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2021 Tour de France countdown: 2 days to go – Live

All the latest news in the build-up to the 2021 Tour de France

PARIS, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 20: Arrival / Jan Polanc of Slovenia and UAE Team Emirates / Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia and UAE Team Emirates Yellow Leader Jersey / Primoz Roglic of Slovenia and Team Jumbo - Visma / during the 107th Tour de France 2020, Stage 21 a 122km stage from Mantes-La-Jolie to Paris Champs-Élysées / #TDF2020 / @LeTour / on September 20, 2020 in Paris, France. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic in Paris last year (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Tour de France 2021 hub

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Hello and welcome to today's live coverage as we count down to the start of the 2021 Tour de France.

The teams and riders are in Brittany preparing for the start of the Tour in Brest on Saturday. We'll bring you all the news, updates and press conference quotes as they come across Thursday and Friday.

The big news of the day is that Alexandre Vinokourov is out as general manager at Astana, a role he has held since retiring from racing in 2012.

Astana said that Vinokourov will remain "a valued member" of the team. It's unclear what that means at this point, especially with the 47-year-old set to launch a legal bid to be reinstated.

Today we also have a team-by-team guide to every squad at the Tour. Check that out here

Today's press conferences include Jumbo-Visma, Ineos Grenadiers, Team BikeExchange, and Trek-Segafredo.

Meanwhile, Ineos Grenadiers' press conferences are going on at the moment. We'll have stories from what looks to be the strongest team at the Tour.

Israel Start-Up Nation leader Michael Woods has said that his team will be looking to go on the attack for stage wins at this Tour, as well as supporting his general classification bid.

Over at ISN, co-owner and founder Sylvan Adams has told Cyclingnews that Chris Froome can ride a bike with rim brakes...if he asks for one.

The BikeExchange press conference is starting with Simon Yates and Michael Matthews both on show. We'll have their comments shortly.

Here's our exclusive interview with Richie Porte. The Ineos Grenadiers press con takes place in a few hours from now but we got him just after he landed in Brest yesterday. He talked to us mid-COVID-19 test. FYI.

Mørkøv proud to lead out 'living legend' Mark Cavendish at Tour de France

Here's a look at new BikeExchange kit for the Tour. It's not an overhaul but it does feature the logo of new partner AlUla, which is apparently a 'tourism destination' somewhere in Saudi Arabia. Another spot of sportswashing to add to the list, then.

Pinarello launches new Dogma F in preparation for the Tour de France and Olympics

More bike news coming, this time from Trek...

Simon Yates to hunt stages at Tour de France

Qhubeka Assos have announced that NextHash, some kind of blockchain cryptocurrency investment platform, have signed on as co-sponsor of the team for five years. Read the full story below.

The Tour de France team presentation is less than an hour away. We're hosting a live stream of the event, which will see all 23 teams and 184 riders take the stage in Brest ahead of Saturday's Grand Depart.

We also have a comprehensive guide on how to watch the Tour de France – which will be aired from start to finish every day – on live streaming platforms and on TV, wherever you are around the world.

Ineos Grenadiers co-leader Geraint Thomas has said that his team are in a good place as they head to the Tour, with four possible GC in the form of him, Richard Carapaz, Tao Geoghegan Hart, and Richie Porte.

Aussies on Tour: The 10 riders flying the flag in France

Qhubeka NextHash have unveiled a partnership with fashion brand Burberry and shown off their new kit for the Tour de France.

Meanwhile, Alpecin-Fenix have created a new jersey in tribute to Mathieu van der Poel's grandfather Raymond Poulidor.

Bahrain Victorious have also gotten in on the new tech/briefly worn kit fad, too..

I think that's all the special jersey news for the Tour. Bora-Hansgrohe showed off their new design yesterday. It's inspired by chess, apparently.

Mathieu van der Poel rocks Poulidor-inspired kit for Tour de France presentation

We'll have a full gallery from the team presentation coming up later this evening.

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