SALON-DE-PROVENCE, FRANCE – JULY 21: Christopher Froome of Great Britain riding for Team Sky is presented with the yellow jersey on the podium after stage nineteen of the 2017 Tour de France, a 222.5km stage from Embrun to Salon-de-Provence on July 21, 2017 in Salon-de-Provence, France. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

I prepared for the 2017 Tour de France with rather tepid expectations. When the route was announced, the stages didn’t really fly off the page and such legendary mountains like Mont Ventoux and Alpe d’Huez weren’t included and the Tour only had five high mountain stages.

Not only that, we all pretty much assumed that Chris Froome (Tour de France winner in 2013, 2015 and 2016 and would have won in 2014 if he didn’t have to abandon for injury) would win this year while Peter Sagan (Green Jersey winner every year from 2012-16) would win the same competition while Sagan or Marcel Kittel won the sprint stages.

But while we assumed a boring 2,200 mile trek through eastern and southern France, the 104th edition wound up being incredibly exciting and unpredictable.

 

The Yellow Jersey

Yes, Froome still won the Tour de France and despite him being seconds in front and it was always a very close margin, Froome had the benefit of the Individual Time Trial at Stage 20 to pull away. But having said all that, Froome’s margin of victory was his closest yet. In 2013, Froome won by 4:20, won by 1:12 in 2015 and then by 4:05 in 2016. So a 54 second victory must’ve felt too close for comfort.

Not only that, in contrast of previous years where Froome seemed to be in control in every stage, riders like Rigoberto Uran, Romain Bardet, Fabio Aru and Dan Martin all put forth attacks at various points in the race and had been able to crack Froome at a couple points throughout the three weeks. Froome still ended up with the maillot jaune but Froome and everyone else learned that he’s not invincible anymore.

 

The Green Jersey

The battle for the green jersey wound up being something that nobody expected. The normal faces for the points classification like Sagan, Kittel and even Mark Cavendish, who had been getting over an illness, were there with Sagan taking the maillot vert because he could handle some of the medium mountains and take points over the sprinters who can’t do any mountains.

Then all hell broke loose after Stage 4 and the narrative shifted. Sagan would be disqualified for throwing an elbow that caused Cavendish to crash and get his head run over by hard charging cyclists behind him. Cavendish broke his shoulder blade and was also out so that left Kittel by default.

But with two favorites out, it meant new names emerging for stage wins at the most prestigious race. Arnaud Démare, Fabio Aru, Bauke Mollema and Dylan Groenewegen, who won Stage 21 on the Champs-Elysses, all won their first Tour de France stage on a flat or medium mountain stage. Edvald Boasson Hagen won his first stage since 2011 even after losing by three ten-thousandths of a second.

Then Kittel abandoned at Stage 17, leaving another new face in the lead of the competition. At the end of the day, Australian Michael Matthews wound up as the sole survivor and won the green jersey at the end of the day.

 

The French Revolution

There has been a cooling off period of French success in their home race. Despite having the most overall winners, France’s last yellow jersey winner was Bernard Hinault in 1985 and last green jersey in 1995. This year, Frenchmen not only won five stages of this year’s Tour de France, they celebrated Bastille Day with a French stage win with Barguil for the first time since 2005. In addition, the French have a serious contender for the yellow jersey in Bardet as well as Barguil taking the polka-dot jersey. The French are coming and they have some people in line for huge success in the coming years.

This 2017 Tour de France may wind up being a very pivotal edition for the future. We got exciting action, close finishes, hard crashes and some new names on the list of stage winners. Yes, Chris Froome is going to remain the favorite for the time being but his target is going to be a bit bigger next summer.

About Phillip Bupp

Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them.

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