And yet…

The British public delivered a momentous upset last Thursday, then Jakob Fuglsang did the same this weekend, flipping the Dauphiné on its head by claiming a massive overall victory, swiping it from under the noses of Richie Porte and Chris Froome.

Froome, admittedly, had never looked like being on his best form, so it was not he that would have the greatest reason to be put out by Fuglsang’s surprise win, but Porte will have felt this race was his for the losing. And lose it he did.

If Froome is May, then that probably makes Fuglsang Jeremy Corbyn. And if we are drawing shoddy comparisons, then perhaps we can go a step further and cast Alberto Contador in the role of UKIP-leader, Paul Nuttall. Sorry Bertie.

Both men, after all, suffered a wildly disappointing campaign, with Contador finishing outside of the top ten on GC at the Dauphine and Nuttall’s UKIP winning not a single seat and subsequently resigning. It must be said that the lack of a strong Contador to mix things up in Le Tour is probably a greater loss to cycling than Nuttall will be to British politics.

We’re already licking our lips at the prospect of a Tour de France that might be much closer than we originally thought with a strong Richie Porte and a weakened Froome – just please God don’t let there be another election in the UK anytime soon. Let us enjoy July in peace!

All change!

WorldTour teams aren’t allowed to officially sign new contracts with riders for next season until 1 August, but that hasn’t stopped the first few rumours emerging of new signings and big-name moves.

The big transfer story in the headlines was the vaunted move of Chris Froome to BMC Racing (home of his erstwhile best bud and former climbing super-domestique, Richie Porte). This rumour lasted only long enough for BMC general manager, Jim Ochowicz, to spit his morning cornflakes all over his copy of L’Equipe, the French sports paper in which the rumour first appeared, before issuing a hasty, clear and unequivocal denial of the story. Team Sky later announced that Froome was signed up to a new contract anyway. So much for that one.

That’s not to say there aren’t loads more potential switcheroos for us to get excited about. Mikel Landa is said to be unhappy at Sky and could go to any one of the big teams (with former team, Astana, the most likely). Geraint Thomas, meanwhile, is also thought to be tempted by the chance to be the main man in a team’s GC plans.

Anyone who watched the Giro d’Italia will be quietly praying Team Sunweb will sign someone, anyone, to help Tom Dumoulin out in the mountains come the next campaign. Yes, the Dutchman can win a whole Grand Tour on his own, but he really oughtn’t to have to.