Somehow, it is already July! And that means the Tour de France is upon us. Read on to catch up on the route, the key stages, and the contenders hoping to score a win during this year’s Tour.
Route Overview
This year’s tour is 3,321 km long and has 184 riders covering over 50,000 meters in altitude gain. The Tour’s 21 stages will travel across south and central France, from West to East, after a foreign Grand Départ in neighboring Barcelona.
Overall, there are:
- 7 Flat Stages
- 4 Hilly Stages
- 2 Time Trials (one team and one individual)
- 8 Mountain stages
- 2 Rest days
Top Stages
Don’t worry world cup fans, a lot of the key stages of this years tour are back-loaded. Here’s a list of some of the stages I am most looking forward to. But if you’re more of a visual learner, check out this great calendar of Tour de France stages (by “watch score”) which I came across on Reddit, created by Yasminlv.
- Stage 1: First team time trial in a Tour de France since 2019
- Stage 6: Early mountain stage that might have GC implications ft. Col du Tourmalet
- Stage 10: Medium-mountains on Bastille Day! Great chance for a break
- Stage 16: Individual Time Trial (I like TTs but I know they’re not for everyone)
- Stage 19 & Stage 20: Back to back Alpe d’Huez!
Key Contenders
General Classification (Yellow & White Jerseys)
Tadej Pogacar will likely win this year’s Tour, but hopefully Jonas Vingegaard is able to put up a good fight. These are the names that have dominated the Tour for the past five years. However, a 19-year old French rider, Paul Seixas is hoping to disrupt the dominance of these two (and give French fans a countryman to root for). He will be fighting for for yellow (and the white jersey for young riders) as well.
Along these three, there are other GC contenders, namely the duo of leaders brought by Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe, Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz (both have gotten 3rd in past Tours.) Pogacar’s team is also bringing Isaac del Toro who just won the Criterium du Dauphine (aka the mini-Tour) and will also be competitive in the GC. The fight for the top 5 will be close, even if 1st remains in a league of his own.
Green Jersey (Points)
Jasper Philipsen will hope to take home another green jersey after crashing out of last year’s Tour. But a few other riders, like Biniam Girmay, Tim Merlier, Mads Pedersen, and others will hope to put up competition for the points jersey as well.
Get HYPED
Looking for explainers on some of the nuances of biking? You can see some of my explanations from previous posts here:
- Stage races vs one day races
- Cycling as a team sport and different rider roles
- Understanding leaders jerseys
- Understanding the breakaway
- Understanding team names
I hope you enjoyed this preview of the Tour de France! I am looking forward to sharing the dish and stage highlights on opening weekend! Mark your calendars and à bientôt!