Brit-free Tour could run into trouble
■ (left) and Froome
THE Tour de France sets off in Nice today with no Brits in contention.
Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas and Mark Cavendish are all absent.
And there is no guarantee the peloton will even make it to Paris if Covid-19 returns with a vengeance.
Back in 2007, two million fans lined the streets of London for the Grand
Depart and a second stage down to Canterbury.
Since then, Froome, on four occasions, Thomas and Bradley Wiggins have raised the Union Jack on the Champs Elysees – while sprint king Cavendish has chalked up 30 stage wins.
Despite a miraculous recovery, Froome was not quite up to speed for Le
■ (above)
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Tour, while Thomas will instead go to the Giro d’italia in five weeks’ time.
Above all, at today’s Grand Depart in Nice, there will be a sense of trepidation as crowds return to a major sporting event.
With a new surge in coronavirus cases in France, critics of the race going ahead say it represents an unnecessary risk to public (WBC champion) Fury is the king of the division right now. Good boxer, good brain and does what his mind tells him to do. He’s the No.1... for now.
(WBA, IBF and WBO champion)
Good fighter, he is probably just below that No.1 spot. He’s a world champion and a great athlete. He has improved so quickly as a pro and I respect that. He has come back to beat who beat him, that is what you have to do.
The Bomb Squad! He’s a swinger isn’t he, he’s wild, it’s in his name. I like that, he’s different to watch. He has got a bit of boxing but the main thing is the right hand, the swings and the chaos, all of which I like.
Mr Robot! He looks very stiff, rigid and slow. But he has a good engine and perpetual motion. I will be too powerful for him though.
He’s all right, his toughness and determination are very good. He’s beaten some good guys like Joe Parker. He’s no slouch, a solid contender. health. But race director Christian Prudhomme said: “This Tour will be a symbol of rebirth and economic recovery.”
On the roads, the battle for the yellow jersey is expected to be led by Jumbo Visma’s Primoz Roglic and Tom Dumoulin, plus defending champion Ineos Grenadiers’ Egan Bernal.
Ineos principal Sir Dave
Brailsford is plotting his eighth Tour de France win in nine years.
He said: “Everybody wants the event to happen.
“But equally, to take a mature and fair commonsense approach, if there becomes a point where it’s too much of a risk to riders, to teams and to society in general, people need to take that on board as well.”