foto: Cor VosThe 2021 Tour de France was a fascinating battle from start tot finish. Not so much for the GC victory – Tadej Pogacar was in a class of his own -, but virtually all stages were intriguing in itself. Mark Cavendish won four sprint finishes to match the all-time record of 34 stage wins held by Belgian legend Eddy Merckx since the 1970’s.
Read about the pre-race favourites or click on the links in the table below for our prognosis regarding the individual stages. Obviously, all these articles were written before the start of the race(s).
Tour de France 2021 favourites – per stage
| date | favourites | km | type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26-6 | Van der Poel for maillot jaune | 187 | hills |
| 2 | 27-6 | Punchers at Mûr-de-Bretagne | 182 | hills |
| 3 | 28-6 | Fast finishers showdown #1 | 182 | flat |
| 4 | 29-6 | Sprinters in Fougères | 152 | flat |
| 5 | 30-6 | Specialists on rolling route | 27 | ITT |
| 6 | 1-7 | Back to the fast men | 144 | flat |
| 7 | 2-7 | Late attack or strong sprinters | 248 | hills |
| 8 | 3-7 | Climbers with fast descent | 151 | mountains |
| 9 | 4-7 | First high altitude finish | 145 | mountains |
| 5-7 | rest day | |||
| 10 | 6-7 | Bunch sprint in Valence | 186 | flat |
| 11 | 7-7 | Up and down the Ventoux | 199 | mountain |
| 12 | 8-7 | Sprint after crosswinds | 161 | flat |
| 13 | 9-7 | Sprinters or attackers | 220 | flat |
| 14 | 10-7 | Fast descenders in hilly race | 184 | hills |
| 15 | 11-7 | Downhill finish in Pyrenees | 192 | mountains |
| 12-7 | rest day | |||
| 16 | 13-7 | Breakaway day | 169 | hills |
| 17 | 14-7 | GC clash at the Portet | 178 | mountains |
| 18 | 15-7 | Last chance for climbers | 130 | mountains |
| 19 | 16-7 | Sprinters or attackers | 203 | flat |
| 20 | 17-7 | ITT with yellow lining | 31 | ITT |
| 21 | 18-7 | Cavendish for his 35th | 112 | flat |
