Top contenders for this year's Tour de France

Team Sky's Chris Froome is one of the favourites for the 2018 Tour de France title. Photo: Kim Ludbrook/EPA

Team Sky's Chris Froome is one of the favourites for the 2018 Tour de France title. Photo: Kim Ludbrook/EPA

Published Jul 5, 2018

Share

LA ROCHE SUR YON – Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali are the only two men on the race to have won a Tour de France, and here AFP Sport looks at some of the riders hoping to contend for the title:

Romain Bardet

(France/Team AG2R La Mondiale, 27-years-old)

2nd in 2016, 3rd in 2017:

-- Bardet has become more tactically aware and has mastered the dangerous art of daredevil descents, with which this Tour is peppered.

But he lacks the physical power to do well in the time-trial and has the weight of the French public on his slender shoulders.

Romain Bardet of France in action during the 14th stage of the 104th edition of the Tour de France 15 July 2017. Photo: EPA/ROBERT GHEMENT

Tom Dumoulin

(Ntherlands/Team Sunweb, 27-years-old)

33rd in 2014 (absent in 2017):

-- Dumoulin is a powerful roller on the plains and in cross-winds and a master of time-trialling. The Dutchman, the 2017 Giro and world time-trial champion, has improved his climbing and always races with great confidence. But the late loss of his strongest teammate Wilko Kelderman to a shoulder injury is a major blow, while his second place on this year's Giro may have tired him.

Chris Froome

(Great Britain/Team Sky, 33-years-old)

Winner 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017:

-- Froome gives everything he has and his mastery of all cycling skills allows the veteran to adapt to pretty much any type of tour. He is also surrounded by the highest calibre team in the peloton and he knows how to win. The stress of his long-drawn-out Salbutamol case and his heavy fall before working so hard  to win the recent Giro could take a toll on the champion. 

Chris Froome is one of the favourites for the 2018 Tour de France title. Photo: Kim Ludbrook/EPA

Mikel Landa

(Spain/Team Movistar, 28-years-old)

4th in 2017:

-- Landa is immensely strong in the mountains and has an instinct for when to attack but there are huge question marks over how he will handle team leadership, especially as he is sharing it with Nairo Quintana.

Vincenzo Nibali

(Italy/Team Bahrein, 33-years-old)

Winner in 2014, absent in 2017:

-- Nibali has a talent for making breaks nobody sees coming. His bike handling is excellent and helps make him a brilliant competitor on all terrain particularly descents. His problem, at 33, is making a difference on the ascents.

Agence France-Presse (AFP)

Related Topics: