Cycling in Yorkshire
Cycling in Yorkshire
These are some of the main contenders to win the overall General Classification of the 2023 Tour de France.
As the winner of the 2022 Tour de France, Jonas Vingegaard is a favourite to win again in 2023.
When he came up against Tadej Pogacar in the 2023 edition of Paris-Nice, it was Pogacar who came out on top. That might be seen as a negative for Vingegaard, but equally it could mean he is timing his training to peak at the Tour de France.
In June, Vingegaard showed that he was in great form during the Critérium du Dauphiné. This is Stage 5.
Vingegaard won the Dauphiné GC by 2min23 from Adam Yates in second place.
Tadej Pogacar has been the shooting star of professional cycling, at least since his Tour de France win in 2020. He won again in 2021, but was second best to Vingegaard in 2022.
Pogacar won Paris-Nice in March 2023.
He also had a strong Classics campaign, winning the Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallonne.
Pogacar's early season came to a sudden halt when he fractured his wrist on 23rd April 2023 at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. That meant a 6-week layoff from outdoor training, although he continued to use an indoor trainer.
The Slovenian has recovered enough to do an altitude training camp in advance of the Tour de France, but there is no doubt that the injury suffered in April will have compromised his preparation for his big goal in l'Hexagone this Summer.
Ben O'Connor finished third in the 2023 Dauphiné behind Vingegaard and Adam Yates. That shows he is coming into decent form, even if it's unlikely to be enough to beat the top two at the Tour.
O'Connor did very well in the 2021 Tour de France, finishing fourth overall and winning Stage 9.
He abandoned the 2022 Tour after nine stages, due to an injury suffered in a crash on Stage 2.
Adam Yates' second place in the Dauphiné shows he is in very good form approaching the Tour de France.
He is likely to be a super-domestique for Tadej Pogacar at the Tour, which probably means that his personal ambitions will be limited.
Simon Yates hasn't raced much recently - not since he withdrew from the Tour de Romandie in April with stomach problems.
Yates was fourth in Paris-Nice this year, 2min14 behind Pogacar. He has Grand Tour pedigree, having won the 2018 Vuelta a Espana.
Richard Carapaz won the 2019 Giro d'Italia, and was third in the 2021 Tour de France.
In the Dauphiné, the Colombian was way down in 36th place, more than 35 minutes off the lead. That suggests he is not in his best form.
Jai Hindley is a Grand Tour winner, triumphing in the 2022 Giro. It was on Stage 20 that Hindley cracked Carapaz, with the help of Lennard Kämna.
Hindley was fourth in this year's Dauphiné, which indicates he is closer to Ben O'Connor's form than to Pogacar or Vingegaard.
Romain Bardet is now 32, and his best days could be behind him. He was second in the 2016 Tour, and third in 2017.
At the time of writing, Bardet sits seventh in the Tour de Suisse, 1min25 off race leader Felix Gall (AG2R). Prediction for the Tour: top 10 rather than top of the podium.
David Gaudu represents another option for the host country's assault on the Tour. He was second in Paris Nice, 53s behind Pogacar. That generated a lot of optimisim.
Unfortunately, Gaudu was 30th in the Dauphiné, 25 minutes behind the winner. He was even upstaged by his young teammate Lenny Martinez (18th at 9min21).
As a result, the optimism around Gaudu has dissipated - but perhaps there was an illness or injury that I don't know about.
Giulio Ciccone was due to focus his efforts on the Giro, but he caught Covid and could not continue. He will ride the Tour de France instead.
In the Dauphiné, he won the final stage. His overall finish (11th, +5min43) suggests he will have to continue improving if he is to have an impact on the GC.
Ineos don't seem to have a stand-out team leader. Their hopes are based on a quartet of riders:
Editorial note: as the climate crisis accelerates, and as it increasingly affects the Tour de France itself, the idea of using the event to promote fossil fuel production and consumption becomes more and more ludicrous and abhorrent.
Enric Mas was seventeenth in the Dauphiné at 8min40. The best result of his career was second to Remco Evenepoel in the 2022 Vuelta.
Mas probably won't win the Tour de France.
Neither will Mikel Landa, or it's very unlikely. Arguably Landa's best results are third place in the 2015 and 2022 Giros.
Landa will enjoy the Grand Départ since he is from the Basque Country.
Mattias Skjelmose is a young Danish rider. He won the Tour of Luxembourg in 2022.
In 2023 he won a Tour de Suisse overshadowed by the death of Gino Mäder.
Bradley Wiggins 2012 autobiography My Time.
New in May 2023, Bike Rides in the Yorkshire Dales is available in colour paperback.
Find out more about Bike Rides in the Yorkshire Dales or buy a copy.
Bike Rides In and Around York features a historical city tour, plus family rides, road rides, and mountain bike rides.
Find out more about Bike Rides In and Around York or buy a copy.
Bike Rides in Harrogate and Nidderdale is a book of family, mountain and road bike rides.
Find out more about Bike Rides in Harrogate and Nidderdale or buy a copy.
Rough Guide to France.
Price £17.99 from Amazon at the time of writing.
Beaujolais is a wine made with Gamay grapes in the Beaujolais region. The region gets its name from the town and Lords of Beaujeu.
Gamay grapes are thin-skinned and low in tannins. They make light wines with relatively high acidity.
The Romans were the first to plant vines here, along their trading route up the Saône valley. Later, Benedictine monks did much of the wine-making.
Beaujolais Nouveau became very popular in the 1980s, with easy-drinking, fruity wines. In the late 1990s that popularity faded, and Beaujolais producers are now concentrating on more complex wines that are aged longer in oak barrels.
Fleurie is called the Queen of Beaujolais. It has floral notes, and aromas of blueberries and red fruits.
It doesn't get its name from flowers, though, but from a Roman General, Floricum.
Fleurie vineyards are on the west side of the Saône valley, facing south or south east. The soil is on pink granite, and is sandy higher up, with more clay content lower down.
La Madone is one of the best-known Fleurie wines, taking its name from a chapel on top of the hill.
Buy a Fleurie La Madone gift set.
