6 RIDERS TO WATCH
CHRIS FROOME Country: Great Britain. Age: 33 Team: Team Sky Tour best: Won in 2013, ‘15, ‘16, ‘17
Cleared by the UCI this week to race after the “Salbutamol affair”, Froome will be going for his fourth Tour win in a row and fifth in total. His victory in the Giro D’Italia means he is just the third rider to hold all three grand tours simultaneously in a 12-month period.
RICHIE PORTE Country: Australia. Age: 33 Team: BMC Racing Team Tour best: 5th in 2016
Will be hoping it’s third time lucky at the Tour De France after mechanical problems cruelled him in 2016 and a crash on stage nine last st year left him with a fractured collarbone and pelvis. BMC has put together a strong team in a bid to get Porte across the line.
PETER SAGAN Country: Slovakia. Age: 28 Team: Bora-Hansgrohe Tour best: 42nd in 2012
Sagan is the reigning three-time world road race champion and with a strong team around him, this year’s race looks his best chance yet of winning his first grand tour. He will also be chasing a record-equalling sixth points classification win.
VINCENZO NIBALI Country: Italy. Age: 33 Team: Bahrain-Merida Tour best: Won in 2014
Nibali has shown some good form this season, winning the Milan-San Remo. The end of the last campaign was also good for the 2014 Tour de France champion, who took a podium at both the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana, and in October won his second Giro di Lombardia.
ROMAIN BARDET Country: France. Age: 27 Team: AG2R La Mondiale Tour best: 3rd in 2016, ‘17
After finishing third in his home tour for the past two years, Bardet is a strong contender. The time trials often cost him valuable seconds, d so he h should h ld be helped by the fact there is only a 31km individual time trial to contend with in this year’s edition.
RIGOBERTO URAN Country: Colombia. Age: 31 Team: Cannondale Tour best: 2nd in 2017
Last year’s runner-up will look to go one better this year. Won the Milano-Turino last year and was also successful at the 2012 London Olympics Olympics, winning silver in the road race. Uran goes into the tour having won the mountain stage to Celje at the Tour de Slovenie and finishing second overall.