Tour de France countdown: 3 days to go – Live
All the latest news in the build-up to the 2020 Tour de France
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the countdown to the 2020 Tour de France.
With just three days to go until Saturday's Grand Départ in Nice, you can follow all the latest news and updates here.
We have a couple of Tour features up already today.
Dan Benson has analysed Bahrain McLaren's Tour de France team, which will be led by Mikel Landa. It's a sea change from last year's squad, with only three riders retained, while 30-time stage winner Mark Cavendish was not selected.
There's also this Nairo Quintana, the end of his time at Movistar and his new beginning at Arkéa-Samsic by Barry Ryan.
A tale of two teams: Nairo Quintana and the revival of a Tour de France dream
Teams will be holding their pre-Tour press conferences in the coming days, starting this afternoon.
Look out for news from Astana, Israel Start-Up Nation, Team Ineos and more later on today.
Meanwhile, Josh Croxton has whipped up an wide-ranging tech preview, taking a look at the bikes, components and accessories we can expect to see at the Tour.
Tour de France bikes: A comprehensive tech preview
Meanwhile, there's other racing to do before the Tour, namely the UEC European Championships.
Follow live coverage of the men's road race here.
Ineos – or Ineos Grenadiers as they'll be known – will be introducing their new look later today.
Today's the day we introduce the INEOS Grenadiers 👊#BuiltOnPurpose pic.twitter.com/vlVVnWnjnuAugust 26, 2020
Andy Schleck's GC ratings
We've spoken to ex-pro Andy Schleck this afternoon, so look out for that interview tomorrow.
In the meantime, here's how he rates the main GC contenders at the moment, with Primož Roglič on top.
★★★★★ Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma)
★★★★☆ Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Egan Bernal (Team Ineos)
★★★½☆ Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), Mikel Landa (Bahrain McLaren), Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep)
★★★☆☆ Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic)
★★☆☆☆ Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Rigoberto Urán (EF Pro Cycling), Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma)
Bahrain McLaren have announced that their partnership with the British carmaker will conclude at the end of 2021.
More to come...
The women's race, La Course by Le Tour de France, will tackle a 96km route around Nice on Saturday.
Here's the start list for the Women's WorldTour race.
Israel Start-Up Nation's press conference has just started. We're in (virtual) attendance, and we'll get you the latest news from it as it comes.
The big news from the Israel Start-Up Nation press conference is that Dan Martin will be racing the Tour. He's in the eight-man team despite fracturing his sacral in a crash at the Critérium du Dauphiné.
We'll have more from ISN soon...
Meanwhile, Pinarello have unveiled the bikes that Team Ineos will be riding at the Tour after their rebrand to Ineos Grenadiers. The black and red paint scheme on the Dogma F12 and F12 X-Light road bikes is set to match the team's new-look kits.
New Pinarello bikes for renamed Ineos Grenadiers
The first piece of news from Astana's press conference earlier today – team leader and Tour debutant Miguel Ángel López has welcomed the selection of young compatriot Harold Tejada.
Miguel Ángel López welcomes neo-pro Tejada's Tour de France selection
Ineos Grenadiers (yep, we've officially made the switch from Team Ineos now) have unveiled their new kit. Leaks have been floating around for a while but the new dark blue and red look is official.
Ineos Grenadiers reveal new jersey ahead of Tour de France
Earlier reports had suggested that teams would have to leave the Tour de France should they record two or more positive COVID-19 tests at the race, but that rule will now be changed, according to French newspaper L'Equipe.
Dan Martin has made it into the Israel Start-Up Nation Tour de France squad, just two weeks after crashing and fracturing his sacrum in the Critérium du Dauphiné.
He and the rest of hte ISN team will be targeting stage victories in France.
Those new Ineos Grenadiers kits...
Caleb Ewan eyeing stage wins over Tour de France green jersey
Degenkolb says his Lotto Soudal teammate is the fastest in the Tour
Here's our preview of Saturday's La Course by Le Tour de France
Vos returns to defend one-day title as expectations rise for a multi-day women's Tour de France
Israel Start-Up Nation owner: I'm not disappointed at Chris Froome missing Tour
'I'm not surprised that he needs a bit more time' says Sylvan Adams
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Critérium du Dauphiné - Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes stage 2 LIVE - Braz Afonso and Veistroffer attack break
Sprinters might get a chance from Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux to Le Puy-Velay, a marathon journey of 234.3 kilometres over five categorised climbs -
Teamwork key to the maglia rosa, GC breakthroughs, and sprint domination – Five conclusions from the Giro d'Italia Women
We look back at the main talking points from nine days of racing at the second women's Grand Tour of the season -
Best MTB grips 2026: Improve your mountain bike's comfort, control and handling
Fitting new MTB grips is an easy and cost-effective upgrade that can make a big difference to how your bike rides
-
'It's been ups and downs for me' - João Almeida struggles on return to racing, convinced he is not ready to ride Tour de France
'Hopefully I'll be at my level in the next month or two,' UAE leader says, with Vuelta a España his 2026 Grand Tour goal -
'You can't follow everyone' – Matteo Jorgenson not best pleased after shedding time to GC rivals in Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes opener
Netcompany Ineos duo Kévin Vauquelin and Oscar Onley gain precious seconds on other contenders on stage 1 -
'It's no coincidence that we won the team classification' - Lidl-Trek celebrate hugely successful Giro d'Italia Women
Isabella Holmgren wins white jersey, Elisa Balsamo dominates the sprints and Niamh Fisher-Black finishes fifth in GC
-
'I wasn't feeling great' - pre-race training crash and lack of form sees tough return for Wout van Aert at Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Belgian hoping to make progress in race condition ahead of the Tour de France -
Former French star Thibaut Pinot offers free stay at his farm to celebrate 2026 Tour de France stage passing through home village
Race goes through home village of Mélisey on July 17 -
More unreleased bikes than ever before in tech rehearsal for the Tour de France – Mega Dauphiné tech gallery
Some lightweight, some aero, but all brand new








