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Where else to start than Cav?
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This weekend will see a true great, for all his flaws, remembered.
“,”elementId”:”d063c430-9998-4e3f-88ac-a61f8ec68adc”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement”,”prefix”:”Related: “,”text”:”A pirate’s life: Tour de France sets sail for home of the great Marco Pantani”,”elementId”:”29dda386-6caa-42cb-9ffe-ead1de81b33d”,”role”:”thumbnail”,”url”:”https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jun/29/a-pirates-life-tour-de-france-sets-sail-for-home-of-the-great-marco-pantani”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement”,”prefix”:”Related: “,”text”:”A grand departure: Italy gears up to host start of Tour de France for first time”,”elementId”:”2ccb3daf-5dc4-455c-99ff-63708f92182b”,”role”:”thumbnail”,”url”:”https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jun/28/italy-prepares-to-host-start-of-tour-de-france-for-first-time”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
The contenders to be in the yellow jersey in Paris.
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Here’s your team-by-team guide.
“,”elementId”:”944502e2-a708-40fc-8a3f-f89bba8ea5f3″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement”,”prefix”:”Related: “,”text”:”Tour de France 2024: full team-by-team guide”,”elementId”:”fc5eceaf-a09c-4f6d-879c-5f41b3176497″,”role”:”thumbnail”,”url”:”https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jun/27/tour-de-france-2024-full-team-by-team-guide”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
And, of course, stage by stage.
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Important Events
Richard Cutler emailed me the following prediction:
The truth is, I have no idea, but someone in my Velogames group predicts that Mathieu van der Poel will win today and probably keep his yellow card for a week. I have a 10p bet on Giulio Ciccone at 35/1, but only because I read somewhere that someone predicted he would win today.
Again, I have no idea, but I will buy myself the larger 99 flake size later if it comes in stock!
William Fotheringham recommended Ciccone in his preview, so that’s not a bad bet. With the recent variance in returns, there’s not much change at the big 99.
188km remaining: The breakaway finally happened: Sandy Dujardin, Matteo Wercher (TotalEnergies), Frank van den Broek (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), Clement Champousin (Arkea-B&B), Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Valentin Maduas (Groupama-FDJ) and Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious). Uno-X Mobility missed out and are in hot pursuit, but so far without much success.
192km remaining: There is another group trying to break away. Warren Barguil and Simon Geschke were busy in the early stages but they are arguably not talented enough to be allowed to break away.
194km remaining: There has been no break yet, and David Millar doesn’t expect one to happen until the peloton reaches the first climb up the Varico Tre Faggi pass with around 176km to go.
201km remaining: A large group has formed ahead of us, but it seems too big to break away.
205km remaining: It’s finally time to start: the flag has been lowered and the Tour de France 2024 has officially begun.
Please email us your predictions. For reference, I expect Tom Pidcock to surprise today, coming off a strong week on mountain bikes and heading into a hard-fought stage with two category 2 climbs.
We are approaching the 0 kilometer mark. Who will be looking to grab an early win?
Let’s make the Tour de France Italian. Florence started at Piazza della Signoria and the riders crossed the Ponte Vecchio, a perfect Italian job. The riders are still on their way, but there are about 8km to go until the flag is dropped.
🤩 What a way to start #TDF2024
🤩 Starting Operation #TDF2024 translator 👋 pic.twitter.com/JJwu4O6B8w
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) June 29, 2024
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This is what today’s stage looked like. Saturday 29th June: 206km from Florence to Rimini with a preview from William Fotheringham.
Italy’s first Grand Depart comes, ironically, at a time when cycling talent in this traditional heartland is extremely thin. There are barely any Italians on the start list and zero chance of a repeat of Italy’s last overall winner, Vincenzo Nibali, in 2014. A dramatically tough opening stage suits the punchy talents of Giulio Ciccone, but with three second-rate climbs, who’s to bet against Tadej Pogacar trying to get an early advantage?
📈 7 ascents in today’s program, D+ 3,600m 🥵
🧮 Up to 23 points earned today. Who will be supporting your shirt tonight? ⚪️🔴#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/R1mYsUzf2G
— Maillot a Pois E. Leclerc (@maillotapois) June 29, 2024
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📈 7 ascents in today’s program, D+ 3,600m 🥵
🧮 Up to 23 points earned today. Who will be supporting your shirt tonight? ⚪️🔴#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/R1mYsUzf2G
— Maillot a Pois E. Leclerc (@maillotapois) June 29, 2024
preamble
We’re going to Florence soon and have been cramming previews all week.
Where else to start but with the Cav?
This weekend, a true great, despite his flaws, will be remembered.
Candidates wearing the yellow jersey in Paris.
Here’s a guide for each team.
And of course, in stages.
