We've Made Some Bold Predictions for the 2021 Tour de France

For a long time, the Tour de France—despite all the grandeur and prestige—was a pretty formulaic bike race. The model was generally the same, with the only questions being where would the race start and which mountain range would come first: the Alps or the Pyrenees.

But things have changed thanks to the race organizer’s desire to create Tours that produce excitement, intrigue, and more than a few surprises. Take last year’s Tour for example: even when the race looked to be over (with Jumbo-Visma’s Primož Roglič on the verge of victory), it wasn’t. On the second to last day, UAE Team Emirates’s Tadej Pogačar rode the time trial of his life to defeat Roglič and win the Tour. Credit the Tour’s organizers for creating an unconventional time trial (it ended atop a Category 1 climb) that contributed to the drama.

Few saw it coming, yet the result encapsulated everything that makes the current era of professional cycling—and it’s superstars—so exciting. It’s also why it’s become harder to make “bold” predictions. After all, in a time when everything seems possible, how can anything be bold?

So here’s our annual attempt to identify some bold yet plausible predictions for this year’s race. As always we make no promises, so please do not bet your kid’s college fund on anything we say. (But do give us full credit if we turn out to be right.)

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