We’re but a week away from the biggest race on the professional cycling calendar and one of the largest sporting spectacles the world has ever seen – the Tour de France. It looks to be an electric race as Chris Froome gears up for a 5th title, Peter Sagan readies himself for a green jersey revenge mission and Quick-Step Floors lick their lips in anticipation thanks to the sheer number of potential stage winners in their team’s roster.
All in for the world champion
The three-time world champion and five-time green jersey winner, Peter Sagan, is setting his sights on yet another emerald prize after last year’s missed opportunity. The 2018 Tour de France route, as ever, suits Sagan’s talents: a handful of flat stages as well as a few tough uphill finishes suiting his versatile attributes.
With his trusty air-slicing S-Works Venge and a trusted lead-out train, Sagan is expected to lead Bora-Hansgrohe to a series of stage wins. The first of these opportunities could come as early as stage one, with its flat finish into Fontenay-le-Comte all but guaranteeing that a sprinter will wear the first yellow jersey of the race.
With a strong list of rouleurs in their side for 2018, Bora-Hansgrohe look more than ready for stage nine’s foray into Paris-Roubaix terrain, taking in 22km of gruesome pavé. As the current champion of Paris-Roubaix itself, Sagan will surely go into stage nine as the favourite, and a win here would gather a large crop of points in the green jersey competition.
The Bora team may have constructed their Tour de France roster around the world champion, but they will also be supporting wily Polish climber, Rafal Majka. On the versatile S-Works Tarmac, Majka will be hoping to not only score a high placing in GC, but also take the polka-dot jersey for a third time.
A team of winners
Looking to throw a Colombian shaped spanner into Sagan and Bora-Hangrohe’s efforts will be Quick-Step Floors and their top young sprinter, Fernando Gaviria. A trio of stage wins in the recent Tour of California and a series of second places in the Tour de Suisse highlighted Gaviria’s current form, and he looks strong enough to edge the likes of Sagan as early as stage one.
With many more ‘flat’ sprints than in previous years, the green jersey could well go to a more conventional flat-out sprinter than the likes of the more versatile Sagan. Step forward Fernando Gaviria, four-time stage winner and points jersey victor at the 2017 Giro d’Italia. In terms of flat-out speed and punchy acceleration, Gaviria is (probably) the faster sprinter. With them both aboard the S-Works Venge, this is going to be a pure battle of man against man.
Unlike Bora-Hansgrohe, Quick-Step Floors haven’t placed nearly all their eggs in the sprinter’s basket. The Belgian team is bringing a star-studded line-up to this year’s race, each one of them a potential stage winner. With newly crowned Belgian champion, Yves Lampaert, and classics specialists, Philippe Gilbert and Niki Terpstra, the boys in blue will have all eyes set on the cobbled stage nine. Look out for their pavé-crunching Roubaix bikes as they leave the competition eating their dust.
For the hillier and more mountainous stages, Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner, Bob Jungels, and young French sensation, Julian Alaphilippe, will have plenty of opportunities. With the versatile Tarmac beneath them, anything is possible for this dynamic racing duo – even a stint in the yellow jersey if they play their cards right in week one.
The Tour de France regularly sees a new crop of race-ready machines hit the market, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled throughout July as new models come available.
