TOUR DE FR ANCE

Established 1903 Editions 110 Recent winners Jonas Vingegaard (2023, 2022); Tadej Pogačar (2021)

AT THE END OF THE 2021

season, Tadej Pogačar’s dynasty at the Tour de France looked set to reign for years to come. He’d won his second yellow jersey in as many years, in imperious fashion too, over five minutes up on second-placed Jonas Vingegaard. Vingegaard, however, was already plotting his succession. He rode a stealthy race in 2021, only coming into the light late on with strong showings in the Pyrenees, and then in 2022, backed up by an ironclad support team, surged to victory in Paris. Further success in 2023 only emphasised his talent, with a searingly fast time trial on stage 16 detonating the general classification and paving the way for a huge 7:29 margin of victory.

For his tilt at a third title in 2024, the challenge starts anew. Pogačar, as is his wont, is fighting on all fronts again, this year attempting a very ambitious GiroTour double – something that hasn’t been done since Marco Pantani in 1998.

Vingegaard will also have to deal with the much-anticipated race debut of Remco Evenepoel. To this point the Belgian, now 24, had focused on the Spanish and Italian Grand Tours, but he’ll be unleashed by his SoudalQuickStep team this summer. His support team lack the Grand Tour clout of the 2023 treble-winning juggernaut of Vingegaard’s VismaLease a Bike, however.

They’ll all be facing a very difficult route. Starting in Italy for the first time, there’s a hilly start in Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna, an early visit to the Alps on stage 4, 59km of time trials, 32km of gravel on stage 9, four summit finishes and the novelty of a competitive final stage, in the form of a hilly time trial in Nice, relocated from Paris because of the Olympics.