Official 2017 Tour de France Race Guide sampler

THE OFFICIAL 2017 RACE GUIDE

TOUR DE FRANCE EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS

STAGE ANALYSIS

Leading contenders profiled including Froome, Quintana and Contador

Maps, profiles and expert insight from the route director

EVERY TEAM

BEHIND THE SCENES

Rider stats, ones to watch plus predictions from Stephen Roche

© ILLUSTRATION: Alexis Boulivet

UK EDITION

Altitude training and in the wind tunnel with the world’s greatest riders

Volta Catalunya Spain 20-26 March 2017 Froome and Team Sky are caught out on the penultimate stage, losing over 26mins. The result drops Froome from second to 31st overall. He bounces back on the final stage with a late attack, but it only elevates him one position on GC. Image: Getty Images

6 Procycling / Chris Froome: Anatomy of a Champion

GALLERY

Tour de Romandie Switzerland 30 April 2017 The 31-year-old Brit continues his moderate start to the 2017 season with 18th overall. “There's a lot of work to do ahead of the Tour,” he says, “but I'm confident I know how to get the job done.”

Image: Getty Images

Chris Froome: Anatomy of a Champion / Procycling 7

14

TOUR ROUTE

TOUR ROUTE

Stage winner Yellow jersey Green jersey Young rider King of the Mountains Race start Race finish Start town Finish town Rest day Stage Individual time trial

Tour de France 2017

Official Programme

CONTENTS

15

CONTENTS 18 Hotshots: The Tour in pictures All the colour, chaos, culture and carnage

34 The guide Everything you need to know about the Tour jerseys, prizes, rules and more

40 Race director Q&A Christian Prudhomme explains the significance of the Tour heading to Germany

42

La Course on the rise La Course by Le Tour is the biggest women’s event of the year

88

Behind the scenes Why the world’s best train at altitude postDauphiné plus wind-tunnel innovations

100

The teams Ultimate guide to every team and rider plus analysis from Tour legend Stephen Roche

146 The route The key stages and mountains that will make or break a rider’s Tour dreams

165 The stages Maps, itineraries, stage profiles and exclusive insight from experienced route director Thierry Gouvenou

213 The records The statistics and records that have made this the world’s greatest sporting event

Official Programme

Tour de France 2017

136

TEAMS

TEAM SKY

Team Sky

Established 2010 Bike sponsor Pinarello Team manager Dave Brailsford DS Dario Cioni, Servais Knaven, Brett Lancaster, Nicolas Portal, Gabriel Rasch, Xabier Zandio

C

hris Froome lines up on 1 July aiming to become only the fifth rider to win four or more times at the Tour de France. If he does, he’d have ridden a different path than his previous three victories where he swept up many a title in the Tour build-up. In 2017, Froome’s finished well down the field at his last two races – Volta a Catalunya and the Tour of Romandie. But Sky intimated at the start of the season that it was all about peaking for the ‘right’ races and Froome remains calm. Which is hardly surprising when he has a support crew that’s the envy of the peloton. Take the Dutch rider Wout Poels, who would lead most Tour teams. And then there’s Stannard, Rowe…

TEAM RANKING

03

2014

26

WINS 2015

2016

45

39 RIDER TO WATCH

RIDER STATISTICS RIDER

DOB

HEIGHT

WEIGHT

TYPE

PRO DEBUT

1

Christopher FROOME

20/05/85

1.86m

69kg

Leader

2007

Team Sky

2

Ian BOSWELL

07/02/91

1.85m

70kg

Climber

2009

Team Sky

3

Philip DEIGNAN

07/09/83

1.80m

65kg

Rouleur

2005

Team Sky

4

Michal GOLAS

29/04/84

1.80m

65kg

All-rounder

2007

Team Sky

5

Sebastián HENAO

05/08/93

1.71m

57kg

Climber

2012

Team Sky

6

Sergio Luis HENAO

10/12/87

1.69m

61kg

Climber

2007

Team Sky

7

Beñat INTXAUSTI

20/03/86

1.76m

59kg

Rouleur

2007

Team Sky

8

Peter KENNAUGH

15/06/89

1.73m

62kg

Rouleur

2010

Team Sky

9

Vasil KIRYIENKA

28/06/81

1.82m

70kg

All-rounder

2004

Team Sky

10 Christian KNEES

05/03/81

1.94m

81kg

Rouleur

2004

Team Sky

11 Michal KWIATKOWSKI

02/06/90

1.76m

68kg

Rouleur

2010

Team Sky

12 Mikel LANDA

13/12/89

1.72m

60kg

Climber

2010

Team Sky

13 David LîPEZ

13/05/81

1.79m

68kg

Rouleur

2003

Team Sky

14 Mikel NIEVE ITURRALDE

26/05/84

1.73m

62kg

Puncheur

2008

Team Sky

15 Wouter POELS

01/10/87

1.83m

66kg

Climber

2006

Team Sky

16 Salvatore PUCCIO

31/08/89

1.82m

62.8kg

All-rounder

2012

Team Sky

17 Luke ROWE

10/03/90

1.83m

72kg

Rouleur

2012

Team Sky

18 Ian STANNARD

25/05/87

1.89m

83kg

Rouleur

2008

Team Sky

19 Geraint THOMAS

25/05/86

1.83m

70kg

Rouleur

2007

Team Sky

20 Danny VAN POPPEL

26/07/93

1.83m

72kg

Rouleur

2012

Team Sky

21 Elia VIVIANI

07/02/89

1.78m

67kg

Sprinter

2010

Team Sky

22 Owain DOULL

02/05/93

1.81m

73kg

Rouleur

2014

Team Wiggins

23 Kenny ELISSONDE

22/07/91

1.59m

52kg

Climber

2012

FDJ

24 Diego ROSA

27/03/89

1.78m

65kg

All-rounder

2013

Astana

25 Lukasz WISNIOWSKI

07/12/91

1.90m

79kg

All-rounder

2013

Etixx-Quick Step

Tour de France 2017

Official Programme

2016 TEAM

CHRIS FROOME The Briton is the man to beat at the Tour, although the likelihood is that it'll actually be difficult to beat him. The big aim remains the Tour-Vuelta double, which he almost pulled off last year.

F O R T U N E O -V I TA L C O N C E P T

TEAMS

137

ROCHE’S ANALYSIS

Froome remains the favourite Chris Froome has already won three Tours. He is the favourite.

When his achievements are brought into question, he always likes to adopt the attitude: “I’m here, say what you want, do what you want, find what you want, I know who I am and I’m moving on.” Faced with the same degree of criticism, another person might be more aggressive. But he always acts the gentleman, showing correctness in all circumstances. He deserves 10/10 for his management of the situation and also the respect of the public rather than the whistles that can sometimes be heard.

Official Programme

Tour de France 2017

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