Who were the riders of the Tour de France? Here are our picks.
Gerrans outsprinted Peter Sagan for the win on Stage 3. The next day, His Orica-Greenedge
team put in the fastest team time trial ever, and Gerrans took the yellow jersey. After
riding stage 5 in yellow, Gerrans eased up at the finish of stage 6 to pass the maillot
jaune onto his good friend and teammate Daryl Impey, a great gesture of sportsmanship showing
the team work that professional cycling is built on. For that, Gerrans makes our top
10.
After a few years where he has failed to live up to his promise, Roman Kreuziger has had
a breakout Tour de France this year, and could emerge as a GC contender. After taking victory
in the Amstel Gold Race, Kreuziger came to the Tour to work for Alberto Contador, finishing
just a minute behind his team leader in 5th place overall.
Another one of our riders to look out for earlier in the season, Tour de Suisse stage
winner Bauke Mollema rode to a career-best 6th place overall, and made the lead echelon
on Stage 13, at which point he had fans wondering if he could be the rider to present a challenge
to Chris Froome. As it was, Mollema fell back in the Alps, but his ride at the Tour makes
him a GC outsider for years to come.
We couldn't exclude the only French stage winner, especially bearing in mind the manner
in which he did it. Whilst French favourites Thomas Voeckler and Pierre Rolland weren't
up to the high standards that they have set in recent years, Riblon took an epic win on
the Alpe d'Huez. In the break all day, Riblon punched an over zealous spectator on the Alpe,
came off the road on the descent of the Col de Sarrenne and then clawed Tejay van Garderen
back in the final 2km to take finally take a French win on stage 18. Riblon has continued
his winning streak, taking stage 2 of the Tour of Poland to Passo Pordoi.
Before the Tour, many cycling fans would have never heard of Jan Bakelants. That was to
change after Stage 2, when he held the leading pack off for a solo win, taking the yellow
jersey too. After losing the yellow jersey following stage 4's team time trial, Bakelants
was aggressive and highly visible for the rest of the race.
You all told us watch out for Costa, and he truly lit the final week of the race up. Costa
lost his 9th place on GC when he worked for team leader Alejandro Valverde after his mechanical
on stage 13. Despite this setback, Costa took full advantage of the freedom that being lower
down the general classification gives, with spectacular solo wins into Gap on Stage 16
and Le Grand Bornand on Stage 19.
Richie Porte was THE super domestique of the race, and the man who many believe to have
been the second strongest in the field. After dropping out of GC contention on Stage 9 in
the Pyrenees, Porte regained his legs and was Chris Froome's strongest supporter for
the rest of the race. Without Porte's help on the Alpe d'Huez Froome could have blown
and lost minutes rather than seconds.
Coming in to the Tour, Mark Cavendish was the sprinter to watch. After taking 4 stage
wins to Cav's 2, Kittel and his Argo-Shimano team look to have wrestled that title from
Cav. Kittel book-ended the Tour with wins on the opening stage in Corsica and the final
stage on the Champs-Elysees. It was a near-flawless performance from the German, and the ongoing
battle for sprint supremacy should prove fascinating.
We had Quintana down as one to watch, and he put on a show in the mountain stages, taking
2nd overall, stage 20 to Annecy-Semnoz, the white jersey for best young rider, and the
polka dot jersey for best climber. A stunning performance for the young Colombian, who is
just 23. We look forward to seeing him battle for the yellow jersey for many years to come.
For our number one, we can't look past Chris Froome. Taking the overall win after second
place last year, with three stage wins along the way, there can be no doubt that Froome
was the stand out rider of this years Tour. Froome rode a calculated race throughout and,
the second time up Alpe d'Huez excepted, never truly looked to be in trouble.
Which rider made the Tour de France for you? Comment and let us know.