The Tour de France will award a yellow jersey in Yorkshire on Saturday, but last weekend cyclists raced for their home colours. Vincenzo Nibali won in Italy, André Greipel in Germany and Arnaud Démare in France – riders who will all wear national jerseys in Yorkshire this coming weekend.
Italy - Vincenzo Nibali (Astana)
Nibali's Astana team helped him wear down his rivals leading to the line in Fondo, where he won ahead of Davide Formolo (Cannondale). The race – one of the few championships on Saturday – doubled as the Trofeo Melinda, which Nibali already won in 2010.
"I'd marked this day in red on my calendar. This is the first win of my season and a perfect one to begin with," Nibali said.
"Froome and Contador showed well at the Dauphiné, but I know the work I've done and I'm confident I'll be ready for the Tour."
Germany - André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol)
Greipel sprinted to his second consecutive title in Baunatal-Edermünde ahead of John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano).
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"Sieberg set me up and I started to sprint in the last 250 meters. I'm happy I could hold off John Degenkolb. It was perfect again, just like last year. It was a special moment," Greipel said.
"I was riding in the red Lotto-Belisol jersey for one day, but of course I was hoping I could put back on that German jersey. I'm happy and proud to wear it for another year."
France - Arnaud Démare (FDJ.fr)
Démare already received the 'oui' from FDJ over Nacer Bouhanni to ride the Tour de France, but rubbed in the fact with a sprint win over his team-mate in Futuroscope.
"It is already huge to race the Tour de France for the first time," Démare explained. "Having France's national jersey adds yet another dimension."
Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.
