"The Big Picture of Sport" News, Tour of France, 7/2/2019, 7:18 AM

The most relevant information about the Tour of  France 2019 extracted from the news based on sources in three languages (English, Spanish, French):

• "Marginal Gains" of Team Ineos to win the Tour 2019? Team Ineos will be using Muc-Off’s specially treated Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 chains at this year’s Tour de France as the British squad mount their challenge for a seventh Tour de France victory. The exact performance gains for Team Ineos are kept confidential by Muc-Off but the NTC treatment is available commercially with savings of more than 10 Watts versus CeramicSpeed’s UFO chain lube after four hours of racing.
• Three favorites and a sleeper for Tour of France 2019? SB Nation cycling enthusiast Louis Bien breaks down three favorites and a sleeper to prepare you for the 2019 Tour de France. Thomas is the safest bet as the reining Tour winner and presumptive leader of Team Ineos (formerly Sky). If not Thomas, then Bernal and Fuglsang should be considered the next favorites to win. Both are unproven at the Grand Tour level, however. Depending on the year, Porte is either wildly overvalued or undervalued. His story is always the same, however: if he stays on his bike, he’ll be a contender to win.
• 2019 Tour de France odds
• Geraint Thomas: 9-4
  Egan Bernal: 11-2
  Jakob Fuglsang: 11-2
  Adam Yates: 12-1
  Richie Porte: 14-1
  Nairo Quintana: 16-1
  Thibaut Pinot: 18-1
  Mikel Landa: 20-1
  Steven Kruijswijk: 20-1
  Enric Mas Nicolau: 25-1
• Wiggins has a clear favorite. Wiggins told Eurosport that Thomas is mentally strong enough to rise to the challenge and defend his title in France.
• Valverde da un reporte esperanzador para Nairo, Landa y Movistar. Alejandro Valverde dice que Movistar tiene dos líderes que están muy bien. "Tanto Mikel como Nairo llegan en buena condición y creo realmente que lo pueden hacer como todos esperamos". "Vamos a dejarnos todo lo que tengamos por ellos, para que les salga la carrera que deseamos". "Nos vamos a entender todos perfectamente".
• Indurain ve el Tour color esperanza para Landa, Nairo y Movistar. El excorredor Miguel Indurain, pentacampeón del Tour de Francia, afirmó que el británico Chris Froome tiene "bastante difícil" volver a ser el que fue tras las secuelas de la caída en el Dauphiné Liberé. Dijo que el español Mikel Landa (Movistar) tiene una "buena oportunidad" para lucirse en una edición con escasa contrarreloj. "Nairo, si está bien, es capaz de luchar por la victoria".
• À 34 ans, Mark Cavendish n'est plus aussi compétitif. Son meilleur résultat de la saison est pour le moment une troisième place lors d'une étape du Tour de Turquie. Dimension Data a donc choisi d'aligner le Norvégien Edvald Boasson Hagen et le Britannique Steve Cummings, deux anciens vainqueurs d'étapes. 
• Bahrain-Merida have confirmed Vincenzo Nibali as their team leader for the Tour de France, with senior directeur sportif Gorazd Stangelj saying Nibali would “aim for the GC”. However, the Sicilian reiterated at the Italian national championships over the weekend that he will take things day to day, with the first mountain at La Planche des Belles Filles on stage 6 giving an indication of his form and true chances.
• Team Ineos directeur sportif, Nicolas Portal strongly believes in winning the Tour. Ineos may have lost Chris Froome to a Critérium du Dauphiné crash but the powerful British team still head into the Tour de France with Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal as prospective candidates for the maillot jaune. That said, their directeur sportif, Nicolas Portal, has warned that the team must start strongly with several key stages dotted within the first week.

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