100th Tour de France Preview: The Overal Favourites

In 2013 the Tour makes its 100th trip around France. Beginning in Corsica, the first three stages will be the first time the Tour has visited the island which was the last department to be visited by the race. From Corsica it’s onto the mainland and for the next twenty days the race is a wholly French affair. For the French, a general classification winner looks like being a foreigner once again but their stocks are rising with Thibaut Pinot and Pierre Rolland the espoirs. In the 99th edition Sky ruled the race to deliver yellow to Bradley Wiggins in Paris relatively untested by any rivals bar teammate Chris Froome. Talk of a Tour defence had been dogged by internal conflicts between Wiggins and Froome with the team backing the Kenyan born rider while Wiggins was suggesting otherwise. Froome enters the Tour now not only as Team Sky’s rider but as the favourite for the overall. 

In part the domination of Sky in last year’s Tour was explained by the parcours with two long time trials favouring Wiggins who also benefitted by a lack of challengers. In 2013 Alberto Contador is back after serving his doping ban, Cadel Evans is also back to his best after his failed defence of the 2011 Tour, while 2010 victor Andy Schleck is a dark horse with his form uncertain but highly ambitious to return to the winner’s podium. These three will challenge Froome while Evans’ teammate Tejay Van Garderen is looking to improve upon his fifth placing of last year as are the French duo who both finished in the top ten. Spaniard Joaquim Rodriguez is back for his second Tour after taking a stage and finishing seventh in 2010. Bauke Mollema will want to impress his new suitors at Belkin while Movistar are entering the race with the triumvirate of Alejandro Valverde, Rui Costa and Nairo Quintana.

The depth of challengers and lack of decisive time trial kilometres will mean that attacks in the mountains are a given. The Colombian climber Quintana is tipped for big things and the Alps will be his stage. Contador and Froome went tête-à-tête at the Critérium du Dauphiné with El Pistolero over four minutes down on Froome after the eight stages. The Spaniard has said his feeling good and the French race was the opportunity to fine tune his Tour preparation. Backing Froome will be Australian Richie Porte who has shown when given free reign he can win a race or two. Porte won Paris-Nice in March and will be seen as a super domestique for Froome. Should anything happen to the Sky leader, Porte could step in and fill the void as Rigoberto Uran did at the Giro in May. With a cagey beginning of the race in Corsica, general classification leaders will need all the support they can get on the island.

The Tour is Froome’s to lose due to the early season form that he has shown. The time spent in leaders jersey’s answering to the media packs and dealing with all the extra attention riders receive in that position will be invaluable. Wiggins proved last year that Sky’s plan to put their man in yellow paid dividends as he largely appeared comfortable protecting yellow. Froome appears less likely to reply to calls of doping in the manner of Wiggins but after a tough day in the saddle, he may crack in the press room. Contador has a strong team around him and will test Froome. However his form has been far from his best thus far this season. Evans proved he is worthy of BMC dedicating their team to him but a podium place looks like the best bet for cuddles. Valverde and Rodriquez will also battle for the podium but Froome and Contador are a head above the chasing pack.

Movistar 2012 Season in review

In 2011 the team which first entered the peloton under the name of Reynolds begun the next chapter in its long existence with a new title sponsor. Movistar replaced the Spanish bank Caisse d'Epargne which had sponsored the team since 2005. One of the team’s stars under the Caisse name and most successful Spanish riders of his generation was Alejandro Valverde. Valverde was implicated in Operación Puerto and after a protected legal battle with various courts and cycling bodies he received a two year doping ban backdated from January 1st 2010. Due to the successes of the Spaniard his team had promised a place on the team once his suspension had been served. With the ban ending in 2012 Valverde rejoined the team and rode the first World Tour race of the year as the team leader. Although the team name is different, with El Bala back in the fold in 2012 the changes in structure where to a degree made redundant by the return of the prodigal son. 

2012: Another Tumultuous & Exciting Edition

The 2012 season will be defined by pictures of cyclists on the road as much as cyclists off the road. Bradley Wiggins became the first British rider to win the Tour de France, Alberto Contador made a winning return after his doping suspension, Philippe Gilbert won his maiden worlds rainbow jersey and Tom Boonen owned the cobbles. Yet for all the excitement and dominance of Team Sky plus individual and collective feats of the peloton, it was the USADA investigation into US Postal which lifted the lid on Lance Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel as the masterminds behind the most organised doping practise the sport has ever seen. As the season comes to a close there are trails that seem only destined to be endlessly consumed with chasing the murky past down rabbit hole after rabbit hole. There has been no admission by Armstrong and the 1990s culture of Omerta has lessened but still exists among the peloton and with two major Italian investigations now looking like handing down their findings in 2013, this is certainly a tumultuous time for the sport. However there were brilliant rides full of bravery, panache and courage across the season. Looking back to the seasoning races in January of this year, it becomes apparent several of those rides will become timeless images of the sport, as well as part of cycling’s folklore for the years to come. 

Audacious Contador Takes Control

Alberto Contador make a successful break to win the stage and take over the GC from Purito. Contador had looked like a shadow of his former self after the months off the bike for his doping suspension. No matter how hard he tried, he seemed unable to shake off his competitors and ride away like he has so many times before.  Contador won his third Vuelta stage which just about ensures he will  ride into Madrid wearing red.

Froome's GC hope dashed on Queen Stage

Chris Froome couldn't match the pace set by Alberto Contador and co on Stage 16 and now sits almost 5 minutes behind Rodriguez in fourth place. Alejandro Valverde was the big winner on the stage as a podium position now looks like it's his to lose. Italian Dario Cataldo won the queen stage on the steep ramps of Cuiti Negru for the biggest win of his career. Rodriguez now looks to be in the box seat for his maiden Grand Tour win which would go some way to erase the disappointment of losing the Giro on the final day earlier this year.

Stage 16 Results

Dario Cataldo (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) 5:18:28

Thomas De Gendt (Vancansoleil-DCM) +7'

Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) +2:39'

Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) +2:41'

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +2:58'

General Classification

Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) 63:38:24

Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) +28'

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +2:04'

Chris Froome (Sky) +4:52'

Daniel Moreno (Katusha) +6:58'

Vuelta Standings: Stage 15

With two out of the three consecutive mountain stages completed tonight’s Stage 16 may see the leaders jersey change hands. Joaquím Rodríguez held on after numerous attacks by Alberto Contador to continue his stint in red. He leads Contador by 22 seconds and Alejandro Valverde by 1:41 minutes. Chris Froome has dropped off the pace to sit 2:16 minutes down in fourth place with the Tour de France and Olympics appearing to have taken their toll on the Sky rider.

The Four Amigos

After nine days of racing and several GC stages four contenders have risen to the top. In the red jersey is 2012 Giro runner up Joaquim Rodriguez who leads past Vuelta winners Alejandro Valverde and Alberto Contador but it is the 2011 runner up Chris Froome in second place. On three stages so far the top three has been a combination of these four riders. Once the roads have gone up, these four have come to the front and ridden away from the peloton. Valverde has three stage wins after his Movistar team won the opening TTT in Pamplona before outsprinting Rodríguez to take two individual stages. Of the four, Froome and Contador are the best places due to their time trialling prowess. However with Froome at 53 seconds and Contador at 1 minute to Rodríguez, they will need to put serious time into the Katusha rider on the only ITT of the race. Valverde has been the main protagonist in the opening nine stages followed by Rodríguez who also has a stage win to his name but expect Froome and Contador to take it up a notch in the next few days.

Contador Returns to the Vuelta de Espana in 2012

Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 

Alberto Contador
Nicki Sorensen
Matteo Tosatto
Rafal Majka
Sergio Paulinho
Bruno Pires Benjamin Noval
Jesus Hernandez Dani Navarro

Current Race Leaders and Results: August 10th

Eneco Tour 6th-12th August 

Stage One: Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano)
Stage Two (TTT): Orica-GreenEdge
Stage Three: Theo Bos (Rabobank)
Stage Four: Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano)
GC: Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma- Quick Step)

Tour of Utah 7th-12th August 

Stage One: Rory Sutherland (United Healthcare)
Stage Two (TTT): Garmin-Sharp
Stage Three: Michael Matthews (Rabobank)
GC: Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Sharp)
 

Tour de L’Ain 7th-11th August 

Stage One: Hutarovich (FDJ-BigMat)
Stage Two a: Hutarovich (FDJ-BigMat)
Stage Two b (TTT): Omega Pharma- Quick Step
Stage Three: Daniel Navarro (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank)
GC: Daniel Navarro (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank)

Note: Current GC leaders in italics

Final Classifications Winners at the 2012 Tour de France

General Classification: Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky)87:34:47
Points Classification: Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) 421 points
King of the Mountains: Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) 134 points
Young Riders Classification: Tejay van Garderen (BMC) 87:45:46
Team Classification: RadioShack-Nissan 263:12:01
Combativity Award: Chris Anker Sørenson

TDF: Standings after Stage 18

The 2012 Tour de France has been won by Bradley Wiggins who becomes the first British rider to have won the overall classification. The ceremonial jaunt into Paris will be a celebration of Sky’s achievement in 2012. The team has won five stages, which could become six on the Champs-Élysées and has proven itself as the strongest team in the peloton. Sky haven’t won the team classification but proved on the roads this year that they controlled proceedings and wore down any GC rivals to Wiggins. Chris Froome is the only rider who finished within five minutes of Wiggins which is an amazing achievement for Sky. Vincenzo Nibali and Cadel Evans were touted as potential winners or at least podium finishers but both finished off the pace. Nibali will finish in third and make it a Grand Tour podium treble after his Vuelta de España GC win as well as two podium finishes at the Giro d’Italia. However this has been a British tour de force and Sky have shown that there is a new approach to winning Grand Tours which is sport science. 2012 may go down as one of the most boring Tour de France’s but it will be a watermark for how teams approach the GC and follow and approve the Sky model.

TDF: Standings after Stage 17

Overall Classification 

1st Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 78:28:02
2nd Chris Froome (Team Sky) +2:05”
3rd Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) +2:41”
4th Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) +5:53”
5th Tejay van Garderen (BMC) +8:30”
6th Cadel Evans (BMC) +9:57”
7th Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack-Nissan) +10:11”
8th Pierre Rolland (Europcar) +10:17”
9th Janez Brajkovic (Astana) +11:00”
10th Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) +11:46”

TDF: Standings after Stage 16

With one final mountain to come the GC classification looks like it will be won by a British rider for the first time. Bradley Wiggins has shown his superiority in the ITT over his rivals who will need to attack in Stage 17 for one final shot at yellow in Paris. For Cadel Evans the Tour defence is over and he may be given a chance to join a breakaway and gain a stage win but at only eight minutes he may still be seen as a threat. Chris Froome will be kept on a leash and will only protect Wiggins and he should be rewarded by a podium finish in Paris for doing so. Vincenzo Nibali will need to gain at least three minutes on Wiggins before the ITT and to do so in one stage looks unlikely considering he hasn’t been able to take significant time off Wiggins so far.

There may be a minor shake up of the GC but it seems the top ten is to be settled in the Stage 19 ITT to Chartes. Wiggins looks like he’ll hold onto yellow after first pulling it on after Stage 7. There may be a final attack by the mountain climbers to shore up a top ten position before the ITT but it appears that there may be too much to lose by doing so and so instead they will look to limit their losses against the clock in Stage 19.

With the final big climbing classification points on offer tonight Thomas Voeckler and Fredrik Kessiakoff who are only separated by four points will be chasing all 52 points that are on offer. There are 6 points on offer during the stage 19 ITT but these two would be keen to wrap up the classification in the Pyrenees. The first of these riders to summit Port de Balés could wrap up the classification with the points on offer at this HC climb. Otherwise the other four categorised climbs with points on offer could witness a strategic battle between these two for the maillot pois.

In the points classification it is looking likely that Peter Sagan will win the green jersey in his debut Tour. There are still two flat stages on offer but as Sagan as been either winning or contending the sprints it appears unlikely that he will pass that jersey onto either André Greipel or Matt Goss who both sit over 100 points in arrears to the Slovakian in the classification.

The white jersey is now a battle between Tejay van Garderen and Thibaut Pinot. Van Garderen holds a healthy 3:48” lead over the French rider and van Garderen should be riding into Paris in white. Van Garderen and Pinot are the two stand out young riders in 2012 as the closet rider to these two sits over 45 minutes behind the BMC rider is Steven Kruijswijk.

The most combative rider classification now has two riders who have both won the award on two occasions in 2012. A combative ride in Stage 17 by either Thomas Voeckler or Michael Mørkøv could settle the classification by Paris.

RadioShack-Nissan holds a commanding 17:15” lead in the team classification over Sky and are all but assured of a podium appearance in Paris. Only Team Sky can really threaten their chances but unless a calamitous final four stages awaits the leaders they should roll into Paris with yellow numbers on their backs.

There are still minor alterations that await in each of the classifications but it appears that the current leaders in the classifications will be the winners. The final ITT looks like it will settle any last gaps in these classifications besides the mountains classification. The points classification should be settled by Stage 19 or if not it will be settled in the final sprint along the Champs-Élysées.

Overall Classification 

1st Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 74:15:32
2nd Chris Froome (Team Sky) +2:05”
3rd Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) +2:23”
4th Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) +5:46”
5th Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack-Nissan) +7:13”
6th Tejay van Garderen (BMC) +7:55”
7th Cadel Evans (BMC) +8:06”
8th Janez Brajkovic (Astana) +9:09”
9th Pierre Rolland (Europcar) +10:10”
10th Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) +11:43”

Points Classification 

1st Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) 356 points
2nd André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) 254 points
3rd Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) 203 points
4th Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) 130 points
5th Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) 127 points
6th Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 109 points
7th Cadel Evans (BMC) 100 points
8th Chris Froome (Sky) 91 points
9th Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) 88 points
10th Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge) 84 points

Mountains Classification 

1st Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) 107 points

2nd Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) 103 points
3rd Chris Anker Sørenson 77 points
4th Pierre Rolland (Europcar) 55 points
5th Brice Feillu (Saur-Sojasun) 38 points
6th Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp) 34 points
7th Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) 33 points
8th Chris Froome (Team Sky) 32 points
9th Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) 32 points
10th Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Nissan) 31 points

Young Riders Classification 

1st Tejay van Garderen (BMC) 74:23:27”
2nd Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) +3:48”
3rd Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank) +45:26”
4th Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi) +52:39”
5th Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) +54:43”
6th Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis) +1:01:56”
7th Rafael Valls (Vacansoleil-DCM) +1:01:32”
8th David Malacarne (Europcar) +1:18:57”
9th Dominik Nerz (Liquigas-Cannondale) +1:19:10”
10th Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) +1:26:02”

Team Classification 

1st RadioShack-Nissan 222:58:15
2nd Team Sky +17:18”
3rd Astana +28:53”
4th BMC +29:13”
5th Europcar +50:03”
6th Liquigas-Cannondale +56:34”
7th Movistar +59:56”
8th FDJ-BigMat +1:01:22”
9th Katusha +1:01:31”
10th Omega Pharma-Quick Step + 1:20:04”

Combativity Award 

Stage One: Nicolas Edet (Cofidis)
Stage Two: Anthony Roux (FDJ-BigMat)
Stage Three: Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank)
Stage Four: Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar)
Stage Five: Mathieu Ladagnous (FDJ-BigMat)
Stage Six: David Zabriskie (Garmin-Sharp)
Stage Seven: Luis León Sanchez (Rabobank)
Stage Eight: Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana)
Stage Nine: Not Awarded
Stage Ten: Thomas Voeckler (Europcar)
Stage 11: Pierre Rolland (Europcar)
Stage 12: Robert Kiserlovski (Astana)
Stage 13: Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank)
Stage 14: Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale)
Stage 15: Nicki Sørenson (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank)
Stage 16: Thomas Voeckler (Europcar)

Tour Stage Winners by Nationality since 2002

With three individual stage wins so far, Great Britain is enjoying the 2012 Tour. In recent years some countries have dominated in terms of individual stage wins for one country. In particular that has been Spain and France who have had numerous stage winners in one tour. Looking back over the last ten years at stage winners by nationality to gauge which nations have been dominate in the last 10 years of the Tour Spain and France lead Great Britain and the USA of nations to have won the most stages since 2002. Below is a breakdown of which nations won stages and had multiple individual stage winners at the Tour since the 2002 edition.

Tour de France Stage Wins by Nation Between 2002 & 2011

Spain-28
France-26
Great Britian-23
USA-20
Australia-18
Italy-17
Norway-13
Belgium-10
Germany-8
Switzerland-8
Luxembourg-7
Denmark-6
Kazakstan-4
Netherlands-4
Columbia-3
Russia-3
Ukraine-3
Estonia-2
Portugal-2
Austria-1
South Africa-1

Withdrawals From the 2012 Tour de France

Stage 3 

Kanstantsin Sivtsov (Team Sky) fractured tibia
Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) fractured left collarbone

Stage 4 

Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank) fractured left hip

Stage 5

Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) gastroenteritis/ knee

Stage 6 

Wout Poels (Vacansoleil-DCM) internal organ injuries/broken ribs
Thomas Danielson (Garmin-Sharp) shoulder
Davide Vagano (Lampre-ISD) fractured clavicle
Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel-Euskadi) fractured right elbow

Stage 7 

Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Movistar) left elbow/right knee
Imanol Erviti (Movistar) serious wounds in his right side/knee
Maarten Wynants (Rabobank) broken ribs/punctured lung
Oscar Freire (Katusha) fractured rib
Anthony Delaplace (Saur-Sojasun) fractures to left radius and scaphoid
Hubert Dupont (Ag2r-La Mondiale) fractured radius/fractured vertebrae/sprained left ankle
Robert Hunter (Garmin-Sharp) stress fractures in vertebrae
Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) leg-hip injuries
Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel-Euskadi) broken collarbone

Stage 8 

Johannes Fröhlinger (Argos-Shimano) broken finger
Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel-Euskadi) injured hip
Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) broken finger/bruised back and shoulder

Stage 10 

Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) left scaphoid broken
Rémy di Gregorio (Cofidis) Pulled from race under suspicion of doping
Matthew Lloyd (Lampre-ISD) fractured radius

Stage 11

Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) accumulated crash injuries
Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) accumulated crash injuries
Rob Ruijgh (Vacansoleil-DCM) knee
Gustav Larsson (Vacansoleil-DCM) back problems
Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) hip injury
Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) ribs
Yuriy Kristov (Lampre-ISD) fatigue
Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) left race for birth of daughter

Stage 12

Tom Veelers (Argos Shimano) fatigue
Robert Gesink (Rabobank) Rib Injury
David Moncoutié (Cofidis) abrasions to left side of body

Stage 13

Tony Gallopin (RadioShack-Nissan) illness

Stage 14 

Robert Kiserlovski (Astana) fractured his right clavicle

Stage 15

Brett Lancaster (Orica-GreenEdge) injuries
Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) chest infection
Yauheni Hutarovich (FDJ-BigMat) fatigue
Kenny Van Hummel (Vacansoleil-DCM) back injury/stomach ailment
Jerome Vincent (Europcar) fatigue
Giovanni Bernaudeau (Europcar) fatigue

Stage 16 

Fränk Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan) positive doping test
Grega Bole (Lampre-ISD) neuralgia of sciatic nerve 

Vladimir Gusev (Katusha) broken collarbone

The British Dominance in 2012

Parlez-vous Anglais?

British riders are having their most successful Tour de France in 2012 with the likelihood of a British rider wearing yellow in Paris no longer appearing to be fantasy. David Millar won the 226km stage yesterday beating Frenchman Jean-Christophe Péraud across the line for his fifth stage win at Le Tour. Millar’s stage win was the fourth by a British rider in 2012 and only adds to the success the Brits are having this year. British cycling seems to be coming of age at the Tour and several more stage wins could still be on the cards. Bradley Wiggins looks assured of collecting his seventh yellow jersey after tomorrow’s relatively flat stage and in the process will become the British rider to have spent the most time in yellow. The efforts of Wiggins and his Team Sky are unprecedented by British cyclists. 

Recent Grand Tour ITT Results

With an increased number of time trial kilometres in the 2012 Tour de France compared to recent editions the GC candidates will need to have two good ITTs to stand atop the podium in Paris. The tables below are the finishing positions of the current top four riders on the GC at Grand Tours since 2007. These four riders appear to the fighting to the podium but after the 41.5km stage to Besançon the GC will be shuffled. This time the picture of who the overall candidates are will look a little clearer.

In 2011 Cadel Evans won the Tour following his Stage 20 heroics in the 42.5km ITT around Grenoble. On that day Evans finished second to Tony Martin who would go onto to claim his maiden world champion ITT and after two second places at the Tour won his maiden yellow jersey. What was more important than his finishing position on Stage 20 was that Evans had began the day 57 seconds in arrears to Andy Schleck but finished the stage 1:34 ahead of him and won the Tour by doing so. Evans won an ITT stage at the 2007 Tour after initially finishing second behind Alexander Vinokourov who won the Stage 13 time trial around Albi but later testing positive for doping. Bradley Wiggins finished one minute behind Evans in that stage but admittedly he was not as focused on the road as he is now. Evans will be looking to ride the last ITT of the 2012 in yellow and take the jersey on his shoulders all the way to Paris.

Wiggins has already won four ITT stages this season and will begin the Stage Nine time trial a slight favourite ahead of his GC rivals. Wiggins has shown that he the legs to go with the best climbers after his stage race wins this year but the ITT is where Wiggins will want to put serious time into his rivals. If Wiggins has to only follow his rivals in the mountains the Tour is most certainly his. However if he needs to make up time and attack his rivals in the mountains his tilt at the overall looks less likely. Wiggins and Evans are the two favourites for the overall in 2012 partly due to the high number of ITT kms. Evans is no slouch in the ITT and his time trial win at the Critérium International earlier this season will be a mental boost for the Australian. Depending on the results on the ITT Wiggins may intentionally lose yellow and want to stay out of the leader’s jersey until Stage 19.Wiggins appears at unease having to front the media for every day he is yellow and surrendering the jersey may actually be beneficial to his chances for the win. Without the pressure of yellow, Wiggins may be more relaxed and able to launch attacks without the full attention of the peloton.

At the 2008 Tour de France Carlos Sastre was in yellow heading into the final ITT which was a 53km race from Cérilly to Saint-Amand-Montrond but seemed destined to concede yellow to Evans. Evans had begun the Tour as a favourite and was wearing the number one bib on his back after Alberto Contador and his team Astana were not invited to the race following Vinokourov‘s positive test for blood doping. Without the Spaniard to whom Evans had lost the Tour by only 23 seconds to the previous year, the Silence-Lotto rider was a clear favourite for the overall and the Tour would be his to lose. Evans did lose the 2008 and his failure to catch Sastre on the final ITT was his undoing. Now with a one-one record in terms of final ITTs and the maillot jaune, Evans will be confident of making that record two-one in terms of Tour wins. Evans spent several days in yellow with a slender one lead over Franck Schleck in 2008 and as the outright favourite appeared to be seriously affected by this attention. Evans lost the yellow jersey after Stage 15 into Prato Nevoso to Schleck and slipped to third overall. Team CSC held onto yellow after this with the jersey changing hands to Sastre following his win at Alpe d’Huez on Stage 17 and Evans remained on the back foot watching his Tour dreams ride away. Sastre rode the ITT of his life to finish 12th on the stage to lose only 29 seconds to Evans. Evans managed to take back some time on Sastre on the final stage but it was not enough and for the second year running lost the Tour by under a minute. The demons of the 2008 ITT were exorcised in 2011 and Evans may be hoping to have the GC all but sown up by Stage 19.

Evans will be hoping that he will be in yellow during the Stage 20 ITT to Chartres and will have done enough throughout the race to hold a substantial lead over Wiggins. Evans showed during yesterday’s stage that he will attack where ever possible and claw back his current 10 second deficient to the Team Sky rider. Evans will have allies in the GC men who are not so strong in the ITT’s and will be looking to take time off Wiggins in the Alps and Pyrenees. Nibali and Menchov are both reasonable time trials but cannot count on taking time off Wiggins or Evans in them. They will need to attack in the mountains and at any opportunity that arises.

As the tables below show the current top four on the GC have all had impressive ITT results across the three weeks of the three Grand Tours. All have won an ITT stage at a Grand Tour and it appears quite possible that one of the four will win either tomorrow’s stage or Stage 19. The biggest threat from non-GC candidates looks like it will come from Fabian Cancellara as current ITT world champion Tony Martin is nursing several injuries. David Millar from Garmin-Sharp could be considered a dark horse for the stage win as could Rabobank’s Spanish national time trial champion Luis León Sanchez. However with the ITT looking to be decisive in the configuration of the overall, these riders may be pushed down the order by the GC men really wanting to gain some time over their rivals. There are several national ITT champions in the 2012 peloton but with the possibility of yellow after the conclusion of Stage 10, that may prove to be a bigger motivating factor than a stage win would be for the national champions.

Evans, Menchov, Nibali and Wiggins ITT performances at Grand Tours 2007-2012

Evans	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Giro d’Italia	-	-	-	3rd (Stage 1), 2nd (Stage 16), 4th (Stage 21)	-
Tour de France	1st (Stage 13), 2nd (Stage 19)	4th (Stage 4), 7th (Stage 20),  50th (Stage 20)	5th  (Stage 1), 12th (Stage 18)	166th (Stage 19)	2nd (Stage 20)
Vuelta de España	11th (Stage 8)	-	10th (Stage 4), 3rd (Stage 20)	-	-

Wiggins	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Giro d’Italia	-	157th (Stage 10), 4th (Stage 21)	7th, (Stage 12), 2nd (Stage 21)	1st (Stage 1), 67th 2nd (Stage 16), 7th (Stage 21)	-
Tour de France	4th (Stage 13), (Stage 19)	-	3rd (Stage 1), 6th (Stage 18)	9th (Stage 19)	WD
Vuelta de España	-	-	-	-	3rd (Stage 10)

Nibali	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Giro d’Italia	24th (Stage 13), 7th (Stage 20)	7th (Stage 10), 44th (Stage 21)	-	11th (Stage 1), 4th 2nd (Stage 16), 5th (Stage 21)	1st (Stage 16)
Tour de France		10th (Stage 4), 6th (Stage 20)	9th  (Stage 1), 26th (Stage 18)	-	-
Vuelta de España		-	-	15nd (Stage 17)	15th (Stage 10)

Menchov	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Giro d’Italia	-	6th (Stage 10), 25th (Stage 21)	1st (Stage 12),  10th  (Stage 21)	-	6th (Stage 16)
Tour de France	21st (Stage 13)	6th (Stage Four)	53rd (Stage 1), 17th (Stage 18)	11th (Stage 19)	-
Vuelta de España	4th (Stage 8)	-	-	2nd (Stage 17)	13th (Stage 10)

Note: Only ITT stages are considered, no Prologue results have been listed. None of these riders competed in the 2012 Giro d’Italia, therefore the 2012 Tour de France will be their first Grand Tour for the year.

TDF: Standings after Stage Eight

Overall Classification 

1st Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 38:17:56
2nd Cadel Evans (BMC) +10”
3rd Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) +16”
4th Dennis Menchov (Katusha) +54”
5th Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack-Nissan) +59”
6th Chris Froome (Team Sky) +1:32”
7th Maxime Monfort (RadioShack-Nissan) +1:09”
8th Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) +2:11
9th Nicolas Roche (Ag2r-La Mondiale) +2:21”
10th Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis) +2:27”

Points Classification 

1st Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) 217 points
2nd Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) 185 points
3rd André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) 172 points
4th Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) 129 points
5th Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) 109 points
6th Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) 95 points
7th Tom Veelers (Argos-Shimano) 76 points
8th Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) 74 points
9th Cadel Evans (BMC) 72 points
10th Kenny Van Hummel (Vacansoleil-DCM) 69 points

Mountains Classification 

1st Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) 21 points
2nd Chris Froome (Team Sky) 20 points
3rd Cadel Evans (BMC) 18 points
4th Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) 16 points
5th Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) 12 points
6th Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) 9 points
7th Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) 9 points
8th Tony Gallopin (RadioShack-Nissan) 9 points
9th Chris Anker Sørenson (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) 4 points
10th Jérémy Roy (FDJ-BigMat) 5 points

Young Riders Classification 

1st Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis) 38:20:23
2nd Tony Gallopin (RadioShack-Nissan) +46
3rd Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) +1:14
4th Tejay van Garderen (BMC) +1:41
5th Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi) +3:38
6th David Malacarne (Europcar) +10:57
7th Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) +14:16
8th Rafael Valls (Vacansoleil-DCM) +16:20
9th Arthur Vichot (FDJ-BigMat) +16:31
10th Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) +17:04

Team Classification 

1st RadioShack-Nissan 114:56:52
2nd Team Sky +2:51
3rd Liquigas-Cannondale +10:16
4th Katusha +10:40
5th Omega Pharma-Quick Step +13:07
6th Cofidis +15:38
7th BMC +16:17
8th Movistar +16:53
9th Astana +18:57
10th Ag2r-La Mondiale +19:05

Combativity Award 

Stage One: Nicolas Edet (Cofidis)
Stage Two: Anthony Roux (FDJ-BigMat)
Stage Three: Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank)
Stage Four: Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar)
Stage Five: Mathieu Ladagnous (FDJ-BigMat)
Stage Six: David Zabriskie (Garmin-Sharp)
Stage Seven: Luis León Sanchez (Rabobank)
Stage Eight: Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana)

Overall Hopes for the top ten after La Planche des Belles Filles

The first mountain stage of the 2012 Tour de France was an indication who the GC candidates really are in the 99th edition of the race. After the posturing of the flattish first week and the endless hype and predictions that surround Le Tour, the climb to La Planche des Belles Filles was finally a sign of who has the legs in 2012. Chris Froome won the stage ahead of Cadel Evans and his Sky team mate Bradley Wiggins and as a reward will wear the maillot pois in tomorrow’s stage.

After the nasty crashes that occurred throughout the first week of the Tour, the first GC stage of the Tour was a welcome relief from the carnage on the flat roads. Several GC candidates have lost time and skin after the needless crashes and after yesterday, the GC is starting to fall into place. Fabian Cancellara ended the stage in 20th place 1:52 down on Froome and surrendered his yellow jersey to Wiggins. Cancellara is now 12th outright in the history of yellow jersey wearers having worn yellow on 28 days. Wiggins will wear his first yellow jersey on Stage Eight and the yellow helmets that Team Sky have been wearing as leaders of the team classification won't look so out of place. As well as yellow, Sky will also have Froome in the climbers jersey which means Sky have worn three of the four classification jerseys in 2012 as well as leading the team classification since the prologue in Liège. Team Sky have now won two stages out of seven and the British team must be feeling good about the 2012 Tour so far. Yellow in Paris is still the goal but it appears doubtful that Wiggins will hold onto yellow until then. He may wish to offload the jersey to a rival and take it back after the Stage Nineteen time trial from Bonneval to Chartes with the 53.5km time trial still looking likely to be decisive in the overall classification.

Of the GC men who were touted as favourites for yellow in Paris, Wiggins and Evans didn’t disappoint last night. Vincenzo Nibali who was seen as a second tier favourite came in fourth and will have been buoyed by his result. Evans had instigated the attack up the 5.9km last climb, whose average gradient was 8.5%, was reeled in and surpassed by Froome. Considering Wiggins has the impressive Froome as a team mate, Nibali and Evans may just form an alliance of convenience to overcome Team Sky. As well as Froome, Sky displayed its depth of domestiques with Richie Porte and Michael Rogers also proving that in the bigger mountains, they will be decisive in Wiggins’s attempt to ride into Paris wearing yellow. Porte is a lowly 88th in the overall after Stage Seven but will most probably move up after the ITT during Stage Nine. As it stands currently in the GC, Froome and Rogers are both in the top ten and could finish the Tour in high positions. Team Sky could lead the team classification from Liège to Paris simply due to the efforts of Wiggins, Froome and Rogers with their high GC positions. They seem the team most likely to finish with multiple riders in the top twenty positions.

BMC will be feeling that they had a mixed result after yesterday. Tejay van Garderen surrendered the white jersey of the young riders classification to Rein Taaramäe and is now second in that classification. Evans finished second in the stage but showed he is willing to attack when the road starts going upward. At only 10 seconds off Wiggins, Evans will be feeling somewhat relieved to be this close to his major GC rival after seven stages and will be delighted to have some of the focus of attention shifted from him onto the British rider. Wiggins has shown that he can cope with the pressure of being the race leader after his exploits at Paris-Nice, the Tour of Romandie and the Critérium de Dauphiné this year. However, this is the Tour and those stage races were only a warm up. Wiggins will have to confront the press for each day he is in yellow and he isn’t the biggest fan such appearances. Cancellara was considering losing the yellow jersey simply because he was tired of these press shenanigans. Considering Wiggins and Cavendish have given only little snippets of interviews so far, the yellow jersey press conferences may be an unwanted sideshow that increase any anxiety Wiggins or Team Sky are feeling about being in yellow. This is Sky’s first maillot jaune and completes a Grand Tour leader’s jersey hat trick. Wiggins wore the Maglia Rosa of the Giro d’Italia in 2011, the red jersey of 2011 Vuelta de España and now in 2012, the maillot jaune. As well as Wiggins, Froome also wore the Vuelta’s red leader’s jersey on Stage 11 last year.

Nibali and Taaramäe were the most impressive of the other GC favourites as they came in fourth and fifth respectively yesterday. Rein Taaramäe has threatened an impressive Tour performance in his two previous Tour appearances. This is the second consecutive year that Taaramäe was worn the white jersey and is the last year in which he his eligible for the young riders classification. Taaramäe’s break out Grand Tour was at the 2011 Vuelta in which he won Stage 14 before he withdrew. Now 2012 is looking like it could be his most successful Grand Tour appearance. His stage win was a sign that the Estonian could back up the praise that he had received and now as the white jersey leader, his endeavours may justify even further praise. As a three time time trial champion of Estonia he has shown that time trials should not be an obstacle to mounting a challenge for the overall. Tejay van Garderen looks like he’ll be the major challenge to Taaramäe taking the white jersey and as he is also a fine time trialler. After the 41.5km Stage Nine time trial the classification will become a little clearer and whoever rolls out in white on Stage Ten may just be wearing white in Paris.

The 2010 Vuelta de España winner Nibali has also won two stages at the Giro as well as finishing on the podium twice in Milan. At the Tour, Nibali hasn’t been as successful as in the other two Grand Tours. Having only made two appearances at the Tour, Nibali has done well but has done so without making any big headlines. A 2oth place on debut in 2008 was good enough for him to finish third in the young riders classification and was as sign of his Grand Tour maturation. His return in 2009 resulted in seventh overall and second place overall for the white jersey. No longer eligible for white, Nibali is entirely focused on yellow. With super domestique Ivan Basso an ally in the mountains, Nibali will look for an improvement upon seventh as a minimum. Stage wins and a stint on yellow could be likely but the overall looks to be beyond the Sicilian.

Nibali hasn’t finished outside the top ten in a Grand Tour since 2008 and he looks to be on track to continue such a fine record but a second Grand Tour victory looks like it won't be won in Paris. Having announced he is leaving Liquigas-Cannondale at the end of this season, Nibali will also be looking to impress and ensure he signs the best deal he can. Rumoured to have agreed a deal with Astana, Nibali’s loyalty to Liquigas has ensured that he will be supported over Basso as the team leader. Since he moved to the Italian team in 2006 from Fasso Bortolo, Nibali has been a key rider for the team and won a third Grand Tour for the team and its first Spanish Grand Tour.

In a top ten are still one or two riders that by Paris will have dropped down several places but the GC is beginning to take shape. Tonight’s stage into Switzerland from Belfort to Porrentruy contains seven categorised climbs which will again shake up the GC. However the ITT the next day will sort out the pretenders from the contenders so some the riders who are poor in that discipline may just try to limit their losses in Stage Nine by attacking tonight and gaining some precious time over their rivals. Nibali may just be one of those riders whose time trialling is somewhat inferior to Wiggins and Evans. With six of the current top ten previous national champions in the ITT the shakeup of the GC could see those such as Chris Froome and Nibali looking to make up time in tonight’s stage. With almost twenty kilometres from the summit of the Col de la Croix to the finish in Porrentruy, there could a very fast descent on the card and a yellow jersey awaiting one of the top ten riders.