Tour de France to get interesting after slow start

IF you think the first week of this year’s Tour de France has seemed a little lacklustre, I would have to agree with you.

Typically, the Tour is known for drama, excitement, danger and heroics.

While the racing has been good and we’ve seen the world’s best sprinters go head to head, there seems to have been something missing so far from this year’s jaunt around France.

Britain’s Mark Cavendish, despite having not been a big favourite coming into the Tour, has shown that he is still one of the world’s best against a field of sprinters that has more depth than any of the last 15 years.

There was dialogue pre-Tour around his focus on preparation for the track at the Rio Olympics and the possibility he wasn’t going to be at an adequate level for the Tour de France sprints.

However, it seems his prep- aration for Rio has done nothing but enhance his performance on the road.

His three stage wins have taken him to a career 29 – the second most in history and five behind Belgian great, Eddy Merckx; a target that increasingly seems achievable for the 31-yearold.

While Cavendish has won three of the sprints, he hasn’t been a dominant force and the extreme high level and depth of the field has made the performances across the board seem a bit ordinary, which is clearly not the case.

We are primed for some good racing as we hit the mountain finishes in the Pyrenees and head across to the French and Swiss Alps this week.

The first stage in the mountains on Friday didn’t see any of the big favourites draw swords, but we can be sure that those who are serious contenders will begin to test each other before they leave the Pyrenees.