The one cycling event that truly captures the imagination of the global sporting audience, the 101st edition of the Tour de France will depart from the northern English county of Yorkshire.
The city of Leeds and surrounding towns will be the entree to a wide-open battle across the French terrain destined to favour the climbers, with only one time trial and five mountaintop finishes.
In 2014, the obvious and justified favourite is defending champion Chris Froome.
Team Sky’s main man is proven in the French Alps and heads into this year’s race after claiming general classification honours and the 18.5km individual time trial on the fifth and final stage at the Tour de Romandie.
29-year-old Froome continued his strong build-up to the Tour de France at the Criterium du Dauphine in France earlier this month, winning the points classification and confirming his strong time trial skills in Lyon with victory on the 10.4km Stage 1 course, ahead of Tinkoff-Saxo rival Alberto Contador.
Minus the crash and sideshow, Froome and Team Sky still took plenty out of Dauphine.
Australian Richie Porte will play a pivotal role in steering the Kenyan-born Froome through the tough second half of the Tour.
However, Froome will head into the 21-stage race with a few concerns.
Team Sky teammates Sergio Henao and Edvald Boasson Hagen have confirmed they wont make the July 5 start line. The missing pair played a key role in Team Sky’s success in 2013, making a third-straight victory in France might not be as straightforward as first thought.
Furthermore, last year might not have been a true reflection of Contador’s abilities in the mountains. On paper, this year’s Tour is set for the Spaniard to challenge Froome and Team Sky’s stranglehold on the race, provided his teammates give him adequate support.
Contador will be relying on the likes of Ireland’s Nicolas Roche, who impressed at the Giro d’Italia earlier this year, finishing 12th in the mountain classification and claiming two top-10 stage finishes, along with seasoned Aussie veteran Michael Rogers, who also performed strongly at the Giro, recording victories on Stages 11 and 20. Rogers also knows Team Sky’s abilities all too well, having spent two seasons with the British outfit.
With Cadel Evans focusing on the Giro, 2014 marks an important transition period for BMC team management, who will offer young American star Tejay van Garderen the opportunity to shine on the big stage.
The first nine stages of the 2014 Tour throw up plenty of opportunities for the sprinters and like last year will offer teams such as Orica-GreenEDGE the chance to claim stage honours and the possibility of wearing yellow.
No doubt the French teams will use the early stages to soak up as much TV time as possible for their sponsors.
Sprint supremos Mark Cavendish and Andre Greipel will battle it out for green sprinter’s jersey, and with Cavendish being led-out by Australian Mark Renshaw, Omega Pharma-Quick Step will be closely monitored across the opening nine stages before the climbers take centre stage.
The Tour throws up plenty of possibilities and Australia’s Simon Gerrans will be once again in the mix for a stage victory, while Spain’s Alejandro Valverde can’t be discounted in the general classification.
With so many subplots to play out, the Tour is once again a sporting story ready to unfold. New heroes are born and stars can become legends.
The late nights and weary days at work are all worth it. Bring on another Tour de France.
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