198 riders, 49 neophytes
The 198 riders represent 22 different teams and 32 different nations. 39 of them are from France, 18 from Italy, 16 from Germany and Belgium, 15 from The Netherlands and 13 from Spain. The other countries have less than 10 participants. The most experienced of them is Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Energie) who already started the race 16 times. He’ll reach the top of the tally on pair with George Hincapie, Stuart O’Grady and Jens Voigt who also count 17 participations. However, shall he make it to Paris, he won’t equal Joop Zoetemelk who remains the rider with most finishes as he completed all 16 Tour de France he took part in. Chavanel, Haimar Zubeldia (Trek-Segafredo) and Thomas Voeckler (Direct Energie) have finished the race on 14 occasions. Zubeldia is the oldest rider on the start list, aged 40, followed by Matthew Hayman (Orica-Scott), 39, Voeckler and Chavanel, 38. The youngest is Elie Gesbert (Fortuneo-Oscaro), 22, while Tiesj Benoot (Lotto-Soudal), Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin), Thomas Boudat (Direct Energie), Rick Zabel (Katusha-Alpecin), Stefan Küng (BMC), Michael Gogl (Trek-Segafredo), Alberto Bettiol (Cannondale-Drapac), Pierre Latour (AG2R-La Mondiale), Olivier Le Gac (FDJ) and Florian Sénéchal (Cofidis) are 23 years old. 29 riders are under 26 and therefore compete for the white jersey. 21 riders are 35 and above. The oldest team is Dimension Data with an average age of 32 years and 55 days and the youngest is Cannondale-Drapac with 27 years and 238 days. The Wanty-Groupe Gobert wild card team is fully composed of debutants. 49 riders are first timers at the Tour de France, the all time record being 61 in 2010 and the smallest number of the current century being 34 in 2006 and 2016.
Nairo Quintana predicts a lot of movements
Nairo Quintana looked relaxed and happy at the pre-race press conference, stating that his participation to the Giro d’Italia shouldn’t harm his competitiveness. “The Tour de France is the biggest goal of the year for myself and my team”, he declared. “I have recovered well from the Giro. I came out of this race with good legs and good feelings. With less kilometers of time trialing, the course of the Tour de France is less unfavourable than in previous years. I hope there won’t be much difference between the favourites in the time trials. I’m less worried by the time trials than I was at the Giro. There are few uphill finishes at the Tour this year but there mountain stages in which I’ll look at making differences. It’ll be a Tour with a lot of strategy and movements.”
Romain Bardet promises to fight till the end
AG2R-La Mondiale announced the extension of the contracts of newly crowned Belgian champion for road racing Oliver Naesen, French champion for time trialling Pierre Latour and team leader Romain Bardet who declared ahead of the coming Tour de France: “I’ve never raced on a defensive attitude. Especially after having finished second at the Tour last year, I’ll allow myself to take even more risks even if I may pay for it later on. Success should flow from attacking. However, risk taking must be calculated. I know I’ll have to be patient since I built my place on the podium in the last days of racing last year. But I’m not a wind-up merchant. I’m not promising any result. You can just trust me for fighting until we reach Paris.”
Mark Cavendish believes in his luck
Ten years ago, Mark Cavendish started his first Tour de France in London. He didn’t win any stage on his Tour debut. He crashed in stage 1 to Harrogate in 2014. In all his other participations, he won at least a stage and compiled a total of thirty wins up to date. Four of them were collected last year but this time around, his chances look reduced as his lead up to the race has been hampered by glandular fever. “I managed to train and I tested myself at the Tour of Slovenia and the British championship”, he said in a press conference. “All I know is that I won get dropped in the neutral zone. I’m realistic. I don’t know what my real level is. But I know that we can always be lucky in the sprints. It’s not always necessary to have the best train. Sometimes following the right wheel is enough for winning.”
