Cycling: The three weeks of the Tour de France always go by far too quickly. Velomotion looks back at the tops and flops and the surprises of the Grand Boucle.
Tops
The Four Fantastic
Much has been written about the top four favorites ahead of the tour. And Froome, Quintana, Nibali and Contador kept their word. They enriched the race with their presence, shaped it with numerous attacks and ultimately occupied four of the first five places overall. Nobody presented themselves unmotivated or in bad shape, everyone wanted to win the race and went to the pain limit and beyond. Of course, with Chris Froome's win, not everyone was able to do what he set out to do. Contador simply lacked the strength after his Giro victory, Nibali lost all chances of defending his title on a pitch-black day in the Pyrenees and Quintana already lost the decisive time on the flat stage to Seeland. But no one was discouraged by setbacks, all four raced aggressively and fought to the end. That was absolutely top performance!
The German and French drivers
No fewer than nine of the 21 stage wins went to German and French riders. Both nations thus impressively confirmed the good impression they had already made on the 2014 Tour with nine daily victories as well. André Greipel made fat booty with four stage successes. Tony Martin won at Cambrai and became a tragic figure when he was forced to leave the Tour two days later after an unfortunate fall. Simon Geschke's victory on the difficult Alpine stage to Pra Loup was highly emotional. John Degenkolb failed in an attempt to finally win a Tour de France stage but did collect some top ten results. In the overall standings, Dominik Nerz was on a good course for a long time, but had to give up the race exhausted after the first Pyrenean stage. But its potential gives hope for the future.
France enjoyed a stage win by Alexis Vuillermoz on the Mûr de Bretagne before French riders let off fireworks in the Alps. Every day the colors of the Tricolore were represented in the breakaway groups and while Pierre Rolland was missing the last bit of luck, Romain Bardet in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and Thibaut Pinot in Alpe d'Huez were celebrating. In the overall standings, two Frenchmen, Bardet and Rolland, also placed in the top ten. Bardet was also recognized as the most combative driver. The tragic hero was Jean-Christophe Péraud, who was initially unable to confirm his second place overall from the previous year and then fell heavily. But the 38-year-old made it to Paris. After the Grande Nation didn't have much reason to celebrate at their home race in the past, French drivers clearly shaped the race for the second year in a row.
The route planner
Gone are the days when the Tour de France started with nine to ten flat stages after a prologue. Tour boss Christian Prudhomme and route boss Thierry Gouvenou designed a varied course that challenged the top favorites early on and made attractive races possible. This included the mini classics of the first week with narrow streets, steep ramps and cobblestones as well as the wind edges and smaller hill climbs in the course of the race. With three Pyrenees and four Alpine stages, the race was extremely difficult - at the same time there were unusually few individual time trial kilometers. But aggressive riders found attractive terrain for attacks, and breakaway groups were often able to fight the day's victory among themselves. In addition, the route offered scenic highlights every day, among which the chalk cliffs on France's north coast or the serpentines of Montvernier particularly stood out.
Flops
Cofidis, Bretagne Séche-Environnement, Orica-Green Edge
As much as drivers from AG2R, Europcar and FDJ shaped the Tour de France, the French teams Cofidis and Bretagne Séche-Environnement remained as pale. Cofidis had started the race with top sprinter Nacer Bouhanni and was aiming for a stage win. However, after a respectable sixth place on the cobblestone stage, Bouhanni fell and Cofidis was unable to compensate. The Continental team Bretagne Séche-Environnement led a similar shadowy existence after its man for the overall classification – the Argentinian Eduardo Sepúlveda – was disqualified for illegal driving in the team car. In contrast to previous years, Orica-Green Edge was also almost invisible. Having won two more stages in the 2013 Tour and also excelled in this year's Giro, the Australians, like last year, went away empty-handed. The failure of Simon Gerrans, who was involved in the horror crash towards Huy, weighed heavily here. None of the teams should be really satisfied with their own performance on this year's tour.
Some fans
Despite all the enthusiasm: Some fans behaved clearly wrong and trampled on the Tour de France cycling festival. These included the attacks on Chris Froome in the yellow jersey, who was insulted, spat on and, according to his own statement, even spattered with urine. Richie Porte also said he was hit by a bystander. Cars were also kicked and objects thrown at them. UCI President Brian Cookson warned: "I am concerned that elements of hooliganism are starting to enter our sport, which we have been able to keep out until now. We'll all have to be a little more careful in the future.” One thing is clear: the tendency towards self-promotion has increased significantly in some viewers in recent years. Visiting the world's largest cycling event is sometimes not just the focus of interest, but rather the self-portrayal, the special selfie photo without regard to one's own safety or that of the riders or the insults of unloved riders. Cycling doesn’t need such “fans”.
surprises
Alejandro Valverde
Ten years have passed since a young Alejandro Valverde beat Lance Armstrong on the hilltop finish in Courchevel. Ten years in which Valverde achieved outstanding results, including winning the Vuelta in 2009 and the Liège-Bastogne-Liège classic three times. But also ten years in which Valverde could never quite fulfill the hopes that his compatriots placed in him at the Tour de France. Four times he placed in the top ten overall, but only this year - at the age of 35 and after serving a two-year doping ban - did Valverde make the long-awaited leap onto the Tour podium. He was the only driver who could break into the phalanx of the four fantastic - Froome, Quintana, Nibali and Contador - and even left two of them behind. With all the top results that Valverde has collected in recent years: very few had expected this performance and his help for teammates Nairo Quintana.
Emmanuel Buchman
The freshly crowned German champion rode the Tour de France in his first season as a professional cyclist - and knew how to impress! At first he put himself entirely in the service of Bora-Argon 18 captain Dominik Nerz. On the day of his retirement, he drove into the limelight: Buchmann sensationally finished third on the difficult Pyrenees stage via Aspin and Tourmalet to Cauterets. It wasn't just the physical strength of the 22-year-old Ravensburger that impressed, but also his courage and his way of organizing the races. Buchmann has already indicated his potential for tours in the past: in 2014 he was seventh in the Tour de l'Avenir, in 2015 he finished the Tour of Algarve, Giro del Trentino, Critérium International and Dauphiné in the top 20 and around the top 30 respectively. A second Effort like in the Pyrenees Buchmann didn't succeed, but he finished the Tour de France and gained important experience. We will definitely be hearing a lot more from him in the years to come.
Daniel Teklehaimanot
The Eritrean from MTN-Qhubeka wore the dotted jersey of the best climber for three days and was the first African rider in cycling history to wear this jersey. Given the 26-year-old's past achievements, this success came as less of a surprise than a confirmation that cycling is becoming more international and talented riders are also pushing forward from countries without a great professional cycling tradition. MTN-Qhubeka was the first African team to start the Tour de France. And the drivers in the black and white striped jerseys not only convinced with the conquest of the dotted jersey by Teklehaimanot. Steve Cummings won stage 14 on Mandela Day and MTN riders kept collecting top ten results. And the claim of the Africans is clear: they came to stay. Preferably again with strong results at the Tour de France 2016.
For anyone who dreams of exploring the Tour de France and the legendary stages themselves, we recommend the GoEuro site - here you will find inspiration and lots of tips. goeuro.de
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