Tour de France: Everything you need to know about the start of the Tour de France

Why does it start in Italy?

The Grand Départ in Florence is Saturday. It has now become somewhat of a tradition that… Tour de France starts outside France. After Copenhagen in 2022 and Bilbao last year, it is now the turn of the city on the Arno – for the first time ever the tour starts in Italy. There are several reasons for this: exactly 100 years ago, Ottavio Bottecchia was the first Italian to win the Tour, and the cycling world in Emilia Romagna also honors the 1998 Tour winner, Marco Pantani died 20 years ago.

Another first: for the first time, the Tour de France will not finish in Paris on the Champs Élysées – this time the finish will be in Paris due to the preparations for the Olympic Games Nice.

When does it get exciting?

On the first day. There will be no relaxed approach, no flat stage of 200 kilometers and a bunch sprint at the start. The first stage goes from Florence via the Apennines to the Adriatic Sea. The riders have to overcome seven climbs, including the Côte de San Leo: four and a half kilometers with an average gradient of almost eight percent. It is very possible that one of the favorites to win the tour, wins on the first day.

For anyone who wants to make a difference in the general classification, the first stage is a complicated affair. The streets of Emilia Romagna are narrow, the descents are technical and dangerous. The peloton is always nervous, especially at the start of the tour in a season marked by serious fallsThe old saying goes: you can’t win the Tour on the first day, but you can lose it.

The same applies to the fourth leg in which the tour has started France arrives. The riders must then climb the first mountain of the highest category: the Col du Galibier. Top favorite Tadej Pogačar in particular does not have good memories of it; two years ago he lost the tour to Jonas Vingegaard on a stage with the Galibier.

Who are the favorites?

Two riders share the last four overall victories: the Dane Jonas Vingegaard (2022 & 2023) and the Slovenian Tadej Pogačar (2020 & 2021). They are again the two top favorites, but travel to the tour in completely different circumstances: Pogačar has been in rock-solid form since the start of the season. He won several one-day races in the spring and took overall victory in the second most important national round, the Giro d’Italia, at the end of May – almost ten minutes ahead of the number two.

Vingegaard, on the other hand, suffered a heavy fall during a preparation race in the Basque Country, breaking his collarbone and some ribs and suffering a perforated lung. The tour opener will be his first day of racing since the crash. The Dane has been training at altitude for weeks, but only he and his team know what his form really is.

Who has external opportunities?

Behind the two top favorites are Primož Roglič and Remco Evenepoel. Both have won Grand Tours before, but never the Tour de France – and both were involved in the same crash as Jonas Vingegaard. Roglič in particular still has some scores to settle: Tadej Pogačar took the Tour victory under his nose in the penultimate stage four years ago and Vingegaard overtook him as leader of the Jumbo-Visma team. The Slovenian now drives for the German team Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe.

And the other sweaters?

Jasper Philipsen wants to defend the green jersey of the best sprinter. With four stage wins, the Belgian was the dominant man on the flat stages last year. Supported by world champion Mathieu van der Poel, it will be difficult to beat Philipsen again. His two toughest competitors are probably two compatriots: Wout van Aert and Arnaud De Lie. The Dane Mads Pedersen will have outside chances.

The race for the white jersey of the best young pro is exciting again for the first time in years – because Tadej Pogačar has turned 25 and has dropped out of this classification (his four white jerseys in four participations are a record). The most promising candidate, besides Remco Evenepoel, is the Spaniard Carlos Rodriguez, who finished fifth overall last year. Colombian Santiago Buitrago and American Matteo Jorgenson also get a chance.

It is most difficult to predict who will win the legendary polka dot jersey of the best mountain rider. Drivers who originally had ambitions in the general classification but lagged behind often compete for the mountain points. Last year’s winner, Giulio Ciccone, is back.