Head north! The Tour de France will start on Friday in Copenhagen with three days in Denmark, an unprecedented host country, to open the 109e edition of a race still under the threat of COVID-19 with the title holder, the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, for immense favorite.
A big departure all the way to the north
The Danish candidacy, supported by the highest political authorities, won over the organizers of the Tour, despite the most northern start in its history and a day devoted to recovery due to transfer.
“In Denmark, everyone is on a bicycle”, underlines the director of the Tour, Christian Prudhomme, who postponed the departure from Copenhagen for a year to avoid duplication with matches of the last Euro football.
Sportingly, Friday’s time trial (favorable to the world champion in the discipline, Filippo Ganna) and the finish of the second stage, with a final very exposed to the wind on the bridge which connects the two largest islands of countries, announce two highlights. Before returning to France and following a spectacular and dreaded first week, drawn for the punchers.
“The teams will do the accounts in Arenberg [5e étape]and it is possible that a certain number of favorites will be eliminated or trapped”, admits Christian Prudhomme about the race which will then tackle two monumental alpine stages (Granon, Alpe d’Huez) then the consistent Pyrenees with each time arrivals at the top (Peyragudes, Hautacam).
A long 40 kilometer time trial in the Lot, resort of the Danish royal family, precedes the final parade on the Champs-Élysées on July 24 by 24 hours, after 3350 kilometers.
An ever-present threat
The cascade of abandonments recently recorded at the Tour de Suisse has reminded us of the threat posed by the resumption of the COVID-19 epidemic in Western Europe. Consequence or coincidence, absences and withdrawals have multiplied for the various national championships of the weekend (Pogacar, Roglic, van Aert, van der Poel, Bardet, Pinot, Gaudu).
In all the teams, the concern for protection is essential after the general relaxation at the start of the season, even if a number of positive runners did not show symptoms.
“For the teams, the Tour de France is so important that they themselves redouble their attention to the riders and their staff before the start”, estimates the director of the Tour, who intends to strictly respect the health rules in force and plans to distribute some 40,000 masks for the public near the start and finish areas.
But concern surfaces in the reactions of the riders although the peloton has been spared by COVID-19 in the last two editions in a context of greater tension, especially in 2020.
Only one favorite for the yellow jersey
Two participations and two victories. At 23, Pogacar has a 100% success rate and offers equally solid guarantees. The young Slovenian from the UAE team, who has ten victories in 2022, impressed in the classics at the start of the season and recently flew over his National Tour. Who can beat him except poor performance or a twist of fate?
The opposition is led by the Jumbo team, which aligns the dolphins of the last two years, the Slovenian Primoz Roglic (2020) and the Dane Jonas Vingegaard (2021). But, in the Tour, the centers of interest are multiple, both for the other distinctive jerseys (classifications by points, for the mountains, etc.) and for stage successes.
In itself, the match between the elite punchers that are the Belgian Wout van Aert and the Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel acts as a common thread on the first week. Especially if the world champion, Julian Alaphilippe, whose presence remains to be confirmed, interferes in the duel.