Preview: 2021 Tour de France

Viewers on DStv can look forward to exclusive coverage of the world’s most iconic cycling event, the Tour de France, which will take place from 26 June to 18 July 2021.

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The Grand Départ (start of the race), on Saturday 26 June in Brest, will set the tone for 21 mouth-watering stages, as the race takes in Brittany, two individual time trials, a double assault on Mont Ventoux and the customary finish on the Champs Élysées in Paris on July 18 – some 3,417 kilometres later!

The 108th edition of the TDF will see defending champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) aim to defend his crown against Primoz Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) and a host of other yellow jersey contenders.

After a mountain-heavy Tour de France in 2020, race organisers ASO have opted for a more traditional and classic affair this time around, with the race reverting to hosting two long individual time trials for the first time since 2013.

Roglič has foregone competitive races since April, instead preparing for the Tour by training at altitude at Sierra Nevada and most recently Tignes, though he insists he is not one of the favourites.

“I wouldn’t even place myself, I don’t consider myself as so big a favourite,” Roglič explained. “I’m not the defending champion. At the end, I didn’t race for a while. I will just go there and in the end we have to see how it goes.”

He added, “There are lots of guys who are super strong that are capable of winning. It’s not just a fight between me and Tadej. You have twenty other guys and I think all the race is just bigger than we are, so we definitely just need to go there, do our best with our guys. And in the end, we’ll see what that means with the result.”

The 2021 edition also sees the return of four-time TDF champion Chris Froome, though he will be riding as a ‘road captain’ (a strategic, path-finding role rather than as a contender for overall classification victory) of the Israel Start-Up Nation team.

Two South African riders will be participating in the 2021 TDF: Louis Meintjies of the Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux team and Nic Dlamini for Team Qhubeka ASSOS. The latter will make history by becoming the first black African to race in the Tour.

“Being selected to ride in my first Tour de France is an absolute dream come true for me,” said Dlamini, who turned pro three years ago. “It’s always been an absolute childhood dream for me and now that I’m about to live it makes it feel surreal.

“I think it speaks to what the team is about, the Ubuntu spirit, and how we change people’s lives because it is honestly a very special moment: to come from a small township and then to go to the Tour de France. Considering where I come from it would simply have been impossible for me to have the opportunity to ride at the Tour de France if it wasn’t for Team Qhubeka ASSOS.”

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Tour de France – First week broadcast details

Saturday 26 June

12:00: Stage 1 – LIVE on SuperSport Variety 1

Sunday 27 June

13:00: Stage 2 – LIVE on SuperSport Variety 1

Monday 28 June

13:00: Stage 3 – LIVE on SuperSport Grandstand, SuperSport Variety 1 and SuperSport Maximo 1

Tuesday 29 June

13:15: Stage 4 – LIVE on SuperSport Grandstand, SuperSport Variety 1 and SuperSport Maximo 1

Wednesday 30 June

12:05: Stage 5 – LIVE on SuperSport Variety 1 and SuperSport Maximo 1

Thursday 1 July