2016 Tour de France Race Preview
The details of this year's 2016 Tour de France are falling into place. Find the latest route profiles and maps below, followed by our strategic preview of the race.
The 2016 Tour de France gets underway in Mont-Saint-Michel on July 2nd, promising to be one of the most fiercely contested editions in recent memory. With defending champion Chris Froome returning to lead Team Sky, the race looks set to be a battle between several genuinely world-class riders who all carry legitimate ambitions of standing on the top step of the podium in Paris on July 24th.
Froome arrives in France in excellent form and will be the overwhelming favourite among many observers. The Kenyan-born Briton has already won the Tour twice, in 2013 and 2015, and has shown this season that he remains the benchmark climber in the peloton. His Sky team is once again the most powerful unit in the race, stacked with quality domestiques capable of setting a ferocious tempo on any mountain pass in the country. Froome will be difficult to dislodge, but he is not unbeatable.
The most credible threat to his dominance comes from the Colombian Nairo Quintana of Movistar. The small climber from Boyacá has twice finished on the Tour podium and came agonisingly close to winning in 2013. He is arguably the finest pure climber in the world and will target the high mountains stages in the Alps and Pyrenees to inflict serious damage on his rivals. If he can limit his losses in the time trials, he has every chance of challenging for overall victory.
Alberto Contador also returns with something to prove after a disappointing 2015 Tour in which he abandoned the race due to injury. The two-time champion is a proud and determined competitor who will not want to leave France without making a significant mark on the proceedings. Contador at his best remains one of the most exciting and aggressive racers in the sport, and Tinkoff will be hoping he has rediscovered his very best form.
Alejandro Valverde provides Movistar with a strong secondary option and is always a threat in a race that suits his all-round abilities. Adam Yates of Orica-BikeExchange is widely considered one of the most exciting young talents in the peloton and will be given the freedom to challenge for a high overall finish. Romain Bardet will carry the hopes of French cycling for AG2R La Mondiale, riding in front of passionate home crowds who have waited a long time for a French Tour winner.
The route itself is punishing and varied. After an opening stage along the Normandy coastline, the race moves through northern France before heading into the mountains. The Alps will provide some of the most demanding terrain, with the climb to Montagne de Lure and the iconic ascent of Alpe d'Huez both featuring on the route. The Pyrenees then await in the final week, when fatigue sets in and the margins between riders become decisive. A short individual time trial is also included, which will likely suit Froome and could prove crucial to the final overall standings.
This is a Tour that could be decided by tiny margins. The climbing is relentless, the competition is fierce, and the pressure on every major contender is enormous. Froome starts as the man to beat, but the mountains have a way of reshaping any predictions made before the race begins.
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