Agent Palmer

Like last year, there were two tours of the picturesque landscape of France on bicycles; the Tour de France and the Tour de France Femme avec Zwift. Both had their moments of triumph and heartbreak, as any race or even sporting event does, but they were not equal.

Let’s start with the men’s race, because it started first and it was off with a Yates! That’s right, twin brothers Adam and Simon Yates broke away and dueled each other for the first stage victory and the leader’s Yellow jersey.

Jonathan Douglas asked the question, “Is it possible for an average bloke to ride all 21 stages of the Tour de France?” That question and the answer to it can be witnessed in the sub-hour documentary “One Day Ahead” by Silver Eye Films.

In it, we follow eight New Zealanders in their attempt to complete the 2018 Tour de France, one stage at a time, one day ahead of the actual professional race, in order to raise money and awareness for the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand.

The Tour de France departed Copenhague for Paris on July 1. This, the 109th Edition of the Tour, not only featured a start in Denmark, but a Danish winner, a Belgian who dominated, and a tremendous display of athleticism and sportsmanship that just so happened to end on the same day as Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift started.

It was an enthralling year, but it really boiled down to just a few dramas in the end. Who would win in the duel between two-time former winner Tadej Pogacar and last year’s runner-up Jonas Vingegaard? And just how dominant can Wout van Aert be?

184 riders took off from Brest on June 26th to start the 2021 edition of the Tour de France. Three weeks later, 141 riders took the start to complete the Tour in Paris on the Champs-Elysees.

What took place during the stages in-between, may not have been unprecedented, but it certainly was compelling. Here is my recap of the 5 most important takeaways from this year’s race.

2020 has been anything but normal. No exceptions. But the 2020 Tour de France, which was never a guarantee to start and once there was never a guarantee to finish was captivating, competitive, and dramatic.

It’s easy to say some of those things in hindsight because it did finish in Paris on the Champs-Élysées, but the threat of bringing it all to a close without reaching Stage 21 was not only a looming specter but a change in tactics.