Last year Peter Sagan won the first road stage of the Tour that he contested. It was to be the first of three stages the Slovakian won in 2012 on his way to domination of the green jersey. After that first stage win, Sagan held green all the way to Paris. He accumulated 421 points in the sprint classification with André Greipel the closest challenger on 280 points. The classification appears to be much closer in the 100th edition of the race with 2011 green jersey winner Mark Cavendish having a whole team dedicated to the manx missile. Lotto will also be backing Greipel but stage wins are a more realistic goal for the German. Aesthetically, this competition for this classification will be between the tri-bands of Cav and Greipel as the respective new road race champions of Great Britain and Germany while Sagan will be decked out in the vertical bands of Slovakia. In the sprints, they will all be a little easier to identify before the green jersey begins to be swapped around.
For the sprinters in recent years with the removal of bonus seconds, any opportunity to pull on the first yellow jersey of the race has evaporated. 2014 will also offer the chance for sprinters to pull on yellow but it is in Corsica where the sprinters will fight for yellow. A lumpy stage with tight roads could see a crash or two with nervy cyclists and several teams all jockeying for position. Lotto-Belisol, Omega Pharma-Quick Step, Argos-Shimano, Orica-GreenEdge and Cannondale will all want their trains sorted for their sprinters while Katusha, Saxo-Tinkoff, Lampre-Merida and Movistar have all come to Tour with their sprinters to ensure a chaotic end to sprint stages. Cavendish has proved himself as the fastest man in a sprint drag but Greipel and Matt Goss on occasion have out manoeuvred the former world champion. With Cav being backed by devoted team, he should improve upon the three stages he won last year with very limited support by Sky. On the flat stages, Marcel Kittel and John Degenkolb have both notched grand tour stage wins and could gang up on Cav with a dual pronged attacked. With so many sprinters going for the win, a few protests about being boxed in will be heard at the conclusion of stages. Goss was docked thirty points last year for impeding Sagan’s sprint in one example of how tight the sprints became. With the points on offer at the intermediate sprint points, Cav will want to top up his points knowing that Sagan is the best climber of the sprinters and can grab points on the lumpier stages when his rivals are likely to bank none.
The 2011 edition of the Tour was a relatively foregone conclusion of who would win green after Cav won five stages. 2010 was a cagier affair with Thor Hushovd and Alessandro Petacchi swapping green for the last ten days of the race. The Italian won the classification by just nine points although both riders notched just one stage win. The victor in green will probably need at least two stage wins and for this reason, Cavendish appears to be slightly more favourable than Sagan for the jersey. At the Giro, Cav had a breakthrough win to take the points classification and make it a perfect three at the grand tours. His tenacity to protect the jersey will be on show during July and if he gets the jersey early he is unlikely to give it up. Sagan won’t want to give away green either. With three flat stages in the first week whoever wins these stages will be looking good for the win. However with tough last week in the Alps, a sprinter or two may just fall away and miss the time cut. If so, it could be a win by default and therefore banking several stage wins will be proof of being the best sprinter at the 2013 Tour.
For the sprinters in recent years with the removal of bonus seconds, any opportunity to pull on the first yellow jersey of the race has evaporated. 2014 will also offer the chance for sprinters to pull on yellow but it is in Corsica where the sprinters will fight for yellow. A lumpy stage with tight roads could see a crash or two with nervy cyclists and several teams all jockeying for position. Lotto-Belisol, Omega Pharma-Quick Step, Argos-Shimano, Orica-GreenEdge and Cannondale will all want their trains sorted for their sprinters while Katusha, Saxo-Tinkoff, Lampre-Merida and Movistar have all come to Tour with their sprinters to ensure a chaotic end to sprint stages. Cavendish has proved himself as the fastest man in a sprint drag but Greipel and Matt Goss on occasion have out manoeuvred the former world champion. With Cav being backed by devoted team, he should improve upon the three stages he won last year with very limited support by Sky. On the flat stages, Marcel Kittel and John Degenkolb have both notched grand tour stage wins and could gang up on Cav with a dual pronged attacked. With so many sprinters going for the win, a few protests about being boxed in will be heard at the conclusion of stages. Goss was docked thirty points last year for impeding Sagan’s sprint in one example of how tight the sprints became. With the points on offer at the intermediate sprint points, Cav will want to top up his points knowing that Sagan is the best climber of the sprinters and can grab points on the lumpier stages when his rivals are likely to bank none.
The 2011 edition of the Tour was a relatively foregone conclusion of who would win green after Cav won five stages. 2010 was a cagier affair with Thor Hushovd and Alessandro Petacchi swapping green for the last ten days of the race. The Italian won the classification by just nine points although both riders notched just one stage win. The victor in green will probably need at least two stage wins and for this reason, Cavendish appears to be slightly more favourable than Sagan for the jersey. At the Giro, Cav had a breakthrough win to take the points classification and make it a perfect three at the grand tours. His tenacity to protect the jersey will be on show during July and if he gets the jersey early he is unlikely to give it up. Sagan won’t want to give away green either. With three flat stages in the first week whoever wins these stages will be looking good for the win. However with tough last week in the Alps, a sprinter or two may just fall away and miss the time cut. If so, it could be a win by default and therefore banking several stage wins will be proof of being the best sprinter at the 2013 Tour.
