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ANALYSIS | 8 riders with something to prove at the Tour de France
CyclingThursday, 29 June 2023 at 22:19
The Tour de France is the stage every year for some amazing stories, whether they are of a comeback, of proving oneself as a world class rider, or many other reasons. Each and every one of the 176 riders at the start have unique motivations into the Tour, here I take a look into the 8 riders who have the most to prove.
Nº8 - Mark Cavendish
Of course, the Manx Missile was a mandatory figure on this list. Cavendish does not have to prove that he's a legendary sprinter, or that he deserves to forever be noted as a key figure of the Tour de France, or even that Astana was right to sign him in 2023. He's already succeeded in each of those missions. Cavendish has the goal of proving he was always right to keep persisting and prolonging his career well after his peak.
After his golden years in HTC, Sky and Quick-Step, he moved to Dimension Data as he had to look for more modest teams to protect his interests of being a sole leader with a dedicated sprinter. In 2016 he succeeded with 4 wins at the Tour, but has then faded. In 2017 he crashed out early, in 2018 he did not have the form, and 2019 he didn't even step foot on the Tour. The goal of achieving the 35 wins to beat Eddy Merckx as the rider with the most stage wins in the history of the race seemed finished. In 2020 he signed with Bahrain - McLaren but in 37 days of racing he did not finish in the Top10 once and his career seemed to be over. But Patrick Lefevere gave him a chance, and in 2021 Cavendish won another 4 stages to match Merckx' record.
Whilst last year the team did not choose him, Cavendish continues his career now 15 years after reaching his prime and winning his first Tour stage. He was a last-minute signing for Astana who had a free spot, a miracle for Cavendish who saw his contract with B&B Hotels-KTM evaporate over the winter as the team folded. If he wins a stage in this year's Tour, his 14th and final one, he will prove that all these years racing with this one incredible goal in mind will have been worth it, despite the many ups and downs.
@Sirotti
Nº7 - David Gaudu
No team in the run-up to the Tour de France was as atribulated as Groupama - FDJ. Three leaders with different goals, and one of them that was not in favour of the presence of the other two, in a French team. There was a lot of emotional parts to this lineup's story, as Thibaut Pinot is riding his final Tour de France after spending his entire career with Marc Madiot's squad. He's hoping for a worthy goodbye to the race and his Giro d'Italia performance suggests he may very well do so.
The same can't be said of Arnaud Démare, who won't hang up the wheels, but will leave the team in bad terms after also spending his whole career - ever since 2012 - racing for FDJ and becoming a generational leader. The reason is because of the team's new star David Gaudu, the rising overall classification contender who can take the team back to the podium in Paris. Last year he was very close, finishing fourth, this year he wanted more. He had the biggest say in the team's options when it came to the riders, and the absence of Démare is explained here.
Gaudu is leading the team over the coming month, and after the internal disputes that led up to it, he will have quite a lot of pressure to perform. He finished only 30th at the Criterium du Dauphiné which was not a good sign, if he fails to perform at the Tour it will have a serious impact in his status as an unconditional leader of the team. A podium is not necessarily what defines an accomplished goal, however the 26-year old is heading into what is perhaps the most important race of his career so far.
@Sirotti
Nº6 - Caleb Ewan
Caleb Ewan has over the course of many years been a dominant sprinter in the peloton, one also capable of riding some classics, hilly races and punchy finishes. The 'Pocket Rocket' was always an unusual type of sprinter, being a lightweight, but using aerodynamics to his advantage. However in recent years he has not managed to succeed in the same way. His move to Lotto Dstny back in 2019 was with the goal of maintaining his status as an absolute leader with a large investment in a leadout, but that is now at risk.
Ewan has won two races this year, however those were the 1.1 Van Merksteijn Fences Classic and the non-UCI Schwalbe Classic. He has also not won a Grand Tour stage win since the 2021 Giro d'Italia, which has already taken place over two years ago. In 2022 the team gave way to a new sprinter Arnaud De Lie who almost saved the team from relegation and was by far the most successful rider. De Lie has established himself as a team leader and whilst this year he is still being tested in a new calendar, 2024 will be a consolidation year with Grand Tours a certainty.
Both have contracts until 2024 and will have to battle to be the team's priority. If Ewan does not perform in this Tour, and the rest of 2023, he will become the team's second option. Despite being only 28 he is a veteran in the peloton, but now the time has come where he has to prove he's still worthy of Lotto's dedication to him as a leader, otherwise he will have to give up his spot to the young gun.
@Sirotti
Nº5 - Torstein Traeen
Torstein Traeen's story is perhaps not one as popular as some of the other riders on this list, but I would argue a more impressive one. The Norwegian was diagnosed with testicular cancer in April of last year after an anti-doping test revealed irregularities, but because it was detected early on it was treated. It was on the 14th of July that Traeen revealed in an Instagram post that he had been successfully treated without the need for chemotherapy, and one year later he will be riding his first Tour de France.
It is a story which has been built on a number of successes beginning with his recovery, then his return to professional cycling in August of 2022, followed by Uno-X's historic wildcard for the race which sees it for the first time in the Grand Boucle. Traeen has made the selection after continuously improving over the past year, he enters the Tour straight after an eighth place at the Criterium du Dauphiné. Having such a return from cancer is something very few athletes are capable of and the 27-year old is proving it to be possible.
@Sirotti
Nº4 - Mattias Skjelmose
On a different note we have rider number 4 Mattias Skjelmose. The Dane was a late addition to this list, after his performance at the Tour de Suisse launched questions over his future. Positive questions that is, although it must be said that they did not appear at their very best, the Lidl - Trek rider is just off directly beating Juan Ayuso and Remco Evenepoel at the Tour de Suisse. His talent was apparent developing as a young rider, but he has taken a big step this year, having also finished second to Tadej Pogacar at Fléche Wallone for example.
Skjelmose won the Tour de Suisse in convincing fashion, winning the first summit finish, controlling his rivals with a cool head despite being constantly attacked in the other two mountain stages, and then riding at the level of the two supertalents in the final time-trial. The eight-day stage-race was very hard both physically and psychologically and Skjelmose beat many names that are given to fight for a place in the Top10 at the Tour. With Trek having Mads Pedersen chasing sprint stages and Giulio Ciccone hunting mountain breakaways, Skjelmose will most certainly go all-in in testing himself as a GC rider.
He's 23, he has time to evolve and correct mistakes, but in this Tour de France Skjelmose will be on the path to prove that he is a contender for the Grand Tours, and that he has evolved into one of the best stage-racers in the current peloton.
@Sirotti
Nº3 - Jordi Meeus
Jordi Meeus comes in at number 3 after an unexpected turn of events throughout the past few days. Meeus signed with BORA - hansgrohe in 2021 to become a secondary sprinter. He has continued on that path until... some days ago? Jordi Meeus is set to try and prove he is worthy of becoming the German team's new lead sprinter and that he is worthy of the expensive leadout the team signed, to support Sam Bennett.
The reason why this is unexpected is because Sam Bennett has built his season around the Tour de France, but when it came the time to select him he was simply not on the list. BORA built this lineup equally supporting Jai Hindley and Bennett for the Tour, with leadout superstar Danny van Poppel, Marco Haller and Nils Politt on the Irishman's side. Last year it was understandable, but in 2023 Bennett looked better and even recently his form looked good enough to race the Tour, specially as he had in the past identified his mistake. Hence it came as a surprise that instead of Bennett, the Belgian Jordi Meeus took his place.
The 24-year old has not to this day won a single World Tour race, but is perhaps entering the Tour de France with the best leadout in the game. Victor of the Circuit de Charleroi Wallonie this year, alongside a few other classics in the past, he's proven to be a rider capable of fighting with the best, but here he has gotten a golden opportunity. If Meeus manages to win in this Tour de France it is almost guaranteed that he will be stepping up as BORA's new sprint leader and take control of it's leadout - with Sam Bennett also certain to leave this winter.
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Nº2 - Julian Alaphilippe
Julian Alaphilippe has the chance to make a much needed and worked for comeback in this Tour de France. The former World Champion has had golden years with world titles, monuments, Tour de France wins and yellow jerseys on his palmarès, but 2022 proved to be a hellish year. The then World Champion suffered numerous crashes throughout the season in some of his biggest goals, and in other moments fell ill equally in bad times. It was a very complicated season for the Soudal - Quick-Step rider, who then also had Patrick Lefevere publicly mention several times that he did not obtain the results worthy of his salary.
After winning the rainbow jersey twice in a row, it was a steep cliff he came off of, and into 2023 he needed to start again, despite the adversities. He won the Faun-Ardèche Classic early in the year as a good sign of form, but his plan to aim at the Tour of Flanders completely got dismantled as he was ill the week before, and was then affected by a mass crash during the race itself. As a consequence, he also had to miss out on all the action on the Ardennes - making a comeback at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, but only to help his teammate Remco Evenepoel win for a second time in a row, in the classic that in the past saw the Frenchman always as the sole leader. His role within the team has diminishes, his rainbow jersey is gone, things do not look too bright.
But then came the Criterium du Dauphiné, and Alaphilippe won stage 2 which ended in a sharp hilltop sprint. It was an impressive win, and throughout the week Alaphilippe was in form and aggressive, even entering the breakaway on the final mountain day despite being in the first spots of the overall classification, eventually finishing 10th, a good sign. As Remco Evenepoel puts off his Tour de France goals to 2024, this is the final Tour where Alaphilippe has the chance to punch the table in his home Grand Tour before Quick-Step changes it's approach to the race. A stage win, a yellow jersey, these will in the very least be on the mind of Alaphilippe.
@Sirotti
Nº1 - Egan Bernal
Last but not least we have Egan Bernal. In January of 2022, Bernal - who had won the Tour back in 2019 after INEOS deposited confidence in him and he proved his worth - had a terrible training accident. After he struggled through 2020 with back issues, 2021 was a comeback year where he won the Giro d'Italia. 2022 was set to be his return to the Tour, but that path ended in the winter still as he hit a stationed bus at high speed and got numerous injuries which put him at severe risk of death. His recovery involved almost a year of physiotherapy and operations. But the single fact that Bernal managed to return to the peloton in itself is almost miraculous taking into consideration his injuries.
His comeback has been one of the most inspirational stories in modern pro cycling, as he put a bib back in August 2022. He returned to Colombia shortly after to undergo a few more operations, and then kickstart his training to 2023, where he hoped to be building towards the Tour. Step by step he improved, and a fourth place at the queen stage of the Vuelta a San Juan showed he could now be competitive once again. A knee injury then sidelined him for another two months, and his Tour dreams faded. However in what was perhaps his final chance to prove form, he rode to an 8th spot at the Tour de Romandie. Here INEOS began to consider him for the Tour once again. An 8th spot then at the Tour de Hongrie got the team wondering that he was consistent and strong enough to be worthy of the spot.
Bernal was set to travel to the Tour of Norway, but last minute the team opted out of the Vuelta a Espana preparation, and put him back on the Tour's rails. He has done stage recons and rode the Criterium du Dauphiné, finishing a 12th spot which shows he carries form. The 26-year has since been selected and will be having the GC on his mind. This Tour de France, Egan Bernal has the chance to prove that he is no longer a rider on the path of getting back to his level, but instead a world-class rider who is back at his best and ready to fight for the win once again.
@Sirotti
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