Missing (part of) the Tour

The Tour de France starts this Saturday and, as it is every year, it is one of the most hotly anticipated editions of the race in its history...or since last year. It's hard to believe it's almost here again. Maybe it's just me but it doesn't seem that long ago that I was lamenting the end of the 2015 edition, wondering what I was going to do with my time? As ever I found something to do, clearly, and so here we are again. And maybe it is also just me in feeling as though this Tour has just sneaked up on us. Perhaps it's the ongoing European Championships in France, or Brexit, or the fact I will miss a lot of the first week.

Yes as France becomes the epicenter of sport this July, I'll be headed into the wilderness for a weeks holiday with the family. As a result my typical in depth Tour musings will become a little less frequent as I endeavor to stay as far away from technology as I can realistically allow...though completely aware that I will check in at least once a day to read a race report, analyse the results and maybe even catch the last 10km of each stage.

I have to admit though, I'm too excited for this holiday that I haven't allowed myself to become too concerned with missing the opening week of the Tour. Last years opening week was epic and while anything can happen, a quick glance at the opening week leaves me hopeful that I won't miss too much, in the early part at least.

I will miss seeing the start at the spectacular Mont-Saint-Michel to the historic World War II sight at Utah Beach, but it will be a sprinters stage and yet another attempt by the Tour organisation to get Mark Cavendish into yellow for the first time. It will be worth trying to see the finish just to see if he can finally do it. I have to figure Marcel Kittel will spoil that party.

The following day to Cherbourg-en-Cotentinhas has a sharp uphill finish that will see the yellow jersey change hands and perhaps catch out a cold set of legs of a contender before the sprinters take over again for a couple more days. The dream scenario for the Tour might be to see Cavendish take yellow on Saturday and Peter Sagan take it on Sunday.

Cross-winds and crashes will doubtlessly play their part over those two days and the days that follow and the roads are rolling enough on stage 5 that the contenders will need to be aware and that a day long break should survive.

It's at the end of the first week in which the action really beings to kick off. Friday has a category one climb of the Col d'Aspin just before a descent into the finish and Saturday is a beast of a day with four mountain passes, including the Tourmalet and Peyresourde, but which also finishes at the bottom of a hill in Bagnères-de-Luchon, were Thomas Voeckler has won twice in the past, before Sunday's first summit finish to Andorre Arcalis.

By then I should be safely back on my armchair for what promises to be an epic Sunday of sport: The first summit finish of the Tour, the European Championship final in Paris, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and the Wimbledon final of the tennis. It's the sporting fans dream day and it will give me flashbacks to the same weekend in the summer of 1998 when the Tour de France started in Dublin (won in a prologue by Chris Boardman), the World Cup Final took place in Paris (won by France), and the British Grand Prix was held at Silverstone (Won by Michael Schumacher). The Wimbldon final that year, for what its worth, took place the week before but was won by Pete Sampras.

It's a weekend in which British sport could revive their dismal summer after England's failure at the European Championships. Chris Froome could stamp his authority on the Tour for a third time with a stage win, Lewis Hamilton could win at Silverstone and Andy Murray at Wimbledon. Only in the football will they fall short, unless of course Wales pulls off a miracle...though the final could yet be refereed by an Englishman!

Beyond that Sunday the Tour gets real as it heads towards the Pyrenees, but more on that later. For now, I know what I'm potentially missing and I know what I can find a few minutes to tune in for. Suffice to say it's unlikely I'll be writing much on here that first week, though typically my second day home will be to a rest day, but that should give me ample time to analyse the damage done and see who has lost the Tour and who might win it.

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Rider of the week

Being the week before the Tour there was an extraordinarily light schedule as teams focus fully on their pre-Tour preparation and the riders involved run their final tune ups. As a result there was only one race of a decent level on the calendar, the one day Halle Ingooigem (1.1) in Belgium. It was won by Dries De Bondt of Verandas Willems ahead of Jens Keukeleire and Edward Theuns riding for the Belgium national team. As such, De Bondt gets the honour.