Wiggle CEO Humphrey Cobbold

So here I am, nearly a year into my role of running the good ship Wiggle as Chief Executive and one of the Wiggle team suggested I should pen a few thoughts on the TDF. First of all some context and caveats.

Number one: I am a professional manager by trade not a career bike geek, cycle industry aficionado or semi-pro rider. So, anything I say should be viewed with some suspicion or at least taken with a pinch of salt.

Number two: I am no expert in grand tours and am learning daily about the world of cycling. That said, I may know just enough to be dangerous – maybe.

Number three: I do genuinely love cycling as a sport, past time, leisure activity, mode of commuter transport, rehab activity, fitness fascination … Whatever you want it to be. This may cloud my judgement but it at least means (I hope) that my heart is in the right place.

So caveats aside. What are my thoughts about the Tour? Well I confess first of all to being in awe of the participants. I rode up the Mont Ventoux the week after the Tour last year and was blown away by the scale of the daily challenges these guys set themselves. I am going back to the ‘Geant de Provence’ this year to do a double ascent so you can see the pull of the hills for me. Add to that a few tough sportives recently (the Exmoor Beast (brutal), the King of the Downs (hot) and the Dragon Ride (spectacular) and you will rightly think I like a bit of climbing.

So it is the big climb stages that really count for me. This is where the great Tours are won or lost. This is where the great riders turn the screws and break the opposition. This is where the pain is etched deep in the minds and faces of some of the world’s greatest athletes. And this is where the battle is purest – no protective domestique, no peloton wind shadow and no team orders. No, this is where the race becomes the definitive sport. One man against his own pain. Where mental strength is as much a part of the fight as physical prowess and where the spirit of man and machine is at its best.

So, when I look at the Tour this year it is no surprise that I get drawn to Stages 9, 16 and 17. The latter two of these contain the awesome Col du Tourmalet and (along with the toughies of 14 and 15) will I think decide the outcome of the Tour. So who will shine?

Well of course it is hard to go much beyond Contador because he is so brilliant in the hills and this Tour seems to be destined to be won by someone who is brilliant in the hills. The Schlecks can’t be ruled out on these hills either.

From the heart I would like to believe that Wiggo will be in the mixer at this point and on or close to the podium. Having seen the Sky set up while watching the awesome hill climb stage at the Giro I have a sneaky suspicion that we have not seen the best of the Murdoch sponsored crowd yet. It feels like they have been biding their time and laying foundations for the big one. What a true joy it would be for the sport in the UK if Wiggo and Sky make a great showing. Indeed, it would make what hs been a fascinating first year in the industry really inspiring.