Roll up, roll up, it’s time for Le Tour and I for 1 and very excited. To begin, Düsseldorf.

The Route: 14km out and back between Düsseldorf’s tidy Messe conference hall and the city centre including 10km alongside the sleepy river Rhine. It’s so flat the only changes in altitude are bridges over the river Rhine but these will be felt, they’re suspension bridges rather than small bumps. The few technicalities come in nine corners, some require braking, most don’t. Overall this is a fast and flat course on big boulevards. The time check at 8.1km comes in the downtown shopping precinct before heading north back to the start alongside the banks of the Rhine with a four kilometre long finishing straight that will see returning riders pass rivals on their way out in the opposite direction.

So, the course:

And the profile (flat!):

And the contenders from the ever wonderful inrng.
The Contenders: Tony Martin carries the weight of a nation and the expectations of his Katusha team. Freshly crowned German TT champion he’ll start in the rainbow bands as world champion. If his wardrobe’s crowded, his trophy cabinet isn’t because he’s not won a World Tour level TT since May 2015. However the absence of rival time trial specialists opens the way for him, the course suits him perfectly but the drought means he’s still not the certainty of the past. He has racked up three second places this season to prove this. If ever there was a day to come first it’s today but unlike football home advantage counts for little in cycling, it just brings added pressure.

Jos Van Emden won the Giro’s final stage, the time trial into Milan and he could win the Tour’s opener. He’s a specialist in short, flat courses and so Düsseldorf is as good as Milan. But where’s his form at? Lotto-Jumbo have a good second shot at the stage win with Primož Rogli? (pictured) who almost won the Giro’s opener in 2016 but for Tom Dumoulin pipping him by a fraction of a second. Now the Slovenian has been preparing specifically for the Tour de France and won the Ster ZLM prologue recently.

Rohan Dennis would have been a top pick but while he enjoys the sofa BMC Racing team mate Stefan Küng has a good shot at the win. The Swiss powerhouse was second to Dennis in both stages of the Tour de Suisse showing speed over long and short distances.

Movistar bring two time trial specialists Jasha Sütterlin is the team’s German connection and a promising TT specialist but this would be an upset, a dream come true. Instead Jonathan Castroviejo is more experienced but the course’s big wide roads don’t suit him so well.

Among others Micha? Kwiatkowski has won time trials before but blows hot and cold, Stephen Cummings hasn’t won a big time trial but his win in the British Championships was convincing. Aussies Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) and Luke Durbridge (Orica-Scott) could place high. Maciej Bodnar (Bora-Hansgrohe) would normally be an outside pick but he lost 90 seconds to Kwiatkowski in the recent Polish championships. Lastly if we’re expecting Tony Martin then Marcel Kittel is another home rider to watch, an unlikely winner today but possibly top-10 and positioning himself nicely for time bonuses in upcoming sprint stages.

Lastly watch the GC contenders, 14km is enough to put daylight in between the big names and leave some of the climbers looking like fish out of water, as hopeless as Gustave Courbet’s trout. We’ll get an immediate comparison between Richie Porte and Chris Froome plus clues from the others but as good as Porte was in the Dauphiné’s TT which had two climbs he’s unlikely to win today, the course is for the powerful specialists.

Tony Martin, fast:

Sagan, always a favourite:

Good luck all, I’m looking forward to it.

Yes good luck and enjoy the ride.

Thanks for the threads, always look forward to the chat on them.

Well I know who’s winning the cartoon contest so far

Not going to be much in it today for the main guys but be interesting to see what Porte/Froome do out there and how close they are.

Looks like the weather could be damp, rain stopping towards the end if the forecast is right. Might give Froome an advantage as he’s the last one to set off

given there is possibly only 10 riders who could win this stage, and perhaps 10 gc contenders and no Team Time Trial why don’t they just slap a pair of tri bars on most the riders aero bikes and save the teams a heap of money.

So, what are the options for watching this year?

ITV4 live (every stage in full)
ITV4 highlights program 7-8pm
Eurosport (apparently now also through Amazon Prime – but still £6.99/mo on top of prime). Also offering every stage live but a 2 hr highlights reels from 8pm.
Steephill.tv?

Something else?

I’m just watching Eurosport, not least because I can get it on my mobile. I asked Amazon if my existing Eurosport sub would be valid on their app and the answer is no so bizarrely I’m having to use a Kodi plugin on my kindle stick to use my current subscription rather than the official app. Eurosport coverage is great though so no drama.

ITV4 vs Eurosport: As footage is the same it depends on who has the better comms team. It’s a safe bet ITV4 will have Boulting and Millar and my guess is Eurosport will field Kirby plus one. Millar has been exceptional as a co-commentator, reading the racing with insight and predicting moves, whilst Kirby just tries to show off by using arcane words and digressing into pieces of trivia delivered as if he’s the only one clever enough to know them. ITV4 wins for me.

agree with the Millar comments – he’s very good, though I do quite like Carlton when it’s a whole stage. You need some background bollocks, I think

Thanks for the threads, always a pleasure to read and very informative.

Martin for the emotional home win, he’ll leave nothing in the tank.

I’ll be watching it on Red Bull, oh wait… That’s the other cycling isn’t it? So it’s highlights show for me then.

I think it’s been summed up already, for a whole days viewing it’s Eurosport for Carlton’s meandering chat and the legend that is Sean Kelly. For the evening highlights, Millar wins it.

I’ve grown weary of Kirby’s smugness and laughing at his own jokes. Boulting and Millar have tunred out to be an excellent commentary team.

As for today’s stage, I’d like one of the lesser teams to win. I guess one of the Lotto-NL guys is most likely for that scenario, but it would be cool to see Taylor Phinney do well too.

for a whole days viewing it’s Eurosport for Carlton’s meandering chat and the legend that is Sean Kelly. For the evening highlights, Millar wins it.

I would normally say “spot on sir” but this year I’m giving the ITV guys a go during the day as well. Honestly though, I generally sit there with the remote flicking back and forth between the two.

I can’t see anyone else other than Martin being in yellow today.

Eurosport is on BT Sport too – free with Infinity broadband I think

Anyone know how well the iOS Eurosport app works with chromecast?

Be good to see Martin win it today but he’s got some serious competition. Looks like conditions will be better for the late runners though. Got a feeling about Roglic so that’s who I’m going for. Also Quintana to lose a minute on Porte and Froome 😀

Considering it’s pissing down…

#nodiscs

I assume most riders have been killed in horrific crashes as a result though?

Go G!!

😀 😀

Valverde looks down and out.

Anyone but sky!!

That was a big crash.

Valverde looks down and out.

And also possibly Quintana’s chance of the tour with it..

Porte way down on G.

Did Valverde get up and finish? Not seen him.

Valverde is out – no news why.

Must have really hurt himself in that crash..

Movistar Twitter says fractures, cuts and big hit in the side! On the way to hospital. A real shame!

Damn had Martin in my team!!

Is there a finer sight than Tony Martin going full chat with mouth in basking shark mode.

Roglic taken a tumble by the sound of things.

Valverde looking like an inspired pick for my STW fantasy team. 😆

Nasty crash, don’t like Valverde but wouldn’t have wished that on him. Gee rocking so far and Porte surprisingly lack lustre.

Wondering how much the conditions are slowing down the later runners?

Quintana not looking quick. Edit… quite a good time though. Similar to Porte! He’ll be happy with that.

Sky looking ominously ready for the whole enchilada. Chris Froome looks like he has a fit team to tow him along. Quintana is going to need some luck to win it.

Gee in yellow with a stage win. Four Skysters in the top ten.
The other GC riders 30 – 40 seconds or more off the pace.

Not going Sky’s way really, is it?

Hmmm..

Didn’t expect Valverde out, neither Thomas in Yellow. Sad about the first, happy about the second.. even if only for one day.

But who would have thought Düsseldorf would be wet ?? 😆

Yes G, hell of s result, 30 seconds for Froome on the GC riders too, hell of a start for Sky.

Valverde is a huge loss for Quintana and Movistar in general. Shaping up to be a good one.

Still very surprised at Porte, maybe he took it easier because of Valverde?

Porte’s never looked good in slippery conditions. Froome looks imperious. Chuffed for G.

Great day for Team Sky. G wins the stage and they have 4 riders in the top 8!