Tour de France: Sam Watson's surprise call, Connor Swift's rise and who can stop Pogacar

Doncaster’s Connor Swift will make his fourth appearance in the great three-week extravaganza and will be joined in the Ineos Grenadiers team by Sam Watson of Leeds, fresh from his victory in the British road race championships last Sunday.

Even when celebrating that landmark victory he had no idea the news that was about to come later in the week.

“First of all, it’s a bit like, ‘Bloody hell, pinch me’ – a bit like I was dreaming,” said Watson of the call he received on Wednesday.

“Then I ended the call and I was a little bit stressed I had to pack my suitcase and get to the airport. It was a bit of a late call-up.

“I’m in good shape. I’ll be honest, Swifty [Ben Swift] was supposed to be here, and I don’t think he’s very well, so it’s a bit of a shame for him.”

So one Yorkshireman’s loss is another’s gain as Watson is drafted in, still in his first season with Ineos, to a coveted seat in the eight-man team to tackle the Tour.

And the 23-year-old does so as British champion.

“I’ve always wanted the bands on my sleeves for the rest of my career, and to have at least one year in the national champions jersey is an incredible feeling,” he said.

“I didn’t feel good all race, probably because it was so hard and I was on the limit. That probably helped me because I was willing to lose the race to win. As soon as I had the gap, I just had to go full gas to the line. I didn’t know what the gap was, it was only at 200 metres to go that I realised I would win.”

The younger Swift has made it to his fourth Tour de France, having raced it previously for Arkea Samsic in support of Nairo Quintana.

This year he will ride in support of Ineos’ yellow jersey contender Carlos Rodriquez and Thomas, the 2018 winner, who brings the curtain down of a long and distinguished career - one that even included a gold medal on the track alongside Ed Clancy 13 years ago - with his 14th Tour de France.

“Fourteenth sounds mad,” said the popular Welshman. “I never thought that when I first lined up for it back in 2007, I’d still be going. I’ve certainly had my ups and downs but it’s an amazing race; the biggest and best in the world, and my favourite. It’s never straightforward and always super-hard, but this year my approach will be as it always is - to give everything out on the road for the team to be as successful as possible. I just can’t wait to get to Lille and into the spirit of what’s always a rollercoaster of an event. A three-week all-inclusive bike holiday around France, what’s not to like?!”

Up the road the main question is who can stop Tadej Pogacar?

The world champion’s status as the overwhelming favourite for a fourth career Tour crown is such that even his main rival, Jonas Vingegaard, has been tipping the Slovenian.

Since winning last year’s race by more than six minutes to complete the first Giro-Tour double in 26 years, Pogacar only seems to have got better. He ended the season by becoming the first male rider to complete the unofficial triple crown, becoming world champion in Switzerland, before adding another Monument to his considerable collection at Il Lombardia.

This year has been no different. In 22 days of competition, Pogacar has racked up 11 wins.

The defending champion starts the race on 99 career wins at the age of just 26 – more than any other active male rider. It is not hard to see why many have concluded Pogacar just needs to turn up for Saturday’s start in Lille, stay upright, and he will be on his way to victory.

But that is forgetting the manner in which Vingegaard beat Pogacar in both 2022 and 2023.

Their rivalry has quickly taken over cycling as between them they have occupied the top two steps in each of the last four Tours.

In 2022 Vingegaard beat Pogacar by two minutes 43 seconds, but in 2023 the winning margin was seven and a half minutes.

Notably, this year’s race includes the climb of the Hautacam on stage 11, the spot where Vingegaard rode clear to effectively seal his 2022 win, and on stage 18 a finish on the Col de la Loze, where in 2023 Pogacar radioed in to say, ‘I’m dead, I’m gone’ as Vingegaard took off.

Neutrals are hoping this will not be another two-horse race. The man most likely to prevent this is Remco Evenepoel. The Olympic champion was third on his Tour debut last year, and the 25-year-old heads to Lille looking to show he is a contender.