Racing

Tour de France 2015 preview: white jersey favourites – form guide

Nairo Quintana leads the favourites for best young rider classification

The kids are alright

Nairo Quintana won the white jersey at the 2013 Tour de France (pic: Sirotti)
Nairo Quintana was in stunning form at the Tour de France in 2013 (pic: Sirotti)
Thibaut Pinot was the best young rider at last year's Tour de France (Pic: Sirotti)
Romain Bardet celebrates pulling on the white jersey last year. He eventually finished second in the youth classification (pic: Sirotti)
Simon Yates finished second on the final day to seal fifth place overall and the white jersey of best young rider at the Dauphine (Pic: X.Bourgois/ASO)
Wilco Kelderman won the white jersey at last year's Dauphine and makes his Tour debut this year (pic: Sirotti)
Michal Kwiatkowski has worn the white jersey for several stages of the Tour de France but is yet to hold it to Paris (pic: Sirotti)

The kids are alright

Nairo Quintana announced himself on the big stage two years ago, storming to the white and polka dot jerseys and claiming second place overall at the 2013 Tour de France.

Since then, the Colombian has gone on to win the Giro d’Italia and now starts the 2015 race as his team’s bona fide leader ahead of Alejandro Valverde, with a four-way battle with this generation’s finest Grand Tour riders set to commence on Saturday (July 4).

And the bad news for his fellow young riders is the Movistar man is not just in contention for the yellow jersey, either, with the 25-year-old still eligible to win the white jersey too.

Nevertheless, last year’s winner Thibaut Pinot, who finished third on GC, and fellow Frenchman Romain Bardet are just two of the men who will look to upset the odds and prise the jersey from the Colombian’s grasp.

We’ve taken a closer look at their form, and picked out some of the riders in with a chance of claiming the jersey, over the following pages.