Key points:

Ø Brittany is all set for the Grand Départ of the 108th Tour de France with stage 1 to take the 184 participants from Brest to Landerneau. Seven Breton riders line up in a land of a rich cycling history, including David Gaudu and Valentin Madouas, the locals for stage 1.

Ø Peter Sagan starts his tenth Tour de France with the aim of winning his eighth green jersey.

Ø The start list includes four Tour de France winners: Chris Froome (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017), Vincenzo Nibali (2014) and Tadej Pogacar (2020). 41 participants have already won at least one stage, including veteran Alejandro Valverde who claimed stage from Brest to Plumelec in 2008.

Seven Breton riders on the path of Jean Malléjac
Among the 33 French starters of the 108th Tour de France, seven hail from Brittany where the first four stages will be held: Warren Barguil and Elie Gesbert (Arkea-Samsic), Cyril Gautier and Franck Bonnamour (B&B-Hotels p/b KTM), Julien Simon (Total Energies), David Gaudu and Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ). Gaudu and Madouas are precisely the enfants du pays of stage 1. Madouas was born in Brest and received an emotional welcome on stage at the teams presentation on Thursday evening. Gaudu was born in Landivisiau near Landerneau, where the first yellow jersey will be awarded on Saturday. Both were passionate spectators, aged 12, the last time the Tour de France started from Brest in 2008. They aren’t the first locals to enjoy the Grand Départ on home soil. Before Jean-Pierre Genêt, a native from Brest who was a team-mate of Raymond Poulidor with Gan-Mercier in 1974 after he wore the Maillot Jaune for one day in 1968, Jean Malléjac had the privilege to start the 1952 Tour de France in Brest. He couldn’t break away on stage 1 to Rennes but was awarded the combativity prime the day after in Le Mans. He was more successful the following year as he won stage 5, had the Maillot Jaune for five days and finished second overall. Malléjac is indeed one of the five Breton riders to have made the final podium of the Tour de France, along with the four winners Lucien Petit-Breton, Jean Robic, Louison Bobet and Bernard Hinault. Stage 1 of the 2021 Tour de France will pass 5km away from Dirinon, where Malléjac was born, and finish in Landerneau, where he died in 2000 at the age of 71.

Van der Poel: “Stage 1 is comparable to a big classic”
Even though he’s yet to make his Tour de France debut, Mathieu van der Poel is one of the super stars on the start line of the 108th Tour de France in Brest. He made a huge impact by showing up at the teams presentation with his whole Alpecin-Fenix dressed in a replica of the jersey worn by his grand-father Raymond Poulidor in his glorious days. “It was a very nice way to pay tribute to him and it was successful”, MVDP said in a pre-race press conference. “I enjoyed doing the photos and videos. Now I’m gonna do everything I can to win a stage. Stage 1 and stage 2 would be great but this is my first Tour and I’m here to discover the Grand Tours. It’s not gonna be easy. I’ve recognised the last 30km of stage 1. It’s comparable with a big classic like the Tour of Flanders but the GC guys will also want to compete at the front and not lose any time. It’s gonna be an interesting race to watch.” Alpecin-Fenix will be an interesting team to follow indeed as they have several cards to play in fast finishes with Jasper Philipsen and Tim Merlier who are already stage winners of La Vuelta and the Giro d’Italia. “I have my own ambition here, I also want to win a stage”, said Philipsen, 23, who already took part in the Tour de France as the youngest rider in 2019 [with three top 10 before his withdrawal]. The Belgian sprinter was battling with a knee injury recently but was adamant that he’s 100% fine now.

Alejandro Valverde the oldest, Fred Wright the youngest
The peloton of the 108th Tour de France is formed of 184 riders (8 more than last year) representing 27 countries. 33 riders are French (vs 39 last year), 22 from Belgium, 17 from Spain, 14 from The Netherlands, 12 from Germany , 11 from Denmark, 10 from Australia (vs 2 last year) and Great-Britain, 9 from Italy (vs 16 last year). The youngest rider is Britain’s Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious), 22 and the oldest is Spain’s Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), 41, who has already started the Tour de France 13 times (the record holder is Sylvain Chavanel with 18) while Mark Cavendish and Tony Martin have 12, Pierre Rolland and Imanol Erviti 11. 45 riders are doing the Tour for the first time, the oldest of them being Victor De La Parte (TotalEnergies), aged 35. Nine of them have never taken part in a Grand Tour before and that includes stage 1 hot favourite Mathieu van der Poel.

David Gaudu described stage 1 finale
David Gaudu, Valentin Madouas and Arnaud Démare expressed the numerous ambitions of Groupama-FDJ with the input of the locals. “The run in to La Fosse aux Loups is complicated and technical”, Gaudu explained. “The will be tension, crashes and splits in the peloton. We’ll have to remain focused and cautious. After the last curve, it’s a narrow street and the first uphill stretch is steep. It’s a never ending uphill. Once we see the finish line, there are 300 to 400 metres remaining and it looks very long. It was touching to see my name everywhere on the road when we recognized stage 1. It was nice to see people at the teams presentation after it was behind closed doors in Nice last year. I had family members in the crowd. It was even more emotional for Valentin [Madouas].” The latter confirmed: “I’ll remember it all of my life. I expect even more people on the road sides. It feels strange to be racing on roads that I know at perfection where I didn’t expect the Tour de France to come. I’m part of the plan for hunting for stage wins and I’ll have a support role for David and Arnaud. We’ll form only one team.” Démare added: “I’m super happy to come back to the Tour de France. I do it with the confidence I gained in winning four stages and the cyclamen jersey at the Giro d’Italia. A successful Tour de France would start with a win.”

Cosnefroy to team up with Van Avermaet
Benoît Cosnefroy is another popular French rider returning after he wore the polka dot jersey for fifteen days last year. He’s no longer associated with Romain Bardet at AG2R-Citroën. Aurélien Paret-Peintre and Australia’s Ben O’Connor are their climbers now. Cosnefroy also shares the leadership with former yellow jersey holder Greg Van Avermaet for some specific stages. “We are yet to decide which one of us will be favoured”, the Frenchman emphasized. “However, I’ll take the first two stages like one-day races. I like it that way, without calculating. I’m far from being the only candidate for the stage finish in Landerneau. It’ll be necessary to invent something.”

Peter Sagan embarks on his tenth Tour de France
Peter Sagan already holds the record of points classification victories in the Tour de France but his desire to add one more to his seven titles is intact, especially after he surrendered to Sam Bennett last year. “This is my tenth Tour de France”, the newly crowned Slovakian champion declared. “I’ll first think of winning some stages and then take the green jersey if possible but everyone realized last year that it’s not that obvious that I’m necessarily the winner. There are a lot of favourites for stage 1. It’s not just about me. A lot of guys are interested, not only the pure sprinters but also Julian Alaphilippe, Sonny Colbrelli… even me, but it depends how the race goes. Being successful at the Tour de France is not all about the shape, it’s about luck as well.” Sagan’s team Bora-Hansgrohe comes to the Tour with GC ambitions for Wilco Kelderman and a very enthusiastic neophyte called Ide Schelling.

Guillaume Martin distances himself from the overall classification
One pre-Tour de France regular topic is which Frenchman will finish first overall. It was Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) last year but the climber from Normandy expressed different ambitions this time. “The Tour de France is something you never fully master”, the cyclist and philosopher explained. “This is my sixth Tour de France, I had a good performance there [12th and 11th in the past two editions], but I never had the bang I’m going for this time. For the first time, I’m going to distance myself from the general classification and take more risks to aim for a stage victory. It feels strange because the essence and the nobility of cycling is the GC but on paper, the course suits me less this year and I need to stay kind of fresh with the prospective of the Olympics. You must also know how to renew yourself so as not to fall into a form of weariness.”
@ASO