Blazin’ Saddles: Tour de France 2017 white jersey guide

The white jersey, or maillot blanc, is worn by the best young rider (aged 25 or under in the current year) in the general classification. Last year, Britain’s Adam Yates (Orica-Scott) took the prize after finishing 2min 16sec quicker than nearest rival, the South African Louis Meintjes.

It’s a tough competition to win, with young riders in the peloton often forced to ride as domestiques for their more illustrious team leaders. But on teams with open rosters, promising youngsters such as Yates and Meintjes often have a chance to shine.

But take note: since the turn of the millennium, the only riders to have followed white with yellow and an overall victory in the Tour is Alberto Contador, who won both jerseys in 2007, and Andy Schleck, who was crowned the 2010 champion – two years after his first white jersey – following the retrospective disqualification of Contador.

For all their promise, the likes of Pierre Rolland, Nairo Quintana and Thibaut Pinot – all recent winners of the maillot blanc – have yet to don the maillot jaune in Paris. With no further ado, let’s look at the main contenders for white in this year’s race…

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With last year’s winner Adam Yates sitting this one out, South African Meintjes is the obvious choice to win the white jersey. Indeed, were it not for being caught out in stage 11 to Montpellier, Meintjes would have ridden Yates a bit closer last year.

With a rather patchwork UAE team around him, he’ll have to do it his own way. But Meintjes is used to that by now – and his form in the mountains in the Dauphiné suggest he should be looking to build on his eighth place on GC last year, and with it secure the maillot blanc.

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If the German youngster came third in the white jersey standings last year, then this is a little deceiving: Buchmann was over 40 minutes down on second-place Meintjes, the man he’ll be challenging for the crown this year.

That said, the signs are good: Buchmann has enjoyed a strong season for Bora and recently finished seventh overall at the Dauphiné – one place ahead of Meintjes – to secure the white jersey in what is often viewed as the Tour’s dress rehearsal. Like Meintjes, Buchmann will probably have to do things on his own terms in his quest for a high GC place – especially with team-mate Rafal Majka higher up in the pecking order.

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In his brother’s absence, Yates could be Orica’s main man for the GC – particularly given the unproven form of Tour debutant Esteban Chaves, who is returning from injury and has few races under his belt this year. This will be Yates’ third Tour but his first since breaking through as a GC force with sixth place on GC in last year’s Vuelta.

Second place behind Richie Porte in the Tour de Romandie in April was encouraging, although Yates failed to make the top ten in the Dauphiné and was fourth in the young rider standings behind Buchmann, Meintjes and Tiesj Benoot of Belgium. This could be a career-defining race for Yates, who has a strong team behind him and a clear path ahead.

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After two troubled years, Barguil has seen his stock plummet at Sunweb. Once the team’s only bona fide GC rider and closely monitored by Sir Dave Brailsford at Sky, Barguil has been eclipsed by the rise of reigning Giro champion Tom Dumoulin – largely thanks to a series of injuries and some interwoven psychological issues.

On his day, the rangy Barguil can climb with the best. He won two stages in his debut Vuelta and followed it up with a top ten finish the next year. He came 14th in his debut Tour one year later, but struggled to 23rd last year when he entered the race as favourite for the white jersey, but was waylaid by a nasty crash and a sub-par performance in the first time trial.

In truth, Barguil has yet to return to his previous promising levels following the horrific training crash that haunted Giant-Shimano back in the winter of 2016. Having broken his pelvis in Romandie, Barguil enters the Tour very much an outsider. A stage win – rather than the GC – should be his target.

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The Belgian tyro is an unknown quantity when it comes to Grand Tours for this is his first. He did well enough in the Dauphiné, mind: finishing third in the youth standings and above Simon Yates. That said, he conceded more than five minutes to both Meintjes and Buchmann over one week – so it’s hard seeing him improve on that over three even tougher weeks this July.

And yet, with breakaway specialists Tony Gallopin and Thomas De Gendt the closest Lotto Soudal have to GC riders, and Benoot not part of Andre Greipel’s designated sprint train, Benoot will have a free hand in the Tour. You expect him to play it in pursuit of a stage win rather than a high finish in the youth standings, though. And quite rightly, so.

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French national time trial champion Pierre Latour (23, Ag2R-La Mondiale) came 28th in his Grand Tour debut at last year’s Vuelta, although he will be very much used as support for team leader Romain Bardet in his maiden Tour this July.

A stage winner in the Vuelta last year, Lilian Calmejane (24, Direct Energie) will find it harder going in his native France. It’s hard seeing Calmejane riding his debut Tour for anything but experience – and while a solid climber on his day, there’s no way he will trouble any of the established white jersey candidates, let alone the big race favourites.

Another young Frenchman making his first appearance in his home Grand Tour is Guillaume Martin (24, Wanty-Groupe Gobert). Part of a team made up entirely of Tour debutants, Martin will be able to ride with relative freedom but may struggle with the length and intensity of the Tour – especially in the high mountains.

Denmark’s Michael Valgren (25, Astana) rides his third consecutive Tour and will hope to build on his experience to push for a higher finish than his 77th last year. But with Fabio Aru and Jakob Fuglsang targeting GC, Valgren’s role will be very much one as an expendable domestique.

Valgren’s team-mate Alexey Lutsenko (24, Astana) also rides his third Tour and will look to improve on his 62nd last year. But like his Danish counterpart, he’ll be flogged by his more experienced leaders.

Tsgabu Grmay (24, Bahrain Merida) returns to the Tour for a second time and will be better employed seeking Ethiopia’s first ever stage winner than he will targeting the white jersey.

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1. Meintjes, 2. Yates, 3. Barguil, 4. Buchmann, 5. Latour