The 110th Tour de France will roll out of Bilbao on Saturday morning with Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar expected to vie for yellow.
When it comes to the sprints, all eyes will be on Mark Cavendish to see if the Manxman can take the Tour stage wins record outright with a 35th victory in what will be his final Tour.
But those are only some of the storylines that will play out over the next three weeks, and here the PA news agency looks at five other talking points ahead of the race.
Rider safety
Cycling is still in mourning after Gino Mader died on June 16 as a result of injuries suffered a day earlier in a crash at the Tour de Suisse. Mader, 26, went into a ravine on a high-speed descent and never regained consciousness. Amid the grief at the loss of a popular young rider have been more calls for reviews of rider safety – particularly given recent disturbing scenes at the women’s Tour of the Pyrenees, a race which was ultimately curtailed after two stages during which roads were not properly closed. The UCI, in conjunction with riders’ groups, is due to make an announcement on safety regulations on the eve of this year’s Tour.
Bernal is back
It is 18 months since 2019 Tour winner Egan Bernal suffered what could have been life-threatening injuries in a training crash in his native Colombia. Happily, the 26-year-old has made huge strides in his recovery, and was rewarded with selection by the Ineos Grenadiers after riding to 12th at the Criterium du Dauphine at the start of June. There is no suggestion Bernal is yet ready to challenge again at the pointy end of a race, but it will be fascinating to see how he fares over the course of three weeks. Just by lining up, he has already scored a victory.
No Froome
But while Bernal returns, Chris Froome is missing. The four-time Tour winner has never fully got over the injuries sustained in a training crash in 2019 and, at 38 years of age, surely now never will. Even so, eyebrows were raised when Israel Premier-Tech opted to leave their star name out of the Tour team this year, particularly given the way he rode to third place on Alpe d’Huez last year. Froome himself issued a statement expressing disappointment, and vowing to return in 2024.
Yates to challenge?
Pogacar’s team boss Mauro Gianetti threw up a surprise on Wednesday when he listed Adam Yates as a co-leader alongside the two-time champion given the latter’s uncertain form following the broken wrist he suffered in April. But actually, the Yates in question here is his twin brother Simon, who carries the hopes of the Jayco-Alula team alongside sprinter Dylan Groenewegen. So far, the 30-year-old has spoken about targeting stage wins, looking to add to the two he won in 2019, but will the 2018 Vuelta a Espana winner keep himself in the general classification fight or deliberately lose time to be allowed into breakaways?
The Wright Stuff
Fred Wright ended his long wait for a first professional win in some style last weekend by winning the British national road race in Saltburn. That victory has earned the 24-year-old some new threads for the Tour as he will don the British stripes in France, making him a little more conspicuous within the peloton. Last year, Wright made a speciality of getting himself in breakaways at both the Tour and the Vuelta, and four times finished on the podium in stages across the two races even if a win eluded him. The goal will be to go one better this time.
On this day 2013: Six-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy announces retirement
Six-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy announced his retirement from competitive cycling 11 years ago, admitting: “I know it is the right decision.”
The 37-year-old Scot had been contemplating continuing until the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow but revealed he was quitting the sport at a press conference in Edinburgh on April 18, 2013.
Hoy was Britain’s most decorated Olympian after his haul of two gold medals at London 2012 saw him surpass rower Sir Steve Redgrave’s record of five, although he was overtaken by former team-mate Sir Jason Kenny in 2021.
In explaining his decision, Hoy said: “I think in sport at the highest level you’re dealing in such small margins and you can tell when you’re good but not good enough.
“It was very emotional coming in there (to the press conference) and I was trying not to watch the video montage with the sad music.
“I don’t want it to be a sad moment.
“I want to celebrate it and be happy because I know it is the right decision.
“It’s a decision that I didn’t take lightly and I thought about it very hard.”
As well as six Olympic titles, Hoy’s 13-year career featured 11 world titles and two Commonwealth crowns.
Hoy’s final race was the Olympic Keirin final on August 7, 2012 – on the final day of the London 2012 track programme.
Following retirement, Hoy pursued his passion for motorsport, including competing in the Le Mans 24 Hours, while he has also written children’s books.
In February 2024, the 48-year-old announced he was undergoing treatment for cancer.
Paul extends rich form with double gold; Browne, Campbell also among T&T's medals at PanAm Track Cycling Champs
Trinidad and Tobago’s ace cyclist Nicholas Paul continued his rich early season form as he wrapped up another double gold medal-winning outing at the just-concluded Pan American Track Cycling Championships in Los Angeles, California.
Paul’s medals were won in his customary events, the men's Keirin and Sprint, and followed his fairly successful outing at the UCI Championships in Hong Kong where he recovered from a two-cycle collision in the Keirin to win the Sprint.
The 23-year-old again expressed gratitude for the continued support as he represents the twin island republic with much gusto.
“It is always an honour to represent my country and the Pan American region. Thank you to everyone for all the love and continued support. The Journey continues and the next stop will be the Nations Cup in Milton, Canada. So, I just want to continue putting in the hard work and let it show in my performances,” Paul said.
In the Keirin, Paul topped Colombia’s Kevin Quintero, while another Trinidad and Tobago cyclist Kwesi Browne copped bronze.
However, it took a photo-finish to separate Paul and another Colombian Cristian Ortega for the Sprint crown. Paul bettered his South American rival in the first ride before edging ahead in the second ride on the line by millimeters to retain his title.
Meanwhile, Akil Campbell was also among the medals, as he won a bronze medal in the men's scratch race.
In other results at the meet, Alexi Ramirez finished eighth in the women's elimination race and in the women's scratch race, while Makaira Wallace and Phoebe Sandy placed 13th and 17th in the women's sprint qualification, respectively.
On this day in 2018: Scotland’s Katie Archibald wins Commonwealth Games gold
Scotland’s Katie Archibald added Commonwealth champion to her long list of accolades on this day in 2018.
Archibald, an Olympic, world and European champion in various disciplines, took gold in the women’s individual pursuit in Brisbane, having broken the Games record in a blistering qualifying session.
Her only previous Commonwealth medal was the bronze she won on home soil in the points race in Glasgow four years earlier.
Archibald, then aged 24, said before racing began gold was the only colour she wanted and swiftly delivered, covering the 3,000m distance in three minutes 26.088 seconds to beat Australian Rebecca Wiasak.
She had set the record at 3:24.119 in a qualifying session which saw three riders go under the previous record set by England’s Joanna Rowsell Shand in Glasgow.
“It means a lot, especially in the individual pursuit because it’s not an Olympic event,” said Archibald. “2014 always stands out as a big year for Joanna Rowsell to kind of echo, because she had the title and the Games record.
“You look at the success she carried from that point in her career. I’d be very proud.”
Fired up by his sister’s performance, Archibald’s brother John then added another medal to Scotland’s tally with silver in the men’s 4,000m individual pursuit as England’s Charlie Tanfield clinched gold.
“I watched her heat run and the pressure was on her,” said John Archibald.
“The Commonwealth Games record went and they all went better than her personal best so she had her back against the wall but she pulled out and delivered on the day and that got me going.”
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
