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The 2023 Tour de France is about to finish and British rider Adam Yates is about to achieve his first-ever Grand Tour podium finish. Probably, the most dramatic moment of the Tour so far was the stage 8 crash of the 34-time stage winner Mark Cavendish. The big Brit never recovered. Are there any other Brits in contention for some Tour glory? How is the only British team Ineos doing? Here we have it all for you.
Up to now, it has been a pretty underwhelming 2023 Tour de France from a British point of view. Ineos are still hopeful they could get one of their riders up on the podium but even this looks like a tall order right now. However, as many would know Tour de France pans out over 21 days not just 9, so with thousands of miles still to ride and countless mountains still to climb who knows what might happen. Let’s see how the British hopes are doing at this year’s Tour.
Contents
Who’s in the only British team at the 2023 Tour de France – Ineos Grenadiers
The only British team at Tour de France is Ineos Grenadiers. Formerly known as Team Sky this is by far the most successful cycling team in the world from 2012 onward. Riders from Ineos won 7 of the last 10 editions of the Tour de France. Bradley Wiggins did that first in 2012. He became the first-ever Brit to triumph at Tour de France.
Then came the 4 glory years of arguably the best British cyclist in history Chris Froom. Froom won the Tour first in 2013 to make it back-to-back British victories. He then skipped a year only to win 3 more Tours in a row after that – 2015, 2016 and 2017.
The last Ineos rider to win Tour de France was Colombian Egan Bernal. He became the first cyclist from his country to win the Tour in 2019. Bernal remains Ineos’s top rider and he entered the 2023 Tour de France as the team’s leader.
The other 7 riders that form team Ineos this year at the Tour are these: the 2 Brits Pidcock and Turner, the 3 Spaniards Castroviejo, Fraile Matarranz and Rodriguez Cano, the 2nd Colombian Martinez Poveda and last but not least the Polish workhorse Kwiatkowski. From them, Bernal and Pidcock are the 2 main men with ambitions to finish inside the top 10 overall.
Mark Cavendish’s dramatic exit from this year’s Tour
The 38-year-old Mark Cavendish is a legendary sprinter that came into the 2023 Tour de France equal for the most stage wins at 34 with the cycling god Eddy Merkx. The ‘Manxman’ as he is known to his fans was close to the unseen before the 35th stage victory twice in the first 6 days. It seemed that Cavendish would certainly win one more stage very soon.
Then during stage 8 with 63km left to the finish of the stage, Mark Cavendish was involved in a nasty crash. The veteran brushed off and tried to mount his bike again but soon found out that this would be impossible. The Manxman had broken his collarbone and had to withdraw. Cavendish is yet to speak publicly since the crash. Earlier this year the 38-year-old announced his retirement at the end of 2023. Does this mean he will never win another stage at the Tour?
Well, according to his team’s director at Astana Alexander Vinokourov, the door remains open for Cavendish to recover and be part of next year’s Tour de France team too. This is what Vinokourov said after the crash, “Yes, we want Mark to go on to 2024 and race his 15th Tour de France and win his 35th stage win,”
The Brits and how they will finish in the General Classification
As things stand the twin brothers Adam and Simon Yates will finish 3rd and 4th the 2023 Tour de France. No other Brit made it into the top 10 but 2 very promising young riders managed to complete the Tour and both showed potential for years to come. Here they all are:
Simon Yates (Team Jayco Alula) – 4th + 12’23”
Simon Yates, age 30, is the leader of his Australian team Jayco Alula. As such, he’s getting all the support the other 7 riders from the team can give him. Yates was certainly a podium contender and he was well placed in the early rounds. However, he got entangled in a crash in stage 6 and this saw him lose over 6 minutes on the overall leader. Yates still has time to make up that time and he remains the best British hope to secure a podium finish.
Simon’s Last Stage
In stage 20 Simon Yates tried to attack and close the gap on his twin brother. However, none of his attacks succeeded and in the end Yates was happy that by sticking with the leading group he at least managed to move up to 4th in the final rankings.
Simon’s Next Stage
In stage 21, Simon Yates will simply have to enjoy his twin brother’s triumph. The final stage of this year’s tour is all about champagne and Champs-Élysées anyway.
Thomas Pidcock (Ineos Greandiers) – 13th + 47’52”
Tom Pidcock, age 23, is mainly a supporting cast to Ineos’s leader Egan Bernal. However, Bernal’s form is not great and right now it is a toss between him and Pidcock in terms of which rider should get the support of the entire team for the rest of this year’s Tour. Pidcock was solid in the first 9 stages and despite sitting over 9 minutes behind the overall leader he’s still hoping to catch up as the stages become much more mountainous from now on. Pidcock started his cycling career at mountain bike events so he is much more comfortable when the going gets tough.
Tom’s Last Stage
In stage 20 Tom Pidcock lost a bit more time in the GC standings. Still, he rode well the final challenging stage with significant climbs and managed to even improve his rankings by 2 places as others struggled so late on the Tour.
Tom’s Next Stage
In stage 21 Tom Pidcock will have the pleasure to experience for the first time in his young career crossing the streets of Paris and the symbolic finish at the iconic Champs-Élysées. Tom would have liked a top 10 finish but even just completing the entire Tour is a great achievement for a rider so young.
Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) – 3rd + 10’56”
Adam Yates, age 30, is the twin brother of Simon. The twins race for different teams. Unlike his brother, Adam’s role at UAE Team Emirates is to provide support for one of the big overall favourites Pogacar. This will likely see Adam finish near the winners in most stages. As it turned out this was more than enough to secure Adam his first-ever Grand Tour top 3 finish and the honours being the highest ranked Brit during this year’s Tour.
Adam’s Last Stage
In stage 20 Adam Yates finished right up there with the leading group and he never gave his twin brother Simon a chance to attack his podium position in the GC rankings.
Adam’s Next Stage
In stage 21 Adam Yates will be milking the moment and he will surely enjoy his circular trips to the iconic Champs-Élysées as he rides the final few kilometres before making the podium for the first time in his career. There will champagne for Adam too for sure.
Where the rest of the Brits are currently ranked
Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) – 92nd 04h 22’51”
Fred Wright, age 24, is a young British rider that is mainly gaining experience at this year’s Tour for years to come. He has done well so far, although showed a lack of climbing skills.
Fred’s Last Stage
In stage 20 Fred Wright limited the damage and found a way to protect his top 100 ranking. Fred struggled during the final mountain stage but others struggled too and the pace wasn’t that hectic so he found a way finish the stage without any dramas.
Fred’s Next Stage
In stage 21 Fred will be enjoying the champagne and his first-ever trip to the legendary Champs-Élysées as he completes the entire Tour on his first try, an achievement he should be proud of.
The Brits that have withdrawn already
Mark Cavendish (Astana) – Stage 8
As stated before Mark Cavendish’s bid to chase a record 35th Tour de France stage win ended in disaster. The sprint specialist crashed out of the 2023 Tour during stage 8 when he broke his collarbone after a fall.
Ben Turner (Ineos Greandiers) – Stage 13
Sadly, for the 2nd Brit in team Ineos Ben Turner stage 13 proved too much of a task and he withdrew. Ben was already outside the top 125 in the GC at that point and nearly 3 hours behind the leaders, so he was never a contender.
James Shaw (EF Education) – Stage 14
Sadly, only a day after an excellent performance in the Alps that moved him just outside the top 60 in the GC standings James Shaw crashed out of the 2023 Tour de France. Early on during stage 14 wet surface after a rainfall caused a major accident that saw 7 riders having to withdraw after their collision. Among them, was Shaw so his Tour ended in pain and disappointment.
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