My boyfriend asked me at breakfast the other morning, “How are you liking that Tour de France Documentary?” He’s not a huge fan of cycling and isn’t as interested in it as I am, so he hasn’t been keeping up with the Unchained series like I have. I finished chewing my piece of toast and replied, “One thing I’ve learned is that a lot of those guys are bigger pricks than I realized, and I’m not even surprised by it.”
Last year’s Tour was not the most exciting, but I’d forgotten how chaotic it was in the past eleven months. I remembered Cavendish’s crash, and a lot of battles between Pogačar and Vingegaard, but everything else blurred together. While watching the documentary, I was reminded of many key moments, like the camera motorbikes stalling in the mountains and blocking the road for the riders. Then, there was the infamous Jasper Phillipsen and Wout van Aert sprint finish line controversy, followed by the chaotic crashes in the sprint finish of Stage 4 that everyone wanted to blame on Phillipsen.
This year for the Tour de France will be an interesting one, because it is also an Olympic year. Sometimes, the summer Olympics overlap with the tour schedule, so riders and teams must choose between events. Before looking up an unofficial list of the riders starting in the Tour this year, I already knew the names I wanted to look for. As a casual fan of the Tour, I wanted to share some of the reasons I’ll be keeping my eyes on certain riders.
Wout van Aert
Wout has been one of my favorite riders over the past three years. I think he is a very honest rider who doesn’t try to pull dangerous moves just to get ahead. He always seems to have his team’s best interests in mind, and he’s got the skill to prove his sprinting wins. He’s just a good rider. I hope he gets another chance for the green sprinter’s jersey this year.
Also, he has arguably the best hair in the whole bunch.
Sir Mark Cavendish
Everyone should be rooting for this recently-knighted legend this year. Mark is one of the oldest riders in the peloton at 39 years old by Stage 1. He’s tied with Eddy Merckx for the record number of stage wins – 34. Last year was supposed to be his last year, but he crashed out in an early stage and is determined to get to stage win 35. I think some people are saying he’s past his prime, but I really hope he gets that record this year.
Mathieu Van der Poel
Mathieu was not a rider I cared about much in the past. Then, I heard he had an insane ride during the Paris Roubaix, a race famous for being ridden on the cobblestones of France. Mathieu broke away and led for 60km, almost 38 miles, and ended up wining the race. I expect he might have the opportunity for some aggressive attacks to get ahead.
Neilson Powless
Neilson caught my eye a few years ago when he ended up with the polka dot climber’s jersey for almost half the Tour. I was excited to see an American on an American team, riding an American bike, and doing so well. I don’t doubt he’s going to try to win some mountain points, if not stages, this year, especially after an unexciting performance last year. It would be really cool to see an American in a polka-dotted jersey, or even the yellow jersey, by the end of the Tour.
There are plenty of other riders worth watching this year. You can check out this article from Cycling News to learn more about the teams and the individual riders. The Tour starts this Saturday, June 29th and runs through July 21st.
This video from GCN explains the race in great detail:
Words From the Riverbed 