While everyone dreams of spending a day in yellow at the Tour de France, the second most important jersey is the green one awarded to the most consistent sprinter over the three weeks.
Stage wins are also a massive goal for sprinters and some value them more than the green jersey itself.
The green jersey will be a very interesting competition this year, with last year’s winner Peter Sagan changing teams and probably having to put aside some of his own aspirations for that of Alberto Contador who is attempting the Giro-Tour double.
News also broke earlier in the week that Marcel Kittel has pulled out of the Tour de France, citing injury and lack of preparation as the reason. With Kittel the key rival to Mark Cavendish in recent years for stage wins where does that leave the minimal flat stages for this year’s Tour?
Let’s have a look at those that will challenge for green and sprint wins.
Mark Cavendish (Etixx-Quickstep)
The Manx missile has for so long been one of the best sprinters in the world and the stats back that up. Twenty-five stage victories at the Tour is an incredible record.
At the 2014 Tour de France he crashed out in the first stage and did not win a Grand Tour stage for the season. Coming into the Tour he looks to be in good form having won three stages in Turkey and four in California with the points jersey in both. He will chase stage wins at the Tour and with Kittel out should snag at least one.
Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo)
Sagan has won the green jersey at the Tour de France for the last three years in a row and over that time has only won four stages, including a grand total of zero in last year’s race.
However, it is looking like an uphill battle for him to win it this year. A public falling out with Oleg Tinkov over results has not exactly helped his chances but Contador being on the team gives you a fairly good idea he will receive approximately zero support.
Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal)
Greipel, like Cavendish, has been in good form in the lead up to the Tour, winning two stages at the ZLM tour, along with the general classification and points classification. He also won two stages in Luxembourg with the points classification after having some time off following the Giro, which he raced the first two weeks off.
With six stage wins at the Tour in the last four years it should be expected he will go close to winning some this year and fight out the flat stages with Cavendish.
John Degenkolb (Giant – Alpecin)
Degenkolb has never won a stage at the Tour de France, probably because he has that other fast guy in his team. You know Marcel Kittel. With Kittel out of the race, Degenkolb takes over the leadership at Giant Alpecin and it comes at a good time.
He looks to be in epic form having won both Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo earlier in the year. He has kept steady form for the rest of the year and while he may not be able to match it with Cavendish and Greipel he should be able to pick up one of the more punchy stages.
Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing)
Van Avermaet was one of the animaters of the 2014 Tour and will look to improve his overall sprinting credentials in the 2015 one. Any stages with a significant obstacle in the way are the ones Van Avermaet will be expected to shine on, however he will look to be cracking the top 10 and even the top five consistently on the flat days.
Van Avermaet may not get a lot of team support, though, judging by the form of his teammate and overall contender Tejay Van Garderen.
Arnaud Demare (FDJ)
Demare burst onto the scene last year at FDJ as a sprinter with a couple of top three efforts on the flat stages. He is still young and will have improved over the off-season which is tellable by his form with a pair of stage wins in the recent Tour of Belgium. Will be looking for top five finishes and a possible win, however that looks to be a bit beyond him.
Alexander Kristoff (Katusha)
Kristoff was the live wire of the 2015 classics season, winning race after race with his attacking and sprinting ability. That is not to say he is not an out and out sprinter, finishing second on the Champs Elysees in the 2014 Tour. His form since the classics has remained strong and he is one of the definite favourites for the green jersey in Paris.
Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE)
Riding for a team that chases stage wins in any way possible and as often as they can suits Matthews. He will line up for the Tour after a strong showing early in the Giro despite not winning a stage.
His form is a little bit questionable having pulled out of the Tour of Switzerland early as well. Still he will be one of the key men on the flat and be able to pick up green jersey points all over the place.
Bryan Coquard (Europcar)
Coquard burst onto the scene in last year’s Tour de France going for every little green jersey point he could find, eventually finishing in third place in the points classification. It was a strong showing in his grand tour debut and he will be looking for something similar this year.
His eagerness to take on every intermediate sprint made people sit up and take notice of Coquard and a stage win has to be the goal this year.
Edvald Boasson Hagen and Tyler Farrar (MTN-Qhubeka)
MTN’s strategy will be an interesting one for this year’s Tour de France. With both Boasson Hagen and Farrar it will be interesting to see who is the protected rider.
Farrar has not sprinted with any real flare for a number of years and for that reason Boasson Hagen will probably be the protected rider. He could also poach green jersey points on mountain stages.
Predictions
The pure flat stages are few and far between in this tour as summarised in my preview of the route, and I fully expect them to be fought out between two very committed lead out trains of Mark Cavendish and Andre Greipel. Arnaud Demare could also challenge, however the rest will be making up the top 10.
The green jersey, for the first time in three years, should be elsewhere than Peter Sagan’s shoulders. My top tips are Michael Matthews, Alexander Kristoff or John Degenkolb.
In the next part of this preview series we take a look at the Australians named to ride in the 2015 Tour and their prospects.
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