Five reasons why the 2015 Tour de France was the best in years

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Five reasons why the 2015 Tour de France was the best in years

This year's edition of cycling's greatest race had it all

Downside

  • Tour de France 2015: Nairo Quintana, cobbles

    The 2015 Tour de France produced a thrilling race (Pic: Sirotti)

  • Tour de France 2015: Nairo Quintana

    Nairo Quintana fought valiantly to try and take back time from Chris Froome in the mountains but failed to recover his deficit (Pic: Sirotti)

  • Tour de France 2015: Chris Froome, Alejandro Valverde, Alpe d'Huez

    Chris Froome limited his losses on Alpe d'Huez to seal his second Tour de France title (Pic: Sirotti)

  • Tour de France 2015: Fabian Cancellara

    Fabian Cancellara was among the high-profile riders to abandon in a whirlwind first week (Pic: Sirotti)

  • Tour de France 2015: Team Sky, Champs-Elysees
  • Tour de France 2015: Steve Cummings

    MTN-Qhubeka enjoyed a dream Tour debut, spending time in the King of the Mountains jersey and winning a stage with Steve Cummings (Pic: Sirotti)

  • Tour de France 2015: Chris Froome

    Chris Froome silenced his critics by securing the yellow jersey in Paris (Pic: Sirotti)

Downside

Of course, it hasn’t all been good. The race was marred this year by some fans who crossed the line from adversarial rivalry, to brainless thuggery, with Chris Froome having a cup of urine thrown at him and being spat at on a handful of stages.

It’d be reductive to say this behaviour comes down to the ancient antipathy between France and the UK, or is indicative of a growing ‘anti-Sky / anti-Froome’ section of fans spurred on by overly-cynical media in search of a story – it’s probably a mix of a hundred different factors. Regardless, spitting and throwing urine are acts that have no place in sport, nor society as a whole.

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Tour de France 2015 Tour de France Features

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