2019 Tour de France Race Preview
The details of this year's 2019 Tour de France are falling into place. Find the latest route profiles and maps below, followed by our strategic preview of the race.
The 2019 Tour de France gets underway in Brussels, a fitting tribute to the legendary Eddy Merckx, who won his first Tour de France fifty years ago in 1969. The Belgian capital provides a spectacular backdrop for the Grand Depart, with the opening stage taking riders on a route that pays homage to the great Cannibal himself.
Defending champion Geraint Thomas returns to the race as one of the favorites, though he will once again share leadership duties at Team Ineos with four-time Tour winner Chris Froome, assuming Froome recovers sufficiently from the horrific crash he suffered at the Critérium du Dauphiné in June. The British team has dominated this race in recent years and will be difficult to dislodge, but the challengers are numerous and credible.
Egan Bernal, the young Colombian climber, is widely regarded as one of the most exciting talents in the peloton and could play a significant role for Ineos should the race hit the high mountains. His ability at altitude could prove decisive in the Alps and Pyrenees.
Jakob Fuglsang of Astana has been in superb form heading into the race, having won both the Critérium du Dauphiné and Liège-Bastogne-Liège earlier in the season. The Dane will be a serious threat on the climbs and represents one of the more underrated contenders in the field.
Thibaut Pinot arrives carrying the hopes of French cycling on his shoulders, as he so often does. The Groupama-FDJ rider is a pure climber with the talent to win this race, though questions about his mental resilience and ability to handle the pressure of competing on home roads have followed him throughout his career. This could be his best opportunity yet to finally deliver a Tour victory for the passionate French public.
Steven Kruijswijk of Jumbo-Visma is another rider who deserves close attention. The Dutchman has steadily improved over the years and arrives in Brussels as a genuine top-five contender at minimum. His team is also building strength in depth and could be a real force if they ride a disciplined collective race.
Emanuel Buchmann, the young German from Bora-Hansgrohe, is one of the dark horses of the race. Relatively unknown to the casual observer, he has impressed those who follow the sport closely with his climbing ability and consistency in stage races.
The sprinters will have their opportunities in the opening week, with a number of flat and rolling stages designed to set up bunch finishes. Caleb Ewan, Peter Sagan, Elia Viviani and Dylan Groenewegen will all be targeting stage wins, and the battle for the points classification promises to be an entertaining subplot throughout the three weeks.
The route this year features a number of summit finishes that should favour the pure climbers. The Alps and Pyrenees both feature prominently, and there are time trials bookending the race that could play a decisive role in the overall classification. Riders who can limit their losses against the clock while remaining competitive on the climbs will have a significant advantage.
Whether Ineos can extend their extraordinary recent dominance or whether one of the challengers can finally break through to deny them remains to be seen. Three weeks of racing through some of the most beautiful and brutal terrain in France will provide the answer.
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