Two kiwis, one a season professional and the other a rookie, line-up in the 110th edition of cycling’s famed Tour de France which sets off from the port city of Bilbao in northern Spain at the weekend.
Dion Smith from Intermache-Circus-Wanty and Corbin Strong from Israel-Premier Tech line-up among the 176 starters from 22 teams to compete over 3,407kms – the equivalent of riding from Whangarei to Queenstown and return – over 21 stages with two rest days.
Smith is a seasoned professional who will start in his fourth Grand Tour – his third time at the Tour de France along with the Vuelta a Espana in 2019, while Strong will make his debut in just his second year on cycling’s grand stage.
His Belgian-based team, who reached WorldTour status for the first time this year 15 years after they were formed, have their eyes on a stage win for the Eritrean star Biniam Girmay, with Smith one of the key experienced riders to set-up the sprint.
Strong has tasted success on the track, a World and Commonwealth Games gold medallist, who is in his second year of an initial three-year contract with Israel Premier-Tech. While the high profile team were relegated from the WorldTour, they have competed in basically all the major races under invitation.
The Southlander, who turned 23 recently, has turned heads after winning the opening stage of the Tour of Britain last year.
"It's always been the dream. It's like every kid growing up wanting to be an All Black, that's how it felt for me," Strong said.
Strong said that he has learned to get the balance right between endurance to last long distance stages but to be able to retain his explosive speed for sprint finishes.
He showed that this year with second placing on the La Route d’Occitanie and third in a stage in the Volta á Catalunya.
The kiwi pair will attempt to become the first New Zealanders to win an individual stage of the Tour de France, although four kiwis have won stages as part of the Team Time Trial – Chris Jenner in 2001, Julian Dean in 2011, Patrick Bevin in 2018 and George Bennett in 2019.
The Tour de France begins on Sunday (NZ Time) with two hilly stages in Spain before crossing into France and early climbs in the Pyrenees, heading north before a mountain climb in the Massif Central ahead of the first rest day.
The second week is sprint mostly going uphill with only one flat stage and mountain climbs including Grand Colombier, Morzine and Mont Blanc.
The final week is a mix with the pivotal individual time trial, mountain stages of Courchevel and pivotal penultimate stage in a ski resort in the Vosges Mountains near the German border ahead of the famed final day into Paris.
New Zealand interest will be with Smith and Strong, and with cycling New Zealand’s Director Sportif for road racing, Craig Geater who will be honoured in his 20th Tour de France in his role as a senior WorldTour team mechanic.