Winners
- The Brits. Froome took time where no one expected—the descent off the Col de Peyresourde, the attack with Peter Sagan. Sky was definitely the strongest team this year. But there was also Mark Cavendish's four stage wins, Adam Yates finishing fourth as the best young rider in the Tour, and Steve Cummings, who soloed to a win over the Col d'Aspin.
- Africa. Dimension Data had five wins and Louis Meintjes (Lampre) from South Africa finished 8th overall.
- The French. Romain Bardet pulled out a beautiful stage win in the Alps, which was good enough to put him in second place overall. Bardet can climb and descends like a madman. If he could learn to time trial, he could win the Tour. Julian Alaphillipe also showed some spark. He came close to winning Stage 2. These two riders are the future of French cycling.
- Peter Sagan, Rafal Majka and Tinkoff. Despite losing Alberto Contador early in the race, Sagan won his fifth consecutive points jersey and 3 stages and spent three days in the yellow jersey. Majka won his second polka dot jersey as the best climber in the race.
- The Belgians. Thomas DeGhent won the Mont Ventoux stage. Marcel Kittel (German) won a stage, Dan Martin (Irish) finished ninth overall. Both ride for the Belgian team Etixx-Quickstep.
- The Dutch. Bauke Mollema had a great race before fading in the last few stages. Tom Dumoulin won two stages before crashing out and breaking his wrist. This is especially sad because he would have been a favorite for the time trial in the Rio Olympics. And Wout Poels was the key domestic for Chris Froome.
- Australians. After a disastrous first week, Richie Porte fought back to fifth place. Richie needs better luck. Orica-Bikeexchange won a stage and had the best young rider.
- The Columbians. Although Quintana was never a challenge, he did place third overall. Sergio Henao was one of Froome's key helpers and finished 12th. Jalinson Pantano won a stage and probably would have won the overall prize for the most aggressive rider in the Tour had it not been for Peter Sagan.
Losers
- The Americans. Tejay van Garderen collapsed during the last week of the Tour. He dropped from the top five down to 29th place. Cannonade Drapac finished near the bottom in the team standings. Their highest placed rider was Pierre Rolland, who is French.
- The Italians couldn't win a stage and their big hope for the overall win, Fabio Aru, cracked on the last mountain stage and dropped to 13th.
- Alberto Contador crashed twice in the first two days and finally pulled out sick. A healthy Contador might have changed the race.
- Astana. A high budget team with no results. According to some, this is a team full of dopers and run by an ex-doper.
- The wildcard teams. Nothing!
- The fans who caused the crash on Mont Ventoux. The crazy, drunk fans almost ruined the race for everyone. Certainly, Bauke Mollema and Richie Port would have picked up precious time had it not been for fans who stopped the motorcycle on Mont Ventoux.
Draw
- BMC. Yes, Greg van Avermart won a stage and Richie Port finished fifth overall, but I'm certain that Porte would have done better had it not been for the ill-timed puncture on Stage 2 and the Mont Ventoux disaster.
- Movistar. Yes, they won the team classification as well as one stage, but the GC battle between Nairo Quintana and Chris Froome never materialized.
Key Moments
- Cavendish is back with four stage wins.
- Chris Froome took time where least expected—the descent off the Col de Peyresourde, the attack with Peter Sagan.
- The motorcycle disaster on Mont Ventoux. Fans got in the way of the motorcycle causing the yellow jersey to crash.
- Contador abandons.
- Quintana never materializes as a threat to the overall race.
I am now in Tour de France withdrawal and have to wait eleven months before I get my next fix.
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