FOR THE LOVE OF YELLOW SWIMSUITS

The 2021 Tour de France is starting

This was such a severe trauma that some attributed his death from cancer in 2010 at the age of 50 to this incident. 

This defeat was so bitter that few people remember Fignon's championships in 1983 and '84.

But he was a perennial Tour-winning talent before he turned 23.

If you look at the list of champions updated in 2020, you will see his name on the 8th line of the youngest champions.

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Tadej Pogacar, who knocked 31-year-old compatriot Primoz Roglic out of the title, is also at the top of the list. 

Records show that Henri Cornet is the youngest rider to win the Tour. The Frenchman, the 1912 champion, won the title 13 days before he turned 20.

Pogacar, on the other hand, became TDF champion 1 day before his 22nd birthday. 

This pushes him to second on the list, but he still holds the title of the youngest champion to wear the yellow jersey. The iconic swimsuit has been a hallmark of the Tour since 1919.

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All eyes are now on the competition in 2021. "Let's see if Roglic can bounce back this year from the defeat he suffered in 2020" is the first question that comes to mind... 

(Actually, defeat is the wrong word. We all saw that Primoz Roglic was a gentleman the day he lost, congratulated the champion Pogacar and was in high spirits the next day. In this respect, it would not be a correct approach to compare him to Fignon. He has a profile of recovering his psychology much faster.)

Of course, the 2021 rivalry won't just be between these two Slovenes. There are a number of other riders and teams determined to win the Tour. 

At the top of that list, without a doubt, is Geraint Thomas, team captain of the Ineos Grenadiers. The 2018 champion Briton is again taking part in the Tour with a very strong team. 

We are talking about a captain with two Giro d'Italia champions in Richard Carapaz and Tao Geoghegan Hart. Add to that last year's TDF üçünth üs ü Richie Porte ’ and you have a frightening picture for the opposing teams.

But cycling is a sport always open to surprises. Add to that the two Movistar riders Miguel Angel Lopez and Enrice Mas. 

Simon Yates, Wilco Kelderman, David Gaudu are among the favorites. There are even those who put Nairo Quintana, once the champion of great expectations, on the list.

It is clear that in any case and under any circumstances, a great competition, a fierce competition, a fierce struggle awaits us.

Üç Happy weekly cycling holiday in advance.

Aydan ÇELİK

The 108th edition of the Tour de France, the most prestigious race in the cycling world, starts on June 26.

Since 1903, when it was first organized, it has been a tradition for the Tour to start in July. 

Exceptions excepted...

One of those exceptions was in 2020.

Bütüallüthe“factory settings”of the“world”could’be’implemented’not’in’July’due’to’Covid-19’ but’between’August’29-September’20.

The reason for the early start this year is the Tokyo Olympics...

The Olympic Games, normally scheduled for last year, were moved to 2021 for the same reason. There have been Tours in the past that started in the last week of June for similar reasons. But a Tour de France ending in September is not something we know much about.

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The 2020 TDF was unusual and exciting in every sense. Slovenian Primoz Roglic, who came from ski jumping before a serious accident forced him to say goodbye to the sport and switch to cycling, was the favorite of the year. 

Roglic didn't disappoint the favorites. On the 9th stage, he put his general classification jersey on his back and did not take it off until the 19th stage. Both his team, Jumbo Visma, and he himself were "very beautiful".

However, the individual time trial, held the day before the symbolic stage in Paris, was a huge disappointment.

The 20th stage of 36.2 kilometers, starting from the town of Lure and ending in  La Planche des Belles Filles’ was won by another Slovenian, Tadej Pogacar, and not Roglic, who is considered to be the best in this discipline. 

Pogacar covered the challenging course, which includes a 20% gradient at the end, in 55 minutes and 55 seconds, while Roglic finished almost two minutes behind him. 57 seconds behind Pogacar ’ 59 seconds behind Pogacar ’.

(If you want to revisit one of the most stunning moments in the 107-year history of the Tour de France, just type "TDF 2020 Stage 20" into Google.)

Roglic’s görüntüsüsüsüsüsü on the summit of  La Planche des Belles Filles’reminded many cycling fans of Laurent Fignon’in Paris’in 1989.

The French cyclist was 50 seconds ahead of his closest rival Greg LeMond when he arrived in Paris on July 22. 

The following day, the final stage of the Tour would be run in Paris and, barring a surprise, Fignon would take home the yellow jersey.

However, the math didn't add up. American LeMond finished the 24.5-kilometer time trial 58 seconds ahead of Fignon.

One of the biggest disappointments in cycling history took place in Paris on July 23, 1989. Laurent Fignon lost the title by 8 seconds, the smallest margin in Tour history.

(Google “TDF 1989” and the görüntüntüs görüntüntüntüntüntüs will pop up.)