Greatest sport event in the world bar none.

Thanks Puma for saving me the trouble.

Lots of favourites struggling to make the starting line. Could be wide open. Love these Grand Tour races (except when they have too many flat stages).

So mark Cavendish not even name checked in the dimension data team tour team press release.

Not really a surprise, but.....

100 years of the yellow jersey... is that correct?


edit: checked it. 106th Tour - and the Yellow Jersey was only introduced later so yes it's the 100th race for that Jersey

There is doubt over when the yellow jersey began. The Belgian rider Philippe Thys, who won the Tour in 1913, 1914 and 1920, recalled in the Belgian magazine Champions et Vedettes when he was 67 that he was awarded a yellow jersey in 1913 when the organiser, Henri Desgrange, asked him to wear a coloured jersey. Thys declined, saying making himself more visible in yellow would encourage other riders to ride against him.[1][2] He said

He then made his argument from another direction. Several stages later, it was my team manager at Peugeot, (Alphonse) Baugé, who urged me to give in. The yellow jersey would be an advertisement for the company and, that being the argument, I was obliged to concede. So a yellow jersey was bought in the first shop we came to. It was just the right size, although we had to cut a slightly larger hole for my head to go through.[2][3][4]

He spoke of the next year's race, when "I won the first stage and was beaten by a tyre by Bossus in the second. On the following stage, the maillot jaune passed to Georget after a crash."

The Tour historian Jacques Augendre called Thys "a valorous rider... well-known for his intelligence" and said his claim "seems free from all suspicion". But: "No newspaper mentions a yellow jersey before the war. Being at a loss for witnesses, we can't solve this enigma."[5]

According to the official history, the first yellow jersey was worn by the Frenchman Eugène Christophe in the stage from Grenoble to Geneva on July 18, 1919.[6] The colour was chosen either to reflect the yellow newsprint of the organising newspaper, L'Auto, or because yellow was an unpopular colour and therefore the only one available with which a manufacturer could create jerseys at late notice.[1]

Looking at Movistar and they have some serious firepower.

Quintana
Valverde
Landa
Soler
Amador
Erviti
Oliviera
Verona

This lineup is stronger than what they had in the Giro. But tactically can they make it work?

Does the "firepower" get better each year, or more difficult to trace?

Isn't it an automatic ban for anyone trolling this thread?

Looking at Movistar and they have some serious firepower.

Quintana
Valverde
Landa
Soler
Amador
Erviti
Oliviera
Verona

This lineup is stronger than what they had in the Giro. But tactically can they make it work?

Traditionally the assessment would be:

Quintana - happy to finish 2nd. Or 3rd.
Valverde - won't ride for the team and team won't ride for him
Landa - could win if the team work for him, which they won't

Where does it say so? If thats the case I will retract

@DOB as I said, not a surprise, but not a word in the press release seems very cold

Prediction time

Yellow: Bernal
White: Enric Mas
Polka Dot: Alaphilippe
Green: Sagan

How is Thomas's form coming into this ?

Excited to see what Alaphillippe will do

Thomas’ form is a mystery. He hasn’t been seen on his bike much this year, and then he crashed out of Suisse before the first mountains. He might be flying for all we know. He might be still hungover from celebrating last year.

Thomas’ form is a mystery. He hasn’t been seen on his bike much this year, and then he crashed out of Suisse before the first mountains. He might be flying for all we know. He might be still hungover from celebrating last year.

24 hours to the start...

for those who might be interested, there's also a TdF game going on Superbru... everyday picks of 4 riders, so should take a few minutes daily to join.

The pool name is the standard "Plan et rugby".

24 hours to the start...

for those who might be interested, there's also a TdF game going on Superbru... everyday picks of 4 riders, so should take a few minutes daily to join.

The pool name is the standard "Plan et rugby".

Also in.