French 2010 heroes inspired while Tom Boonen looks at stage wins and green jersey battle
Quick Step’s Frenchmen were the early heroes of the 2010 Tour de France. Sylvain Chavanel picked up two stage wins, in Spa, Belgium and Station des Rousses, and took the yellow jersey both days; Jérôme Pineau took the polka-dot mountains jersey on that Spa stage and lost it only when a crash one stage 12 prevented him from joining eventual winner Anthony Charteau (Bbox Bouyes Telecom) in the breakaway group.
Both riders are impressed by the 2011 route and hope to play similar roles this time around.
“I like the route,” said Chavanel. “It's going to be a very demanding Tour de France. There are four uphill arrivals, one more than in 2010. The 18th stage will finish with a climb on Col du Galibier, which is sure to be very challenging but also beautiful. The next day will see the same climb again.
“If I'm as fit as I was this year, and I hope to be, I could be a major player in the race,” he added. “Beyond the Pyrenees and the Alps, the heart of the Tour also promises to be spectacular. I'm also paying close attention to the stages that cross the Central Massif, which are always open for breaks and attacks; not to mention the first stages in the north on the roads of Bretagne, where you always have to look out for the wind."
Pineau also is looking to replicate his 2010 achievements, but with better luck he hopes to lead the mountains classification much further, or even to Paris, this time.
“It's definitely going to be a beautiful Tour de France,” said Pineau. “It's going to be bustling right from the very first stages. I think this route will be a perfect fit for my skills. This year, stage after stage along the road I got the chance to fight for the polka dot jersey. It was an important symbol, which I managed to wear for a few days but which, unfortunately, also due to some bad luck I couldn't keep on all the way to Paris.
“In 2011 the polka dot jersey is going to be one of my objectives,” he said. “I've realised that I can strive to capture that jersey. For me, as an athlete but especially as a Frenchman, it represents a very prestigious milestone with its own unique charm.”
Quick Step’s biggest star, former World and Belgian champion Tom Boonen, was forced to sit out the race due to a knee injury sustained in the Tour of California and exacerbated in the Tour de Suisse. For him 2011 offers the chance to extend his personal record of six stage wins, repeat his green jersey of 2007, and perhaps repeat his time in the yellow jersey of 2006.
“It's going to be a nice Tour, challenging and nervous,” said the Belgian, “right from the start on the roads of Bretagne, which are typified by the wind that beats the Atlantic coasts, and the spectacular as it is insidious ‘Passage du Gois’.”
Boonen is one rider that recognises that the changes in the points awarded at the intermediate sprints will make an enormous difference to how the green jersey is won.
“Each stage will be a battle,” he said, “as it always is and always has been at the Grande Boucle. Plus, with the new system for assigning points for the green jersey, the struggle among the sprinters will be harder than ever. In the stages arriving with sprints, there will always be two of them.
“Whoever is trying for the green jersey will not only have to sprint over the finish line to take the stage, they will also have to sprint at the intermediate sprint that will assign important points up to 15th place. For sprinters' teams it will be important to plan the race with tactics that don't leave too much room for fugitives to manoeuvre and collect important points.”
Quick Step team boss Patrick Lefevere has led teams to dozens of Tours de France and recognises the type of rider that this route will suit. “It’s a Tour for climbers,” he told Sporza. “There used to be 100km against the clock and now you have a 41km individual time trial; and there are four mountaintop finishes.”
While this will almost definitely be another Tour victory that is beyond the riders in the Quick Step stable, he feels that some members of his team could shine on the course this time.
“Riders like [Kevin] Seeldrayers and [Dries] Devenyns can maybe ride in the front,” he added, “I’d immediately sign up to a Tour like this year; we didn’t expect to ride such a super Tour.”
As for his star rider Tom Boonen, Lefevere is confident that the Belgian will be ready after his enforced layoff this summer. If the classics specialist’s top end speed is lacking though, a new recruit to the team should be competitive against the sprinter to beat over recent years.
“I think he wants to be in the Tour,” said Lefevere, “we’re going to eat and talk about it. In recent months he’s had a lot of time to think and that will make him more hungry.
“There are some stages that have an uphill finish, which may act in Tom’s favour,” he said, “but now all the sprinters are strong riders who have it in them. If [Francesco] Chicchi has a good day he can beat [Mark] Cavendish.”