The race for yellow
Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) France, Age 29
The French rider has this year skipped the Giro d’Italia to focus on the Tour and so far, with a dominant win in the Tour de l’Ain and some other eye-catching performances, so good. The mountainous route will suit him and the stage six summit finish in the Vosges, to La Planche des Belles Filles, is on his training roads. However, his consistently lacklustre time trialling and unreliable health suggest that victory remains beyond him.
Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos) GB, 33
The pressure on defending champion to lead Ineos to success has ramped up since his teammate and four-times winner Chris Froome was ruled out after his serious crash. The Welshman celebrated long and hard after last year’s win but, after getting serious in the spring, he is now thought to be close to his winning form – and weight – of 2018. Tactically though, the loss of the experienced and wily Froome could prove to be a gamechanger.
Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) Den, 34
The Danish former mountain biker is heading into his ninth Tour and has never finished higher than the seventh place he achieved in 2013. But he comes into this year’s race on the back of comfortably the best season of his career, having won Liège–Bastogne–Liège and, more importantly, the Critérium du Dauphiné. He’ll also be supported by one of the strongest teams at the Tour, one that, like Fuglsang, has been enjoying a thoroughly impressive 2019.
Nairo Quintana (Movistar) Col, 29
Has the ship already sailed for climbing specialist Quintana at the Tour de France? A past winner of the Giro and Vuelta, the Colombian’s erratic form has meant he has never wholly convinced as a Tour contender. With only 27km of time trialling on this year’s route, five summit finishes, and Froome watching from the sidelines, the thinking must be, if not now, then when? Factor in the perennial leadership wrangles at his Movistar team however, and his chances of winning look slim.
Adam Yates (Mitchelton Scott) GB, 26
To date it has been twin brother Simon – nearly man in last year’s Giro but winner of the 2018 Vuelta a España – who has made the majority of the headlines, but the signs are that Adam Yates is now moving centre stage. After wearing the race leader’s yellow jersey for four days at this month’s Critérium du Dauphiné, and following a solid spring campaign that included stage wins in the Tour of the Basque Country and the Volta a Catalunya, he is well positioned to improve on his fourth place overall in Paris in 2016.
The men gunning for green
Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) GB, Age 34
Still seemingly struggling to shake off the aftermath of Epstein-Barr virus, the once irresistible Cavendish comes to the Tour lacking winning form. His most recent Tour stage win was in July 2016 and a series of false starts this season do not bode well for his hopes of increasing his tally. Cavendish remains defiant and is raging bullishly against the dying of the light, but with younger quicker talents now usurping him, everything suggests that his days as a top sprinter are over.
Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) Aus, 24
The heir apparent to the Cavendish throne, the diminutive Australian won two stages of this year’s Giro d’Italia before abandoning the race to focus on the Tour. Hugely talented, he has yet to fulfil his early promise but will be hoping his Belgian team can support his chances in the opening week of the 2019 Tour, which features a handful of likely sprint finishes. However he has yet to finish a Grand Tour, a record that weighs heavily against his chances in the points classification.
Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) It, 30
Winner of five stages in the Giro d’Italia, of which four came in 2018, the reigning Italian national champion has yet to make his mark on the Tour de France. After a disorganised and winless Giro in May, which included being denied a stage win by cycling’s equivalent of VAR, Viviani is now targeting the opening Tour stage in Brussels as a chance to grab the first yellow jersey of 2019.
Michael Matthews (Sunweb) Aus, 28
The Australian, starting his fourth Tour, is perhaps the best placed of Peter Sagan’s rivals to contend for the green jersey of the points classification, having won it in 2017, after Sagan was disqualified from the race. And this time around he won’t have to worry about the needs of Tom Dumoulin, who is absent due to injury. Matthews is a consistent performer on all terrains, and unlike some other top sprinters, does not flinch when the mountains come into view.
Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) Svk, 29
Peter Sagan has started seven Tours and, such is his all-round strength, he has won the points classification in six. This season might, however, be different. Uncharacteristically anonymous so far this year, with few memorable moments, Sagan seems a shadow of his former self, both on and off the road. Disillusioned, lacking motivation and plagued by self-doubt, Sagan’s appetite appears to be on the wane. The Tour however would be the perfect stage to prove that diagnosis wrong.
