background does nothing for the fact that a black crotch patch already draws attention to the area. Add this to the fact that their team name is ‘Tinkoff' and you may begin to find yourself wondering if there’s a crotch there at all…

Five Best

Cannondale-Garmin ~ 7.5/10

The new Garmin kit is reminiscent of a Softmints branding colour scheme. Who doesn’t like a Softmint? The pattern also seems to be inviting its wearer for a languid game of golf rather than an invigorating incline cycle. Who knows? Maybe the Softmint serene Garmin team have coined a 

relaxing new cycling style too…

Orica-GreenEDGE ~ 8/10

In case you didn’t know, mesh is in. It appears that Team Orica have taken their new season look straight out of New York Fashion Week’s Spring / Summer 2015 catalogue. With on-trend fishnet look sleeves and uppers, who cares if the kit is practical? It’s fashion, dahling…

Etixx-Quick-Step ~ 8.5/10

Team Etixx have taken Team Trek’s kit and injected it with some alpha male. The black body, high neckline, long sleeves and even ‘quick step’ mantra stapled down the side give Team Etixx the edge. If their performance is anywhere near as ‘panther’ as their look, we can expect strength and agility from the team in this year’s Tour.

Astana ~ 9/10

Potentially one of the most polarising kits of the competition is Team Astana’s. As a fan of controversial colour schemes, I am instantly drawn to this head-to-toe turquoise ensemble. Team Astana won’t be missed by cyclists or onlookers in this hue, and its summer sky-inspired feel should keep Team Astana in high spirits. They may not look like the dark horses of the competition, but let’s face it, the future is bright.

Movistar ~ 10/10

Well, this guy just looks like a winner. That latex shine seems to give this kit a Marvel Comics Superhero appeal with the streamlined stripe detail on the sleeves emphasising those superhuman muscles. The Movistar branding also seems to play into the subliminal suggestion that it could be Brad Pitt or Orlando Bloom riding the bike. Superhero, movie star, and cyclist rolled into one. Who wouldn’t want them to win?!

The 5 Key Stages of the 2015 Tour de France

We're now just 5 days away from the biggest day in the cycling calendar and we continue our build-up with a look at the 5 key stages in this year's race.

Stage 2 - Utrecht - Zeeland 166km

Expect to see some serious echelons today.

We're starting early with the second stage but with the second half of the stage being run along the Northern Coast of the Netherlands this will be an exposed stage and I expect to see at least one team leader getting caught out. The stage couldn't be flatter if it was drawn with a ruler but with the peloton splitting, forming and repeating don't expect this to be an easy day.
If the wind is strong enough then we should see a Belgian team, maybe Etixx, come to the front and blow the whole race apart. Cavendish has excellent pedigree when racing in echelons so he will be the favourite here.

"Interesting" Fact - The Netherlands are often incorrectly named Holland. Holland is just a region of the Netherlands but for 100km today we will be racing in that region.

Stage 4 - Seraing - Cambrai 218km

Will Nibali again be able to prevail?

We're back on the cobbles of Northern France after last year's escapades. In 2014 Nibali looked at home on the rough terrain and put huge chunks of time into his rivals as Froome abandoned after numerous crashes before the first sector of cobbles. The Italian will need to build a cushion after this stage to stand a chance of winning overall I suspect.
Although he isn't at home on this terrain, Nairo Quintana spent a week earlier in the season racing in some of the Northern semi classics and he will be hoping this proves vital in the first week. As long as the main contenders stay within 2 minutes of Nibali they should be able to make that deficit back in the mountains.

"Interesting" Fact - Cambrai will host a stage for the third time in the Tour de France. Remarkably this will also be the third time that it has hosted Stage 4.

Stage 12 - Lannemezan - Plateau de Beille 195km
The final day in the Pyrenees is by far the hardest. It features 4 climbs, each one harder than the previous one until we reach the desperately difficult finish of the Plateau de Beille. It's the third consecutive day of climbing so expect to see some seriously tired legs slogging up to the ski resort finish.
There's quite a lot of flat between the climbs so don't expect an overall contender to go early. The route also features the memorial to the tragic death of Fabio Casartelli who died on the descent of the Col de Portet-d'Aspet 20 years earlier, the peloton will most likely stay together until this point to pay their respects.
The final climb may not had the prestige of Alpe d'Huez but it's significantly harder, the gradient doesn't drop below 6% until the final kilometer. That means there will be 15km of unrelenting, punishing climbing. This should be a day for Quintana, Contador and Froome to fly away.

"Interesting" Fact - The Tour has visited the Plateau de Beille 5 times. The winner on this climb has only failed to go on and win in Paris once, Jelle Vanendert in 2011.

Stage 17 - Digne-Les-Bains - Pra-Loup 161km
It's not the hardest Alpine stage and it's certainly not a long stage, however, we do have the descent of the Col d'Allos which might do more damage than any climbs today. This exact parcours was used in June during the Dauphine Libere and Romain Bardet won that day by escaping over the top of the d'Allos and free falling to the base of Pra-Loup. It's unlikely that Bardet will be allowed to do this again in July but the blue-print should be used. Alberto Contador rode away from Quintana on the descent of the Port de Bales in the recent Route du Sud but the Columbian has proven he can descend so he won't be caught out again. The most worried riders will be Chris Froome and Thibault Pinot. Froome does not class bike handling in his list of strengths and Pinot has had a well publicised struggle with going downhill - both will need to ensure that they aren't isolated at the summit.
We're nearing the end of the Tour but this stage is just the first of four brutal Alpine stages and the main contenders will want to expand as little energy as possible whilst still making sure that they don't lose any time.

"Interesting" Fact - The start town of Digne-Les-Bains is also where Victor Hugo's novel Les Miserables begins, it is the home of Jean Valjean.

Stage 20 - Modane - Alpe d'Huez 110.5km

The Croix de Fer will be used again today.

It's the last day in the Alps and the last day of the Tour where the overall standings will change. Due to a landslide we're not going over the Galibier, instead we will be heading back over the Croix de Fer for the 2nd time this Tour. This shouldn't change the race too much though, the 2011 plan remains which is to attack early and hard and see who can follow. If anyone has been hanging on for the last few days then they will find themselves jettisoned immediately and handing over vast wedges of time.
It's always a big occasion when the Tour visits Alpe d'Huez and if the time gaps at the top are minimal then we might be in for an epic stage. It's a pure climber's day today so we should be seeing Quintana and Froome going clear as Nibali tries to limit his losses. Where will Contador be though?

"Interesting" Fact - The ONERA wind tunnel in Modane is the largest in the World and is used to test civil and military aircraft.

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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.