Tour de France Preview: Pogacar Leads the Way Once Again

The Tour de France starts on Friday. This year's race is set to feature a dominant young champion and a climb up the famous Alpe d’Huez. There will be a multistage women's event after the men”s race.

USA Network will show most of the stages in the United States. NBC will broadcast Stage 2 on Saturday. Peacock will stream every stage of this year's race.

The 2022 Tour de France starts in Denmark. The first stage is an eight-mile time trial through Copenhagen. It starts at 10 a.m. Eastern on Friday. After a visit to Belgium, the race will begin in the Alps starting on July 8. On July 14, riders will have to climb 21 switchbacks of Alpe d’Huez. Stage 5 on Wednesday will be cobblestone roads. If the Tour is still in balance, it will end in Rocamadour on the Champs-Élysées on June 24.

Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia is the defending champion. Primoz Roglic is his main rival. Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark is also a contender. Vedegaards finished second to Roglich in this year's Critérium du Dauphiné.

Pogacar won the last two yellow jerseys and the polka dot jersey. Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet are candidates for the green jersey this time around. Wout van Aert is the clear favorite for green jerseys.

The Tour de France Femmes is a new women's race. It will begin on the Champs-Élysées the day the men's Tour ends. The final stage is the punishing climb to the Planche des Belles Filles ski station in the Vosges Mountains. Annemiek van Vleuten of the Netherlands is favored to win.