From our special correspondent in Brest,
Plenty is no plague. And it is not Dave Brailsford who will say the opposite. On the roads of the Tour de France, which starts this Saturday from Brest, the boss of Ineos will have, as every year, a large armada. The cast has indeed the mouth with the presence of Geraint Thomas (winner of the Tour in 2018 and second in 2019), Richard Carapaz (winner of the Giro in 2020), Richie Porte (3rd of the round last year and winner of the Dauphiné this year) and Tao Geoghegan Hart (winner of the Giro in 2020). For a bit we could almost forget the absence of Egan Bernal, winner of the Tour in 2019 and just crowned on the Tour of Italy.
“We won’t win this Tour by sitting in the wheels. We have the team to make it a racers’ race ”- Sir Dave Brailsford
More info on our # TDF2021 team: https://t.co/fGHfxn1SoZ pic.twitter.com/ZLhwfsiGxe
– INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) June 18, 2021
On paper, the British team and its XXL budget therefore have four riders capable of winning the Grande Boucle this year. Will they succeed? Unfortunately, we are not called Madame Irma, but the fight promises to be tight with the Jumbo-Visma of Primoz Roglic and the UAE Emirates team of Tadej Pogacar, to whom they promise hell during these three weeks. “We’ll see if they can follow us when the four of us are at the foot of the mountain,” says Richie Porte.
“It’s on the road that it will be decided”
For the Ineos, winners of seven of the last nine editions, the whole question on this Tour will be who will tickle the two Slovenians for the final victory. And on this point, nothing is yet decided. “It’s on the road that it’s going to be decided,” says the Australian rider. Everyone must play their card for the moment and then we will see who we will have to protect the most, perhaps during the last week ”.
Same story with Geraint Thomas. “Something’s going to be going well the first week,” said the Welshman. We will therefore see over the course of the race for the hierarchy in the team. But in all, it is a strength for us to have so many leaders. With such a strong team, communication will be important, but there is no ego between us and it has worked well since the start of the season ”.
The British formation promises a more offensive strategy
Geraint Thomas, the most experienced of the gang, recognizes however that “it is not the same story” to be a leader or a team member. “When you are the only leader, you are under all the pressure from the team and that is good too. While several, we can share this pressure. If something happens to you, there will be someone to take up the torch ”.
Without a defined leader before the start, the British formation promises in any case a spectacle on the roads this year with a more aggressive strategy. “We won’t win this Tour by sitting in the wheels,” says Dave Brailsford. We have the team to race, take the initiative, jump at every opportunity and force our opponents to be focused on every kilometer ”. The boss of Ineos even promises surprises on this Tour. “Expect the unexpected! “. We want to believe it.