British and Irish riders
The eight men flying the flags for the British Isles this year
Steve Cummings
Age: 36 Team: Dimension Data Last year’s Tour: 140th, one stage win Strength: Not getting caught in breakaways Weakness: Lack of race time due to injury After enjoying the best season of his career last year, which included a second Tour de France stage win, Steve Cummings has had a string of bad luck in 2017. He pulled out of the Volta ao Algarve with sickness, crashed at the Tour of the Basque Country and broke his collarbone, scapula and sternum, and then slipped a month later, delaying his recovery. He returned to the fray in June and despite having limited racing in his legs won both the time trial and road race at the National Champs to show some blistering form pre-tour.
Daniel Martin
Age: 30 Team: Quick Step Floors Last year’s Tour: Ninth Strength: Enjoys it when the roads get steeper Weakness: Not much team support Dan Martin scored his best overall result at the Tour last year, breaking into the top 10 for the first time. Having previously suffered from uneven form, in 2017 Martin has proved he can be consistent. While a victory is still absent from his results, he’s finished no lower than sixth overall in every stage race he’s entered. Yet with the Belgian squad also supporting Marcel Kittel in the sprints, Martin is unlikely to have the degree of support his rivals enjoy and was dealt a further blow when climber Julian Alaphilippe was ruled out of the race with injury.
Dan Mclay
Age: 25 Team: Fortuneo-vital Concept Last year’s Tour: 170th Strength: Quick turn of sprint speed Weakness: Yet to score that big win Dan Mclay made his Tour debut last year and proved to be a sprinter to watch for the future, with four top-10s in the first four sprints, including an impressive third on stage six behind only Mark Cavendish and Marcel Kittel. He struggled, often alone, in the mountains towards the end of the race but survived the time cuts and agony to make it to Paris. Still only 25, Mclay should take a lot of confidence from the fact that he can complete a three-week race and that on his day, the best sprinters in the world aren’t too far ahead of him.
Nicolas Roche
Age: 32 Team: BMC Last year’s Tour: DNS Strength: Experienced super-domestique Weakness: Hit and miss as an outright leader After two years at Sky, Nicolas Roche followed his former team-mate Richie Porte to BMC this season. Having missed out on a place in Chris Froome’s Tour team last year, he’ll be returning to France as the Australian’s right-hand man as he tries to get on the podium in Paris. With 16 completed Grand Tours on his palmarès, Roche is one of the most experienced and reliable domestiques a GC rider can have in the mountains and having previously worked closely with Froome, and Alberto Contador at Tinkoff, he will have plenty of knowledge of how their rivals will likely race.
Luke Rowe
Age: 27 Team: Sky Last year’s Tour: 151st Strength: Tactically astute, quick decision-maker Weakness: Steep mountains Luke Rowe has proved himself a reliable road captain for Sky despite having just two years’ experience in the Tour de France so far. Most of the time, however, his work goes unseen; setting a hard pace on the front of the peloton in the early parts of stages to control attacks, making snap decisions on the road about what attacks to chase and leave, protecting Chris Froome and guiding him out of trouble on the flatter days. And with a first week that features five stages over 200 kilometres long, crossing the plains of Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg before reaching France, those are the days he’ll be heavily relied on.
Ben Swift
Age: 29 Team: UAE Team Emirates Last year’s Tour: DNS Strength: A sprinter who can get over climbs Weakness: Not as fast as the pure sprinters It’s been six years since Ben Swift last appeared at the Tour de France, with his first and only appearance in the race coming in 2011 and his last Grand Tour being in 2014. Swift moved from Sky to UAE Emirates this season in the hope of getting more opportunities to race for himself, but he has struggled with injury this spring. While the Yorkshireman will struggle to match the pure sprinters for speed on the flat stages in France, he should be given the freedom to test himself and will want to have a go on the lumpier, more rolling stages that suit him.
Geraint Thomas
Age: 30 Team: Sky Last year’s Tour: 15th Strength: All-rounder, invaluable domestique Weakness: Always seems to have a bad day Geraint Thomas built his whole year around a tilt at the Giro d’italia, his first time leading the team in GC, but seemingly in the form of his life, a crash ended the Welshman’s hopes and he was forced to withdraw from the race after two weeks. Thomas instead switched his attention back on the Tour and while he’ll be riding in support of Chris Froome, he’ll be hoping to carry his Giro form to France. He’s yet to make it through a Grand Tour without suffering one bad day, so consistency and breaking into the overall top 10 will no doubt be a point he wants to prove to himself and others in Paris.
Scott Thwaites
Age: 27 Team: Dimension Data Last year’s Tour: DNS Strength: Rolling routes with short, sharp climbs Weakness: Lack of Tour experience Yorkshireman Scott Thwaites stepped up to the Worldtour at the start of 2017, joining Dimension Data from Bora Argon 18 after making his Grand Tour debut last August in the Vuelta a España. Thwaites will likely be given a role in Mark Cavendish’s sprint lead-out train, helping control the race on flat stages. However, with questions remaining over the Manxman’s fitness, the team will likely be looking for other riders to take opportunities during the race too, with Thwaites and Edvald Boasson Hagen likely to be given the freedom to ride for themselves on hillier days.