• The scene is set for the first ever Grand Départ in Italy. The peloton will meet at the start in the centre of Florence at 12 midday on Saturday for a 206 km first stage, the finish of which will take place on the shores of the Adriatic in the seaside resort of Rimini
• The 2020 and 2021 Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar arrives at the Tour on top form after his Giro triumph, but he has recently recovered from Covid. Pogacar’s rival Vingegaard has battled back from the injuries he sustained in the heavy crash at Itzulia Basque Country in April and the defending champion says he will have to feel his way into the race
• Likewise Primoz Roglic has overcome his injuries from the Itzulia Basque Country crash and he is ready to ride at the Tour for the first since joining Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, having recently won the Criterium du Dauphine
• There are a number of interesting statistical curiosities ahead of the 111th Tour de France, including the fact that the 45 debutants on the start list will raise the all-time Tour entrants’ number to exactly 5400 riders in total since the first edition in 1903
TADEJ POGACAR: “YOU NEVER KNOW IF YOU’RE READY FOR A THREE-WEEK RACE”
The big challenge for Tadej Pogacar at the 2024 Tour is clear, with the UAE Team Emirates star striving to win a Giro-Tour de France double, which has not been achieved since Marco Pantani did it 1998. The winner of the 2020 and 2021 Tours de France was dominant at the Giro in May and whilst he is generally positive about his preparations and his form, he yesterday announced two pieces of news which shed a slightly different light on his progress over the last few weeks, He stated, “Everything happened very quickly, and I had to interrupt my training to return to Slovenia because my grandfather died. When I got back I contracted Covid. I only had one “K-O” day, then I quickly resumed training on the home trainer and got back on the bike as soon as I was no longer contagious.” Following this admission, Pogacar reassured his fans about his condition, although he remains cautious about overstating his chances of victory: “Physically I feel ready to win, though you never know if you're totally ready for a three-week race,” he said. “You also have to manage your mind and be lucky. The double is a big challenge, it’s already difficult to win a Grand Tour. But I like taking on challenges.” Among the other unknowns ahead of the Tour, ‘Pogi’ also spoke about the prospect of another chapter in his rivalry with Jonas Vingegaard, commenting, “This relationship with Jonas is extraordinary. We only see each other once a year… in July! I think he will be back to his best level, he wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t ready.” Let battle commence.
JONAS VINGEGAARD: “BEING AT THE START IS ALREADY A VICTORY”
Double Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard comes into his fourth Grande Boucle having gone through a period of major physical recuperation, following his heavy crash at the Tour of the Basque Country in April. The Dane understandably expressed measured ambitions during his pre-race press conference, commenting: “I’m very happy to be at the start, it is already a victory. It was a real challenge to regain the level I have now. I experienced the hardest moment of my career, so I really fought to come back.” Another difficulty for the Visma-Lease a Bike leader to deal with has been the withdrawal of American rider Sepp Kuss due to a recent bout of Covid. Kuss participated in the team's previous victorious campaigns and will be missed by Vingegaard and his colleagues. All things considered, Vingegaard believes he will need to wait somewhat to judge his potential this year. He noted, “It is likely that I will gain power throughout the race. If, for example, I have to fight to stay at the front in the first days, I will then be able to get back into the rhythm with the best. I don't know if I can win, I don't feel in bad shape but the crash was really terrible. I have hope, that’s for sure, but we’ll see.”
PRIMOZ ROGLIC: “IT’S GOING TO BE CRAZY”
Fans of the Tour de France were first treated to a glimpse of Primoz Roglic’s awesome prowess in 2017, when he won his first stage in Serre-Chevalier. Seven years on and Roglic is ready to compete in his first Tour de France with his new team, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. He is regarded as a serious candidate for the Yellow Jersey, even at the age of 34 and following the four years of the remarkable Pogacar and Vingegaard success story. Ahead of his sixth Tour de France Roglic says, “I feel young and I'm happy to be here, my aim is to seize every opportunity. I don’t know if this is my last Tour or if I will do ten more, but in any case I intend to play my cards to win.” When asked about possible scenarios, the winner of the recent Criterium du Dauphine described the twists and turns that could very quickly unfold in the race. “Of course, the Tour lasts three weeks and it is only at the end of the 21st stage that we know who is the best rider,” he commented. “But you have to be there from day one, stay focused and do your best. This year we go into the mountains very early with the Galibier from the fourth stage, then hit the gravel at the end of the first week… it’s going to be crazy.” With potential opportunities arriving quickly, Roglic has singled out the San Luca climb, towards the finale of the second stage, which has previously served as a springboard for his three victories in the Giro dell'Emilia (2019, ’21 and ‘23). He explained, “It’s a very short and steep hill, I like it. But nothing is ever the same on the Tour de France.” At the 2023 Giro dell'Emilia Roglic beat his compatriot Tadej Pogacar to the finish line by a second. The story continues…
RIDER STATISTICS: KEY DATA ON THIS YEAR’S START LIST
· 27 countries are represented at the 111th edition of the Tour de France, which is the same as last year. France has the highest number of riders in the race at 32 (again, same as last year), followed by Belgium at 28, the largest number for the country since 1989 (36).
· The oldest rider at the start is Jakob Fuglsang at 39 years and 99 days. The youngest rider is Johannes Kulset at 20 years and 76 days.
· The rider with most participations is Mark Cavendish, at his 15th Tour, whilst the all-time record is held by Sylvain Chavanel with 18. When Cavendish rode in his first Tour in 2007 this year’s youngest rider Kulset was just three years old.
· There are 39 riders contesting the White Jersey this year, the oldest of whom is Javier Romo of Movistar at 25 years and 175 days of age.
· There are 45 debutants on the startlist, taking the total of Tour entrants throughout history to exactly 5400 riders. This year’s debutants list includes the likes of Pascal Ackermann, Joao Almeida, Juan Ayuso, Remco Evenepoel, Derek Gee and Ben Healy.
· Behind 34-time Tour stage winner Cavendish in terms of riders with most stage wins at this year’s Tour are Tadej Pogacar (11 wins), Wout van Aert (9), Jasper Philipsen (6) and Dylan Groenewegen (5).
· There are nine national road race champions in this year’s race and eight national time trial champions on the startlist, including South Africa’s Ryan Gibbons who holds the national titles in both disciplines.
2024 TOUR DE FRANCE TEAMS IN NUMBERS
· The race will feature exactly the same teams as the 2023 Tour de France. So there are no newcomers from a team perspective, but there will be three ‘veteran’ teams: The Movistar Team are ready for their 42nd consecutive participation (previously participating as Reynolds, Banesto, Illes Balears and Caisse d 'Epargne); Visma-Lease a Bike, with 41 consecutive appearances (Kwantum, Superconfex, Buckler, Wordperfect, Novell, Rabobank, Belkin, LottoNL and Jumbo); and Lotto-dstny, with 35 non-consecutive participations (there were two years between their first three participations and the subsequent 32).
· Lotto-dstny are also the team whose 2024 rider line-up has the lowest average age: at only 26 years and 124 days, the youngest member of their team curiously being their leader Arnaud de Lie, who will be 22 years and 105 days old when the Grand Départ takes place this Saturday in Florence. At the other end of the scale are Jayco-AlUla, whose riders’ are aged 32 years and 309 days on average.
· Seven of the eight men who participated in 2023 for Jayco-AlUla are with the team again this year: with the only change being Michael Matthews coming in to replace Lawson Craddock. It’s the same story at Bahrain Victorious, where Santiago Buitrago comes in for Mikel Landa. Soudal-Quick Step, on the other hand, have made big changes, with the only rider to stay on the team from last year being Yves Lampaert.
· Five teams in the peloton have previously secured Tour de France GC wins: Movistar Team and Ineos Grenadiers, with seven victories each; plus UAE Team Emirates, Visma-Lease a Bike and Astana Qazaqstan with two wins each. Meanwhile, there are 11 teams that have not put a rider on the final podium; among them, Primoz Roglic's Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe; the Soudal-Quick Step team of Remco Evenepoel; and Simon Yates' Jayco-AlUla.
· On the stage victory count, Visma-Lease a Bike are the leaders with 71 stage wins, whilst it’s 51 for Soudal-Quick Step and 40 for Lotto-dstny. In contrast, still looking for their first Tour bouquet are Uno-X, who debuted in 2023; Intermarche-Wanty, who are preparing for their seventh Tour participation and Arkea-B&B Hotels, who are starting their 11th consecutive Tour.
· The five French teams are in the majority, namely Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale, Groupama-FDJ, Cofidis, Arkea-B&B Hotels and TotalEnergies, followed by four from Belgium (Soudal-Quick Step, Lotto-dstny, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Intermarche-Wanty). Lotto-dstny (with seven Belgians and one Australian) and TotalEnergies (with seven Frenchmen and one Belgian) are the teams with the least diversity of nationality in their line-ups. Quite the opposite is the case at Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe: with all eight of their riders being of different nationalities.
