Persian Gulf Pro League

Richard Carapaz is the only rider of his kind in the world.

As much as they love it, most of them anyway, it's rare the rider who doesn't dream of the day when they don't have to do it anymore.

It's not impossible for there to be changes in the general classification, but it is very unlikely. I don't think they have named a Super Combativity recipient yet, but if it isn't Mads Pedersen, I shall be calling shenanigans.

Can this year's possibly live up to last? We've got Van der Poel, Pogacar, Pedersen and Remco. Of course it can!

Yes, they've cut out the long slow bit at the start, but the fun part remains. Seven laps of the Champs Elysees followed by three assaults on the Cote de la Butte Montmartre. The Cote first appeared on the Olympic road race route in 2024, and such a hit was it, that the Tour organizers found a way to bring it back with 160+ knackered racers thundering around it at the end of the biggest bike race on the planet.

The loops of the Arc de Triomphe satisfy the traditionalists, while those of us who found the procession boring are treated to some actual racing. Can this year live up to last? It's Remco's first time back since winning Olympic gold. He's going to give it a crack, isn't it?