Eyes On The Prize

As well as the Yellow Jersey for best overall rider, riders will be competing for a number of other prizes over the three weeks of the Tour – those prizes are previewed here.

Green Jersey – Points Classification (Best Sprinter)

The rules of the green jersey competition, for the winner of the points competition, have been changed this year – and so they should have. In the past two Tours Mark Cavendish has won 5 and 6 stages respectively, and yet has only finished second in the race for the sprinters prize because of the vagaries of the competition. This year there are more points awarded for winning stages, and only one intermediate sprint per stage, worth 20 points instead of 6, and paying all the way down to 15th. This should allow Cavendish to finally take his first Green Jersey in Paris. His main dangers are his two rivals from last year, Allessandro Pettachi and World Champion Thor Hushovd. I think the new rules suit Pettachi better as he is more explosive than Hushovd these days - the God of Thunder stayed competitive last year by finishing top 5 in a number of stages without ever threatening to win one. An outsider for the jersey may be Australia’s Matt Goss. While he will be riding as lead out man for Mark Cavendish, if something were to happen to the Manx man than Goss, winner at Milan-San Remo earlier this year, is more than good enough to take over as High Road-HTC’s main sprinter.

Polka Dot Jersey - Mountains Classification (Best Climber)

The mountains classification is generally an absolute lottery, as evidenced by the fact that Anthony Charteau took the prize out last year. I have just looked through the history of the race and he is easily the worst winner of the award this millennium (and possibly ever!). As was the case with the green jersey this competition has had a revamp, with the big points now more heavily weighted towards the major mountain passes. With double points now only available on the four big summit finishes, we could see a GC contender take the prize (rare in recent times). However, my tip for the jersey this year is Frenchman David Moncoutie, a three time winner of this prize in the Vuleta. He is never going to be a GC contender, so should get more than enough leeway to go hunting for points in the major mountain stages. His major challengers are likely to be the GC leaders in Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck, who are sure to finish high enough up on the major summit finishes to rack up a fair amount of points in this competition. A complete bolter may be Saxo Bank’s Chris Anker Sorensen. Although he will be riding in support of Contador there is a bit of talk around that he may be eyeing off this competition himself, and he certainly has the ability to feature if given his head.

White Jersey - Youth Classification (Best Young Rider)

This competition has been the domain of Andy Schleck for the last three years but he is no longer eligible for this age-restricted category. That is likely to see the title pass to the great Dutch hope Robert Gesink, who is being tipped by some as an overall podium finisher. That should be more than enough for him to take out the youth classification with relative ease. To be honest, picking any rivals for Gesink is clutching at straws, but one may be the latest French hope Jerome Coppel (see Yellow Jersey preview). Outside of him American Tejay Van Garderen is a chance if HTC allow him to ride for an overall position. It is hard to find a genuine bolter that would be any chance of taking this prize away from the favourites.

2011 Preview - Four for Contador

The 2011 Tour de France is now less than a week away and as always The Falcon will be there to expertly guide you through every grueling kilometer of the epic race. This year’s edition marks the 100^th anniversary of the first inclusion of the Alps in the races parcours, and to celebrate the riders will face an epic last week of adversity in the Alpine passes. Again race director, Christian Prudhomme, has included a mythical mountain finish in the final days of the race. This time it is L’Alpe d’Huez. Let’s hope the stage is not a massive fizzer as the final stages to Mount Vonteux and the Tourmalet have been in the last two editions.

With the race kicking off from the Passage de Gois’ on Saturday night there is just enough time to preview the major jersey competitions this year, starting with the Yellow Jersey.

1.Alberto Contador – Let’s face it – barring an unmitigated disaster Alberto Contador will win his 4^th Tour de France. No one that saw his imperious performance at the Giro d’Italia could think otherwise. He won in Italy with ease, and that made it 6 victories from his last 6 starts in three week races. At the start of this season he looked to be mentally suffering from his clenbutoral affair, but the Giro showed he is back to his best. If he stays on his bike – he wins. Simple.

2.Andy Schleck – The charming Luxembourger as always lines up as the peoples favourite. But alas I fear he is set for a third consecutive runner up finish to his Spanish rival. Schleck has saved himself this season, riding a light program in anticipation of putting it all on the line this July. However, for mine, he still suffers from the shadow of his selfish brother. Frank, will often rope Andy into helping him achieve his own goals even though Andy is a far superior rider. Andy may need to first overcome the awe of his brother before he can achieve ultimate glory in Paris.

3.Samuel Sanchez – Great name. Great rider. The2008 Olympic Champion is a superb all round rider who at his best can match it with the big names in the Peloton, in both the mountains and the race against the clock. He has reached the podium in the Vuelta Espana in the past, and is always super competitive. To be honest, Contador and Schleck are so far ahead of their rivals that third is an absolute lottery, but if everything goes right for Sanchez I think he can be the third wheel on the podium this year.

Outsider – Jerome Coppel – It is rare a complete bolter wins the tour (Oscar Peririo was the last to do so in 2006 after a getting into a massive break on a flat stage, and the win only came after the winner tested positive), and with two dominant riders in Contador and Schleck it is hard to see it happening this year. Still Coppel is the latest great French hope, and given he will be riding on a French wildcard team he may just be given his head. Anyway, it is always good for the French to start the race with something to dream about.

In closing, the 2011 edition, like that in 2010, looks like a race in two. Let’s hope it provides a bit more excitement than past races. The Tour has gone downhill a little since the epic centenary edition in 2003, and Lances first retirement. In trying to keep the result in doubt until the last moment Prudohmme has in fact created races that have been decided a long way from home. Let’s hope this year he gets his long awaited wish with the race decided on the death on the mighty Alpe!