Tour de France 2021

How it works

Predict who is going to win each stage of the Tour.

• Leave your prediction for each stage on the giveaway (they all include maps and profiles and link to the official site).
• Below is a table with all stages but you can just go the first one and use the "next stage" link there.
• We're not going to make it too easy so it's not allowed to just spam the same rider for all stages.

Stages

This table/chart is RaChart™ compatible and was created with Giveaways Table/Chart Creator

Preview

Due to lack of time on my part and lack of interest on here I will probably keep things smaller than previous years. Right now I've got all the stages set up but there's no analysis of the stages nor a Tour Touristique. I might add them, we'll have to wait and see. Same thing goes for the further preview below, probably gonna keep it short.

It seems the Tour de France has finally embraced the future; they uploaded a whole raft of explainer videos to their YouTube account yesterday. I'll link a few in the sections below.

After 2020 the Tour is back in it's normal time slot, well, almost... Due to the Olympic Games we start and end a week early.

This Tour could be titled as Pogačar - Roglič: The Rematch, but INEOS Grenadiers probably has other plans. Interestingly, both of the contenders have done very few course kilometres since spring, a very different approach compared to the past. We have a different time of time trial on the second to last day this year but it might again be decisive.

Other than the previous few years the sprinters should get more chances; there's about 7 or 8 stages that could well end in a bunch sprint. However... the Giro this year surprised everyone with a number of those stages going to a breakaway, could we see the same here?

Also see the PEZ Preview.

The Tour Touristique bits are mostly from the Tour site (recognizable by the appalling command of the English language) and Wikipedia.

Sites
Official Site
Wikipedia
A better list of riders than the official site, with thanks to bartwu

General Classification (abbreviated as GC)
This is the one it's all about, who will bring the maillot jaune (yellow jersey) to Paris? #TD2021 - The Yellow Jersey

• UAE Team Emirates has gained in strength, now bringing Rafał Majka for more high class support in the mountains. Last year Tadej Pogačar was unfortunate in losing all his mountain support before the mountain stages even started. Though he was quite lucky in that Jumbo Visma brought him to the finish line for free in most stages.
• Speaking of Jumbo Visma, Primož Roglič will have to do without support from Tom Dumoulin this year (though we will hopefully see him in Tokyo). Of course he can still count on the likes of Wout van Aert, Steven Kruijswijk, Robert Gesink, and Sepp Kuss. After that dramatic loss last year, what will they do differently this year, and will it pay off?
• INEOS Grenadiers are bringing no less than four possible contenders: Richard Carapaz, Richie Porte, Geraint Thomas, and Tao Geoghegan Hart. And their other four riders are all top calibre as well. Will too many cooks spoil the broth?
• EF Education - Nippo still has Rigoberto Urán who is still showing good form. He doesn't have too much support but he's shown in the past he can do it alone.
• Movistar Team brought on Miguel Angel Lopez this year, he and Enric Mas will have to do it for the Spanish team.
• Wilco Kelderman supported by Ide Schelling and others is looking for a top 5 classification for Bora-Hansgrohe.
• Bauke Mollema is the GC man for Trek-Segafredo but should those hopes be dashed, he and Vincenzo Nibali will be going for stage wins.
• Bahrain Vicorious has appointed Jack Haig as the man for the GC. Wout Poels has said he'll have a free role unless Haig has a good GC standing. Surprisingly Mark Padoen and Gino Mäder have not been selected for the Tour.
• Chris Froome is back in the Tour with Israel Start-Up Nation but unfortunately he has never been able to return to the form he had before his horrid crash. Michael Woods is more likely to go for the GC and hopefully the likeable Dan Martin will be able to win a stage.
• Team Arkéa - Samsic has Nairo Quintana who's year hasn't been great.
• Cofidis with Guillaume Martin might be France's only hope this year; no Pinot or Bardet.
• For completion's sake I'll mention Deceuninck - Quick-Step though I can't see Julian Alaphilippe getting anywhere near the GC podium in Paris.

King of the Mountain (often abbreviated as KoM)
The maillot a pois (polka dot jersey) goes to the best climber; who will it be this year? Obviously the GC riders will all feature in this classification but there are some others... #TDF2021 - Polka Dot Jersey

Due to time skipping the favorites here.

Sprinters
As mentioned above, quite a few possible stages for the sprinters this year. YouTube - #TDF2021 - Sprinters

• Mark Cavendish (30 Tour victories, only Eddy Merckx has done better; 34) is back due to Deceuninck-QuickStep thinking Sam Bennett is not quite 100% after injuring his knee. Can the Manx Missile add to his palmares? His last Tour victory is 5 years ago but he had few good wins this year.
• Caleb Ewan is hoping to become only the fourth rider to win stages in all three Grand Tours in the same year. He could well be the man to beat this year.
• Groupama-FDJ is putting all their money on Arnaud Démare, bringing a large sprint train. He's proven he can do it and he'll have his chance.
• Sonny Colbrelli is in good shape but the really flat finishes aren't where he shines.
• Bora-Hansgrohe left Pascal Ackermann at home but of course Peter Sagan will be here in what might be his last year for the team. Will he get another green jersey this year after failing last year? He did it in the Giro if that's any indication.
• Tim Merlier surprised everyone to win the very first stage on his Grand Tour debut at the Giro earlier this year. Alpecin-Fenix is more than 'MvdP' these days, on a good day Tim should be able to clutch a win here. And if not him, Jasper Philipsen might be the new surprise.
• It might be strange to see Team Jumbo - Visma in this listing but even though they are hyper focused on Roglič winning the GC, they are bringing both Wout van Aert and Mike Teunissen. Both riders have had to deal with some injuries and it remains to be seen if the team will allow them to mix it up, but if so... both could definitely win a stage.
• Team BikeExchange's Michael Matthews is still a top class rider with an impressive palmares but super flat stages aren't quite his thing, count on him to be at the front the first two days.
• Team DSM is bringing Cees Bol again, his best result was a third place in the opening stage last year.
• Danny van Poppel supported by his brother Boy and Jonas Koch is the one to do it for Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert, can he break his duck?

Feel free to leave your predictions for jersey winners and other speculations in the comments below.

Man of the Tour

Mathieu van der Poel is riding his first Tour de France this year. Though his main goal this year is the Olympics I fully expect him to do some incredulous stuff in the first week. Not to mention that he has a unique chance to grab the yellow jersey on day one. A jersey which his father has worn but his grandfather, Raymond Poulidor, The Eternal Second, never got to wear.

Tour Trivia

• We're staying in France this year, excluding a tiny visit to Andorra, which makes sense with Covid still being an issue.
• For the first time since 2000 we have a stage that just about reaches the 250 km mark.

View attached image.

View attached image.