While most of us are either eagerly anticipating the arrival of football season, basking in baseball’s regular season, or both, another renowned sporting event is taking place across the Atlantic that we may not have been aware of yet: the 2016 Tour de France.
Not everybody on American soil may be in the know about the biggest cycling race in the world, but that’s what the experts from around the internet are for: to give us sound analysis and criticism for us to place some stakes on the event itself.
Let’s take a look below at several insights from the cycling pundits. And for even more coverage on the race in Normandy, check out our complete preview as well right after this.
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Expert Picks and Predictions for 2016 Tour de France
Sky Sports
Expert
Prediction
Stephen Roche
Chris Froome
Long-time bicycle-racing follower Stephen Roche of Sky Sports isn’t shy in picking last year’s winner, Chris Froome, at becoming a back-to-back Tour de France champion.
Roche has given tons of praise to other powerhouses on Froome’s level like Alberto Contador, Nairo Quintana and Vincenzo Nibali, and even predicted that Isle of Man’s Mark Cavendish as the race’s top sprinter. However, Froome has made all the right moves and is well-equipped once more as he had been in recent years, leaving Roche to confidently side with the Brit once more.
BikeRoar
Expert
Prediction
Marcus Speed
Chris Froome
Over at BikeRoar, resident columnist Marcus Speed also predicted Froome to come out on top, with Colombia’s Quintana as the runner-up and United States’ very own Tejay van Garderen taking home the bronze.
Speed mentioned Froome’s fantastic win at the Criterium du Dauphine, which speaks volumes of his current form heading into Normandy. Although the 31-year-old’s bike-handling skills is not to be fully trusted, Speed also stated that Froome’s tenacity on the mountainous terrains of the race will basically propel him to first place when all is said and done.
Bicycling.com
Expert
Prediction
Jen See
Tejay van Garderen
Last but not least, Jen See of Bicycling.com went as far as not picking the obvious in Froome, and rather went with the aforementioned All-American, Tejay van Garderen.
See defended Tacoma, Washington native van Garderen’s case by stating that if it wasn’t for an untimely illness in last year’s Tour de France, the 27-year-old speedster may have won it all. van Garderen finished a solid fifth in the 2014 edition of the race, and was also the runner-up in the 2015 running of the Criterium du Dauphine. Plus, who doesn’t love a good ol’ underdog from the US of A, right?
