From gleaming top-end racers down to rusting bone-shakers whose best days are long behind them, the sight of bicycles swarming the streets of Utrecht is far from rare. How fitting, then, that Saturday’s opening stage of the Tour de France will bring to fruition the labours of 13 long years since this Dutch city first threw its hat in the ring to play host to the world’s most famous bike race. Finally, the Grand Départ has arrived.
The 2015 Tour begins with a looping 13.8km individual time trial through the streets of the compact city centre, but will be no less punishing or closely fought for its brevity. The winner will be zipped into the leader’s yellow jersey and will quietly fancy his chances of keeping it on his shoulders for a series of tricky but far from brutal stages to come in the week ahead. The veteran Swiss Fabian Cancellara, Germany’s Tony Martin and the UK’s Alex Dowsett are among a handful of riders with realistic chances of winning the stage and with it the honour of leading the peloton westwards from Utrecht towards the peninsulas and islands of Zeeland on Sunday in the maillot jaune.
On any normal occasion, the addition of another 198 Lycra-clad cyclists would scarcely raise an eyebrow in a locale whose population is so devoted to cycling that everyday life plays out to the soundtrack of the polite warning jingles of bells on handlebars. Indeed, such is the determination of the local elders to show off their city’s proud cycling heritage that they have placed the finish of today’s stage beside Utrecht’s new bike park – as in, an actual parking area for bikes – near the main train station, where spaces have been made available for 12,500 two-wheeled conveyances.
Elsewhere, the local denizens have taken up the cudgels waved so enthusiastically by their Yorkshire brethren a year ago, with most shop windows in the beautiful and ancient old town given over to celebrations of the Tour and its history. Not even the most majestic local trees have avoided being swept up by the enthusiasm, with almost all having been swaddled in yellow, green or polka dot, those famous colours assorted members of the peloton are about to contest with such vigour.
A vibrant city with a population of only 328,000, many of them students at the country’s biggest university, Utrecht has unsurprisingly embraced the Tour’s fleeting stay and imminent departure. “You can feel that,” said Sir Dave Brailsford, the Team Sky general manager. “Just riding around, actually seeing how many kids are out on their bikes, all in their little pelotons going off to school. It’s a fabulous demonstration of what a sport can do.”
With the defending champion, Vincenzo Nibali, and his main rivals and fellow Grand Tour winners Chris Froome, Nairo Quintana and Alberto Contador all in fine form, this promises to be one of the most exciting Tours in years. Flat, short and fast, it should present few difficulties to the stage favourites, although the arrival of rain forecast late in the afternoon could scupper the chances of those scheduled with later departure times.
“It’s a nice parcours,” said Etixx-Quick Step’s German time-trial specialist Tony Martin. “It would suit a lot of riders. At the moment it’s my main objective and it’s a big deal for me personally. While I’m here to support the other guys, for the moment it’s just Saturday that counts. I hope the course will be in the same condition for everybody.”
Sitting down table from Martin, Mark Cavendish seemed reasonably relaxed as he looked forward to his first Tour de France since coming a bone‑crunching cropper at the conclusion of last year’s opening stage in Harrogate. Although a pedal has not yet been turned in anger, he did fail to disguise his irritation upon being asked if the absence of the German sprinter Marcel Kittel, through illness, would increase this own chances of adding to his tally of 25 Tour de France stage wins. With a shake of his head and a weary sigh, he got on with a part of his job he appears to relish even less than ascending Alpine peaks: answering questions in press conferences.
“Sure, but there’ll be 200 riders there at the start, so take any of them and it’ll increase my chances,” he said, before pointing out that his team have the personnel to challenge for most of this year’s stages. Asked much the same Kittel-related question again, but in a slightly different way, Cavendish visibly bristled and pointed out that it is bike races, rather than individual rivals, for which he tends to yearn.
“To be fair, I miss the races more,” he explained. “I crashed out of the first stage of last year’s Tour de France and missed the race. I was in superb form and had to sit at home and watch it, which wasn’t easy. I’ve tried to come to the Tour de France in the same form I was in last year and get back to winning ways.”
Like many other riders in this year’s Tour, Cavendish comes into the race on the back of one his best ever seasons and, barring misfortune, looks a certainty to prevail in the two sprint finishes he has publicly stated would be a satisfactory return for his endeavours. There are so many in-form contenders contesting this year’s race. “Everyone’s in form, it’s box office time,” said Brailsford. Get the popcorn on.
