Every summer, my sister, her partner and their three kids head off to ‘La Belle France’ in their motor home. They normally end up on the coast somewhere, or at Disneyland Paris. But for three weeks, they zig-zag across the country, trying to stay one step ahead of the Tour De France 2011.
Unless you live in France or spend time there during June and July, it’s difficult to understand the impact ‘La Tour’ has on everyday life. Every small town and village it passes through treats the day as a holiday. Markets and street parties aren’t uncommon, and an entire village will grind to a halt for the few seconds it takes the riders to pass through. Blanket media coverage helps promote the race across the world but part of the race’s attraction is the circus that accompanies it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my sibling’s children on bikes but they’ll cheerfully line up on the side of some mountain road in the back of beyond to grab their share of the never-ending supply of free merchandise handed out to spectators prior to the peloton’s arrival and villagers will paint messages on the road surface just so they can recognise themselves on the day’s highlights programmes.
For the riders in the race it’s a far more serious matter of course. Multi-million euro sponsorship deals can depend on a prominent showing on ‘La Tour’ and a stage win can even be enough to secure a contract with a big team in the future. The sport of cycling has been plagued by accusations of cheating and skullduggery for a long time, however, and this year’s hot favourite Alberto Contador (8/11 with Coral) is one of the sport’s most controversial figures.
Accusations of drug abuse have dogged the three-times winner down the years and he actually failed a test in last year’s race only to be subsequently cleared by his own cycling federation. His case is still under review but the International Cycling Union is allowing to race until the matter is resolved but such is the depth of feeling both for against the Spaniard that he has to have several bodyguards surrounding him when not in the saddle. Contador, who won the Tour in 2007, 2009 and 2010, will be helped by climbers Jesus Hernandez and Dani Navarro, as well as close friend Benjamin Noval as he leads the Saxo Bank-Sungard team in the race, which gets under way at the weekend.
On paper, Andy Schleck again looks the only danger to Contador‘s continued domination of ‘La Tour’. The Luxembourg rider has finished runner-up to Contador in the last two Tour de France and was only 40 seconds off the pace last year. He fine-tuned his preparations in last week’s Tour Of Switzerland and will be targeting his big rival when the race reaches the Pyrenees at the end of the first week. Schleck is undoubtedly closing the gap on Contador and, at the general 11/5, may just the better option this year.
The pair also dominate betting for the King Of The Mountains, with Contador a 5/2 chance with Bet365 and William Hill and Schleck 5/1 with the same two firms, though I’d expect Quick Step rider Jerome Pineau (20/1 with William Hill) to give the big guns a run for their money in this market as he held the red polkadot jersey for nine stages last year.
Team Sky‘s Bradley Wiggins is a 33/1 chance with bwin to emerge triumphant overall but Schleck could finally get to receive the accolades at the end of the Champs Elysee on the 24th July.
