MONDAY
Sky announce their team of nine riders to contest the Tour and there’s relief for Nicolas Roche (below), whose name had been omitted from what appeared to be an 11-man shortlist accidentally posted on - and quickly removed from - the team website a few days previously. The name of Roche’s team-mate and compatriot Philip Deignan, an accomplished Sky climbing domestique who excelled in assisting Chris Froome to victory in the Critérium du Dauphiné, was also absent from the “leaked” team-sheet and once again the 31-year-old Donegal man misses out, making him arguably the greatest cyclist never to turn a pedal in the sport’s most prestigious competition.
TUESDAY
As part of an industrial action over pay, Dutch police had threatened to ruin the second stage of the Tour by working extra diligently rather than going on strike. Their plan? To stop each one of the many vehicles in the Tour caravan near a bridge outside Rotterdam, checking each driver’s tax and insurance. Not to be outdone in the protest stakes, some angry French dockers halt Channel Tunnel and ferry services through the judicious use of burning mounds of tyres. With the Tour due to start in four days, here’s hoping all this unhappiness isn’t a portent of further disruption to come.
WEDNESDAY
Although the first stage isn’t until Saturday, the pre-match hoopla begins in earnest today. Citizens of Utrecht and visitors to the Dutch host city are invited to inspect La Caravane Publicitaire, a real treat for anyone who’s ever wanted to get their picture taken with the Crédit Lyonnais lion or a red and white polka dot Skoda Octavia. Although that cuddly lion is no longer the French bank’s mascot, tradition dictates they still hand one out to each day’s stage winner. That’s 21 per Tour, although they bring 41, to have spares on hand just in case any escape back into the wild.
THURSDAY
In what can only be described as a step up from the big tent used in Leeds 12 months ago, the Grand Départ media HQ, team bus depot and car park for the thousands of vehicles - media cars, vans, lorries and motorbikes, team buses and cars, giant mobile Vittel bottles and Haribou jellies that will lead and follow the Tour, this year’s is located in the Utrecht Jaarbeurs, a massive exhibition and convention centre. Jaarbeurs has its own in-house “moodmakers”, whose job it is to “create the proper atmosphere and, as a result, a successful conference”. It’ll be interesting to see what they make of Mark Cavendish.
FRIDAY
Assorted teams take turns to convene for their obligatory pre-Tour press conferences in a large room upstairs at the Jaarbeurs, where the nine riders sit side by side at the top table and field questions from the assembled media. Well, that’s how it’s supposed to work in theory, except most of those present don’t say a word. While the principal cyclists from each team - a monotone Cav and Tony Martin (below) in the case of Etixx-Quick Step - field question after question, their seven team-mates sit alongside them, completely silent and ignored, presumably pondering the pointlessness of it all. Despite doing all the talking, Cavendish and Martin say next to nothing.
SATURDAY
In the individual time trial, economy of movement is everything. During the “race of truth”, optimal anatomy is also imperative as any ounce of excess fat will be mercilessly highlighted. A careful pre-race study of the route is also essential as every imprecisely cut corner will be punished. Steely determination and mental strength are also key, for obvious reasons. It would, after all, be so much easier to sit in the cool confines of the press room watching the professionals put the hammer down on television, rather than repeatedly endure the 800 or so metres to the starter’s hut in searing heat as unforgiving deadlines loom.
