The Tour de France will look a little different this year. Book-ending the Paris Olympics, the men’s race and the women’s Tour de France Femmes, will take different routes, with the latter beginning in the Netherlands. And for the first time in 100 years, the men’s race will not culminate in a flash of Lycra down the Champs-Élysées, but with a time trial in Nice.
But this is no reason to cry, “Quelle horreur!” SBS commentator and Australian national time trial champion Dr Bridie O’Donnell assures us. Dr Bridie O’Donnell believes this year’s Tour de France will be more epic than usual, with a time trial finish in Nice. Calling her fifth Tour, alongside champion rider Simon Gerrans and broadcaster Matthew Keenan, O’Donnell predicts a race as spectacular as ever.
“People might have thought, ‘Oh no, it’s not on the Champs-Élysées! That’s the highlight!’” says O’Donnell. “But I think people are excited to have a final-stage time trial. On the Champs-Élysées, sprinters will vie for a stage victory.
But the yellow jersey itself, people show respect for that. If the yellow jersey crashes on the Champs-Élysées, it would be a very brave contender to try and take the jersey in those circumstances. But a time trial is completely up for grabs.
It could be a commentator’s delight.” For the first time, O’Donnell, along with Gerrans, will step outside the caravan studio to conduct regular start and finish-line interviews. “You hope to.
