In May at the Giro a short stage ended in a bunch sprint. Mark Cavendish was the beneficiary as he pulled on his first Paul Smith maglia rosa for a third stint in pink. The Manx man was one of five riders to wear the leaders jersey at the Giro which has set a trend in 2013. Although Ryder Hesjedal as defending champion at the Giro wore the pink jersey on the first stage, this is about jerseys as won on the road.
At the 2012 Giro five riders had the pleasure of making their way to the podium to pull on the pink fleece. At the 2012 Tour there was just one change in the maillot jaune as Fabian Cancellara and Bradley Wiggins racked up the plush lions toys for their kids.
At the Vuelta there were four red jersey wearers with the first jersey wearer of the race, Jonathan Castroviejo the odd one out. He was the only rider to have worn red and not finished on the podium.
2013 has been a friendlier year to riders although it's still a tough act to hold onto the lead for more than a few days.
Although Vincenzo Nibali didn't let go off pink from Stage 8 onwards at the Giro this year, four riders swapped the jersey making it appear as though the Sicilian, come Tuscan, had some rivals.
The Tour was a similar story as riders tried having a bite at yellow before the impending Sky domination of the lead. Four had luck but anyone with three kids is going to have a tough time deciding on who misses out on a lion.
As it stands it is nine stages into the last grand tour of the season and there have been five different riders at each race to have worn the leaders jersey. Nibali has worn both pink and red in 2013 and is looking like he'll match Angelo Conterno or go past him as the Italian to have spent most days in red. Conterno spent 16 days leading the race on his way to victory in 1956 while the Shark also held la maillot rojo when he won overall in 2010.
So this a breakdown of the riders who have led a grand tour in 2013 so far, their team performance and national performance. But does this equate to a table of success? Some big teams are missing from here or have only a few days in a jersey to show off their season when in fact one-day races have been their forte. This shows that even a day in any grand tour is to be treasured and any rider would take this accolade for their palamres.
Nibali and Froome lead the personal days in the lead having won the first two grand tours in 2013 but as overall days in the three tours, Nibali can only increase his lead from here.
Aesthetically though, Astana have been disappointing in their commitment to matching the jersey to their kit. At the Giro, Nibali was only afforded the pink treatment on the final day as his time trial skinsuits were provided by the race organizers. At the Vuelta this has continued as teammate Brajkovic had a nice red helmet to match his jersey while Nibali went with the team issue. Perhaps the shark is colourblind as the Astana blue isn't the best match on its own with red or pink.
Giro d'Italia
Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) 1 Stage
Salvatore Puccio (Team Sky) 1 Stage
Luca Paolini (Katusha) 4 Stages
Beñat Intxausti (Movistar) 1 Stage
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) 12 Stages
Tour de France
Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) 1 stage
Jan Bakelents (RadioShack-Leopard) 2 Stages
Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) 2 Stages
Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge) 2 Stages
Chris Froome (Team Sky) 14 Stages
Vuelta a España
Janez Brajkovic (Astana) 1 Stage
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) 13 Stages
Chris Horner (RadioShack-Leopard) 5 Stages
Nicholas Roche (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff) 1 Stage
Daniel Moreno (Katusha) 1 Stage
Teams
Argos-Shimano 1 Stage
Astana 26 stages
Katusha 5 Stages
Movistar 1 Stage
Omega Pharma-Quick Step 1 Stage
Orica-GreenEdge 4 Stages
RadioShack-Leopard 7 Stages
Saxo Bank-Tinkoff 1 Stage
Team Sky 15 Stages
Nations
Australia 2 Stages
Belgium 2 Stages
Germany 1 Stage
Great Britain 14 Stages
Ireland 1 Stage
Isle of Man 1 Stage
Italy 29 Stages
Slovenia 1 Stage
Spain 2 Stages
South Africa 2 Stages
United States of America 5 Stages
At the 2012 Giro five riders had the pleasure of making their way to the podium to pull on the pink fleece. At the 2012 Tour there was just one change in the maillot jaune as Fabian Cancellara and Bradley Wiggins racked up the plush lions toys for their kids.
At the Vuelta there were four red jersey wearers with the first jersey wearer of the race, Jonathan Castroviejo the odd one out. He was the only rider to have worn red and not finished on the podium.
2013 has been a friendlier year to riders although it's still a tough act to hold onto the lead for more than a few days.
Although Vincenzo Nibali didn't let go off pink from Stage 8 onwards at the Giro this year, four riders swapped the jersey making it appear as though the Sicilian, come Tuscan, had some rivals.
The Tour was a similar story as riders tried having a bite at yellow before the impending Sky domination of the lead. Four had luck but anyone with three kids is going to have a tough time deciding on who misses out on a lion.
As it stands it is nine stages into the last grand tour of the season and there have been five different riders at each race to have worn the leaders jersey. Nibali has worn both pink and red in 2013 and is looking like he'll match Angelo Conterno or go past him as the Italian to have spent most days in red. Conterno spent 16 days leading the race on his way to victory in 1956 while the Shark also held la maillot rojo when he won overall in 2010.
So this a breakdown of the riders who have led a grand tour in 2013 so far, their team performance and national performance. But does this equate to a table of success? Some big teams are missing from here or have only a few days in a jersey to show off their season when in fact one-day races have been their forte. This shows that even a day in any grand tour is to be treasured and any rider would take this accolade for their palamres.
Nibali and Froome lead the personal days in the lead having won the first two grand tours in 2013 but as overall days in the three tours, Nibali can only increase his lead from here.
Aesthetically though, Astana have been disappointing in their commitment to matching the jersey to their kit. At the Giro, Nibali was only afforded the pink treatment on the final day as his time trial skinsuits were provided by the race organizers. At the Vuelta this has continued as teammate Brajkovic had a nice red helmet to match his jersey while Nibali went with the team issue. Perhaps the shark is colourblind as the Astana blue isn't the best match on its own with red or pink.
Giro d'Italia
Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) 1 Stage
Salvatore Puccio (Team Sky) 1 Stage
Luca Paolini (Katusha) 4 Stages
Beñat Intxausti (Movistar) 1 Stage
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) 12 Stages
Tour de France
Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) 1 stage
Jan Bakelents (RadioShack-Leopard) 2 Stages
Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) 2 Stages
Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge) 2 Stages
Chris Froome (Team Sky) 14 Stages
Vuelta a España
Janez Brajkovic (Astana) 1 Stage
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) 13 Stages
Chris Horner (RadioShack-Leopard) 5 Stages
Nicholas Roche (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff) 1 Stage
Daniel Moreno (Katusha) 1 Stage
Teams
Argos-Shimano 1 Stage
Astana 26 stages
Katusha 5 Stages
Movistar 1 Stage
Omega Pharma-Quick Step 1 Stage
Orica-GreenEdge 4 Stages
RadioShack-Leopard 7 Stages
Saxo Bank-Tinkoff 1 Stage
Team Sky 15 Stages
Nations
Australia 2 Stages
Belgium 2 Stages
Germany 1 Stage
Great Britain 14 Stages
Ireland 1 Stage
Isle of Man 1 Stage
Italy 29 Stages
Slovenia 1 Stage
Spain 2 Stages
South Africa 2 Stages
United States of America 5 Stages
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