"Pogacar and Vingegaard, and for third place, I'm not going to put David Gaudu but rather Ben O'Connor" - Cyrille Guimard makes Tour de France prediction

After all the excitement, anticipation and build-up the 2023 Tour de France is finally here. Although the Maillot Jaune is expected to be between Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, the third spot on the podium is wide open.

Speaking in his column for Cyclism'Actu, Cyrille Guimard makes his Tour de France predictions. "I'm more Pogacar than Vingegaard. He has had plenty of time to prepare since his crash and his coaches have programmed his training to bring him to the top at the start of the Tour," analyses the Frenchman. "I think he is already practically at his top level and the two races at the Slovenian Championships allowed him to check whether his data was good or not, and there is no reason why it should not be."

As mentioned the battle for the third and final spot on the podium is wide open. The likes of David Gaudu, Mattias Skjelmose, Richard Carapaz, Mikel Landa and more will have all have hopes but for Guimard it is AG2R Citroen Team's Ben O'Connor who stands out.

"My final podium? Pogacar and Vingegaard, and for third place, I'm not going to put David Gaudu but rather Ben O'Connor." Although not a Frenchman, O'Connor does ride for a French team and as such, him finishing on the podium would be greeted well in Paris.