Well, here we are again.
How long will it last? Who will shine? Who will fade? Should INEOS have brought Froome? and why has the Tour website made it much harder for me to borrow content this year?
Daily update to come, sourced mostly from INRNG, CyclingTips, CyclingStage and the official Tour website.

So lets begin, what have we got in store today?

Tthe first of two days to showcase the city of Nice and its surroundings. If you want a visual preview of today’s Tour stage, tune into La Course in the morning which shares many of the same roads with the categorised climb to Rimiez which is about 6km at 5%, all on a wide road, the narrowest part has a tight hairpin 800m before the mountains point in Rimiez and there’s some 6-7% slopes here. After this the climbing isn’t done, there’s the climb to Aspremont which is 6km at nearly 5% too meaning an uncategorised climb that’s similar but sans points. It’s chased by a fast, twisty descent back down to the Var valley floor. From here it’s flat and the road widens allowing riders to move up. After crossing the finish line for the second time they climb to Aspremont again but this time turn off to Tourette and Levens to extend the inland loop, there’s a drag up here but 3-4% and then it’s another fast descent through the olive groves and less technical than the one from Aspremont down to the Var valley. From here it’s 28km to the finish.

The Finish: after passing the airport and negotiating some street furniture it’s onto the Promenade des Anglais, the big boulevard is 6km long and as a flat as a slice of socca.

Who’s in the mix?

The Contenders: a day for the sprinters but not the le sprint royal we get in the Tour as several of the best sprinters aren’t here. Today’s course is hilly but there’s a long run from Levens to the finish, an attack on the climb here would do well to take a minute but should need treble this to stay away. It’ll be a hectic day, an oblique way of saying crashes are likely but the course isn’t wild, it’s just the pressure among riders not to give ground, not to lose a metre or a second.

Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) is the obvious pick, he’s fast, he’s got his leadout train and he won three stages last year, trouncing Groenwegen and Viviani in their pomp. So far so good but he was dropped on the Cipressa in Milan-Sanremo and yes it was ho,t but he had a mixed time in the Tour de Wallonie, one stage win but dropped on a damp day on the Côte de Cherate when other sprinters weren’t. Rivals have an interest to put him under pressure here, if not to drop him then at least to make him tired.

Sam Bennett starts the Tour, it’s one reason he moved to Deceuninck-Quickstep as he got squeezed out at Bora-Hansgrohe each year. Yes he’s versatile and can win uphill sprints but he’s taken flat, fast and furious finishes too.

Elia Viviani (Cofidis) won a stage last year and is capable of winning again. His team is a touch weaker this year and he’s not landed a win this year when, Covid or not, he usually does.

Giacomo Nizzolo (NTT) is the form pick. He’s changing jerseys each time he races: he won the Italian championship last Sunday, then the European championships on Wednesday and at this rate he ought to collct the yellow jersey, right? Why not but he’s better at hard sprints after tough races, today’s 156km course is short and the dragstrip finish suits others and whisper it but his Italian team last Wednesday is better than NTT.

Cees Bol (Sunweb) has a great chance today, the long flat finish is ideal; by contrast weighing 25 kilos less than him is Bryan Coquard (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept) who is in great shape but today’s flat finish isn’t ideal. Matteo Trentin (CCC), Sonny Colbrelli, Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) all want hillier, spicier finishes too. Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton-Scott) is quick but an infrequent winner. Alexander Kristoff (UAE Emirates) has the pedigree but is last World Tour-level bunch sprint was the Champs Elysée in 2018.

What of Wout van Aert‘s chances? He can win bunch sprints but his successes have come on uphill finishes. Crucially though he’s likely to be on team duty and leading out Roglič and Dumoulin, not to the win but just to the line without mishap and having an ersatz sprint train is a good way to shield them. Still just in case, he gets a chainring…

And, as traditional, we show the pics of last stage at the bottom, back to 2019 we go, a very different time…

Morning, lunge !
Cheers for this/these

Hurrah!

Excellent as always! I love these threads, thanks for doing them lunge

What time does TV coverage start? (For Le Tour I mean, not La Course)

Many thanks @lunge for your efforts as always. Sterling work.

Blimey, that snuck up on me. I love these posts Lunge. Thanks for them.

The TdF isn’t the same with you doing this! Excellent work as always

Ooo… these stage previews are a great idea. Thanks. Can you include a rough (UK) timetable as well each time?

Can you include a rough (UK) timetable as well each time?

Happy to if someone can find a reliable source of said info, the official site has one but it’s far to detailed to post here.
Any suggestions?

Ahh just posted on the wrong thread. But yeah, here we go.

Is the dodgy sound a GCN or Eurosport thing? I’m GCN and it’s tough to listen to

euorsport’s equally shit sound

it’s also streaming on itv4 via the itv hub – sound far better (millar & boulting) – picture not as good

All good on ITV4.

Ah brilliant!  I look forward to reading these over breakfast again this year, thanks lunge.  Carlton commenting that hey are having teething issues with sound.

All off ok, but OMG Wiggins going for the Tyson Fury look.

Chris Froome being interviewed on ITV4 he does come across as a remarkably nice guy especially compared to so many other prolific winners in sport..

Chris Froome being interviewed on ITV4 he does come across as a remarkably nice guy especially compared to so many other prolific winners in sport..

Like Millar, he’s one of the few people that can talk about cycling in phrases other than “my legs felt good, cliche blah blah, I’d like to thank the team…”

Very intelligent and he’s having a great and very open conversation with Ned and David.

Says everything about the racing commentators that they’d rather interview someone not actually taking part in the race…Bored now shut up Chris.

Nice doesn’t look very nice. In fact that’s pretty awful weather!

Says everything about the racing commentators that they’d rather interview someone not actually taking part in the race…

There’s no racing going on, they’ve almost self-neutralised this, it looks so treacherous!

What was up with Alan Phillips brake then? Gone over and bent the rotor, or what?

Alan Phillips

Alaphillipe.  Julian Alaphillipe.

OMG Siv!
Looking slippy on those roads.

No! Riche! Try and keep it upright.

In a year where nothing is normal, normality is restored. Richie Porte has crashed.

it’s all a bit bambi on ice. it’s going to be carnage if it kicks off proper.

Tough start to la Tour. Slippy as, crashes galore. Peloton has slowed so let’s see what the last 50km brings.

Very glad I’m not out there riding that, looks proper dangerous!

Bloody hell, Lopez!

Bored now shut up Chris.

Switching between ITV4 and Eurosport I don’t know who I’m the more bored with, Ned or Carlton. Everything’s REBOOT THIS AND REBOOT THAT with Boulting this year, I might just turn the sound down. I did quite enjoy the Froomey interview though, after all you can only answer the questions you’re asked 😉

All the other teams giggling at Astana…..

WTF were Astana thinking?!

“I wonder how much of a clang my head will make off that road sign?”

This is pretty crap, surely someone will try and make a break for it?

This is pretty crap, surely someone will try and make a break for it?

They’d be on the deck in seconds. You can barely ride on roads like that let alone race.

And anyone trying anything would just endanger the rest of the peloton who’d be forced into chasing. Pretty much everyone has fallen off at some point today.

Look at the way they ripped the piss out if Astana for trying to string things out.

Someone sort that clock out

That train alongside has the best view in the house!

This on itv?

This on itv?

ITV4

👍 Found it…..

Who should I chuck 50p on for the win?