2015 Tour de France Contenders
The 2015 Tour De France begins on July 4 in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and four cyclists have emerged as the top contenders to win this year.• Vincenzo Nibali, 30, Astana Pro Team, Italy – Winner of 2014 Tour de France
• Chris Froome, 30, Team Sky, Great Britain – Winner of 2013 Tour de France
• Nairo Quintana, 25, Team Movistar, Columbia – Winner of 2014 Giro d’Italia
• Alberto Contador, 32, Tinkoff-Saxo, Spain – Winner of 2015, 2008 Giro d’Italia, 2007, 2009 Tour de France, 2014, 2012 and 2008 Vuelta a Espana
Vincenzo Nibali is the defending champion of the Tour de France. He has focused on more training than racing so far this year. He has 35 days of racing so far this year. He has a strong team with him in the Tour which should help him, especially during the typically chaotic first week of the Tour.
Chris Froome won this year’s Criterium du Dauphine, edging out Tejay van Garderen in the last stage of that week long race. Froome has a strong team supporting him in the flat and mountainous stages. Froome only has raced 27 days so far this year.
Nairo Quintana may have an advantage this year due to the number of climbs in this year’s Tour. If Quintana is near the top contenders going into the mountains, then he could be a real challenge to the other top contenders. He has 35 days of racing as well as Nibali.
Alberto Contador announced earlier this year that he intended to win both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France this year. Contador won this year’s Giro d’Italia by one minute and 53 seconds. And he won the Tour tune-up race, Route du Sud, held annually in Southern France the week before the Tour. He has the most Grand Tour experience among his top rivals, has a strong team to support him and a relaxed attitude going into the Tour.
Other contenders include Tejay van Garderen, Team BMC, USA, who nearly won this year’s Critérium du Dauphiné over Chris Froome. He has declared that he is aiming to finish on the podium this year.
Among the sprinters battling for the Green Jersey will be Mark Cavendish, 30, Etixx-Quick Step, Isle of Man and Peter Sagan, 25, Tinkoff-Saxo, Slovakia. While Sagan won this year’s Amgen Tour of California, shoulder to shoulder, Cavendish demonstrated that he is still the fastest sprinter in the Tour. However, Sagan has expanded his road skills, so he could win sprint points in hillier stages.
Everyone has expectations about who will win which jersey whether the jersey is the Yellow jersey, the Green jersey or some other jersey. Each year, the nervousness of the first week (and the resulting crashes) and the weather (the rain, the wind and the heat) often have more an effect on the Tour outcome than all of the training, preliminary races and team strategies. The Tour’s 21 stages will cover 2,088 miles (3360km) with nine flat stages, seven mountain stages, one team time trial and an individual time trial.
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