2014 Tour de France Countdown 2014: Day 1 - Team presentation

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January 1 - July 4, Leeds, Leeds, Road - [none]

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Hello and welcome to our Tour de France countdown.

We're in Leeds for the build up to this year's Tour de France. A busy day ahead for all the teams and riders with a string of team presentations before the main teams' presentation later on this evening. We'll be bringing all the latest news, quotes, reactions, photos from the day. So sit back, relax and enjoy our Tour de France countdown.

You join us just as Trek Factory racing conclude their presentation with all nine riders present and accounted for.

Major news coming out from Leeds this morning, via Germany is that Netapp have a new sponsor. They'll more details during the Tour de France rest day in Besancon. You can read the full story here.

Team Netapp:

We'll have quotes and reactions from Trek in the coming minutes but BRETAGNE-SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT will start their press conference in the next couple of minutes.

Meanwhile you can find our complete Tour de France start list, right here. There have been no changes over night but there's some back news for Orica, with Michael Matthews crashing while out training yesterday. The team are going to monitor the situation and may bring in another rider before the start on Sunday. You can read the full update on Matthews, right here.

And there you have it, Christian Meier, who was third in the Canadian nationals last weekend, is on stand by and will race the Tour de France if Matthews can't take part. That's big blow for the Australian who has had such a strong start to the year. No place for Matt Goss though, even if they're down a sprinter.

Tinkoff Saxo jetted into Leeds yesterday after a final recon of the cobbles in France. They've a new kit for the race too. Alas they didn't pull and ONCE and go all out pink but Alasdair Fotheringham has caught up with the team to find out if Alberto Contador is stronger than ever. You can read the feature right here.

On Froome, the defending Tour champion gave a press conference yesterday in Harrogate.

 You can read the full interview with Froome, from his press conference, right here.

Cyclingnews also caught up with Froome's teammate Richie Porte. The Australian talked, Froome, pressure, form, and Contador. The full interview is right here.

To make it clear. Kreuziger hasn't had his case examined or heard yet and Impey is set to fight his case.

Cyclingnews spoke to Van Garderen yesterday, ahead of his press conference:

Van Garderen makes it into the Cyclingnews top ten riders to watch for GC at the Tour de France, video. See who else is in the mix, right here.

Away from the press conferences we're really proud to have an extract from Christophe's Bassons book on CN. You can read it here. There are so many books out there at the moment about the 1990s and 2000s but if you're going to read one, this should be it.

Team manager Luca Guercilena played own their hopes of overall success, saying stage victories where their first goal.

With Nairo Quintana set for the Vuelta, Alejandro Valverde gets another crack at the Tour de France. He's had a strong start to the season and Movistar have one of the best teams in the race. Alasdair Fotheringham talked to the Spaniard ahead of the race.

Just in: Our video interview with defending Tour de France champion, Chris Froome (Team Sky).

From Cancellara in the Trek Factory Racing press conference. He was asked about stage 5 to Arenberg Porte du Hainaut.

Andy Schleck was also present and talked about his role within the team.

The BMC press conference has just concluded. FDJ are next up in roughly an hour.

Tejay van Garderen:

Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) saw off the challenge of Sky on two occasions last season – against Chris Froome at Tirreno-Adriatico and against Bradley Wiggins at the Giro d'Italia – and he is now hoping to replicate those feats on the grandest stage of all.

You can read our full story on Van Garderen, right here.

Cyclingnews spoke to Jens Voigt at the Trek Factory Racing press conference this morning:

The Garmin Sharp press conference is now underway. The team will be looking to fire Andrew Talansky up the GC this year. He was of course 10th in last year's race.

And Jonathan Vaughters has just confirmed that Talansky has signed a two-year contract with the team.

Talansky turned pro with Garmin and won the Dauphine last month. He and his agent had been in negotiations for a few weeks now. CN understands that a contract was agreed ahead of the Dauphine but has only recently been signed.

The big news of course for GreenEdge yesterday was that Daryl Impey tested positive for Probenecid. His A and B samples have been tested. He's not been fired by the team but he has been pulled from racing. The rider said he will fight to clear his name. The full story is here.

More from Jens Voigt, who is riding his final Tour de France.

Cavendish missed the nationals last weekend due to illness but will be hoping to win the first stage of this year's Tour and take the first yellow jersey of his career. He'll be up against the likes of Kittel, Greipel and Sagan. You can watch our preview of the top sprinters in the race, right here.

And if you missed it, here's our video interview with defending race champion Chris Froome (Team Sky).

Meanwhile, we've got more shots of the new Tinkoff Saxo team kit for the Tour. You can see them, right here.

Team Sky are about to kick off their press conference, QuickStep having wrapped theirs up a few minutes ago.

There were few more stylish riders than Gianni Bugno and his elegance is still such that he can wear jeans to the black tie Giro d’Italia route presentation each October without getting turned away. No surprise, then, that when asked to run the rule over newly-crowned Italian champion Vincenzo Nibali’s Tour de France chances, Bugno’s thoughts soon turned to sartorial matters.

One thing that must be on Fränk Schleck's mind is the pavé of stage 5 in this year's Tour. The last time the race visited the cobbles in 2010, Schleck was also Luxembourg champion. He exited the race that day with a broken collarbone.

Chris Froome seemed more upbeat and aggressive at the Team Sky press conference in Tour de France media centre. He shrugged off doubts about his fitness.

We've got some short stories from the Tour de France in our daily round-up here, including a little more on Tour fashion, doping controls and more on-board video cameras in the race.

Sorry, that last link didn't work so well: here's a video interview with Michele Scarponi, in which he talks about how the cobbled stage 5 will be the first big challenge, and his withdrawal from the Giro and more.

All of Yorkshire is gearing up for the Grand Depart, and the team presentation in Leeds is set to get underway in about 40 minutes. The music will be provided by the Yorkshire band Embrace, while Girls Aloud star Kimberley Walsh will join York singer/songwriter Alistair Griffin on stage to perform The Road - the official anthem of Yorkshire's Grand Départ 2014.

The orchestra and singers of Opera North will be playing compositions by Philip Sheppard, who also composed music for London 2012.

The riders have just completed their briefing by the ASO ahead of the presentations. It's a bit like a fashion show - step left-right-left-right, turn. Smile for the cameras! Now places everyone!

We're hearing that Sony has taken the unusual step of fitting some sheep of Harrogate with their action cameras so they can grab "grass roots footage" of the Tour de France. (groan)

Cyclingnews is honored to report that our Tour Tracker has been named one of the best apps for the 2014 Tour de France. Download it from the App Store today!

The team corrals back stage of the Tour de France teams presentation look a bit like those in the infield of a track world championships. 

All eyes are on Mark Cavendish for the first stages in Yorkshire. The Omega Pharma rider has family from the area and his mother is from Harrogate, the finish town of stage 1.

We're only moments away from the teams heading out on stage.

Jill Douglas has now welcomed onto the stage Team Katusha.

On they come on their bikes. Kristoff is asked if he can win stage one. Surprisingly he doesn't say no. Now it's Rodriguez's turn to face a question. He says he feels good and that he's recovered well. Third in the Tour last year, he's here for stages.

Now it's Cofidis:

Navarro leads the time after finishing ninth last year. He was in a break but also road consistently. He's here for a stage win this year. This is all very Eurovision but the crowd are enjoying it. 'Leeds douze points'

Rodriguez is now facing questions from three time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond, who is working for Eurosport.

Orica GreenEdge were next up with Simon Gerrans fielding the questions and next up are Tinkoff Saxo.

Tinkoff himself didn't the riders on the stage, it's Roche's birthday, he's 30 today.

Contador has been in great shape so far this season. "The favourite is Froome but I'm in good condition. I've trained hard and we'll see what happens."

Trek are up and Voigt calls the race an adventure and says that he's proud and honored to have been selected to ride in his final year  as a pro rider.

Frank Schleck is asked about the cobbles. He crashed out on them in 2010. He ignores the question somewhat but says he's happy to be hear. Cut to Fabian Cancellara 'I'm looking forward to the next few days, not just stage 5. We have a nice start here in England but it's hard and we're going to go hard. We'll fight and do our best."

Lampre up next with world champion Rui Costa leading the line. He's in great shape having won the Tour de Suisse last month 'This is the best, being world champion. Most important for me is having belief that I can win the Tour de France."

It's Chris Horner, 42, who is next. 'Im ready to go and there's no reason to hold back when you get here. The legs keep going and the head is in a good place."

World TT champion Tony Martin is the first rider from OPQS to be interviewed. He has to wait until the second to last stage to show his talents, but intends to work for the team until then, especially Kwiatkowski in the mountains and Cavendish for the sprints.

Cavendish is next, he's hugely popular with the fans here. He says he has great support from the team for the first stages, and his fans, but that it's not so simple to win.

The Phoenix Dance Theater is now performing "Spectre" on glowing bikes against a dark stage.

Cavendish says the Grand Depart in Leeds will put every other opener to shame. He has spent a lot of time in the area as his family is here. "The people here in Yorkshire are so friendly, they're going to give cycling such a warm welcome".

"I've won the green jersey, I've worn the leaders jerseys in the other Grand Tours, but it's the only one missing from my collection," Cavendish said of the maillot jaune.

Alberto Contador is now back stage with Greg LeMond, and talking about his preparation for the Tour. He is not counting himself as the favorite, that's Froome. They recon'd the cobbled stages and he said he's not too concerned. It's the same for all the riders. Obviously it's going to be dangerous, we have to give it respect."

Now FDJ takes to the stage. New French champion Arnaud Démare is looking forward to starting his first Tour.

One rider who is no longer an underdog, but a real contender is Dauphiné winner Andrew Talanksy. We have a story and video interview of the Garmin-Sharp team leader here.

It's Lotto-Belisol's turn now, and Jurgen Vandenbroucke is the leader. His best result has been 4th - he's hoping to go higher than that this year.

"I have a really difficult year behind me. It was nice to finish on the podium in the Dauphine. It's given me a lot of confidence," Vandenbroucke said.

Adam Hansen is looking to complete a triple crown of triples - doing all three Grand Tours three years in a row. He's on his ninth straight one with the Tour.

Belkin is next up. Bauke Mollema is looking to go better than last year. "GC is our main objective this year, so we hope to do really well in that," Mollema said.

Garmin-Sharp is up next, with Talansky first on the mic. The last two Dauphine winners have gone on to win the Tour. "We're here to get the best overall result possible. The Dauphine was incredible, but the last two winners were on a level we're still trying to get to," Talansky said.

Johan Vansummeren promises that if Talansky stays with him on the cobbled stage, that they can do something special.

Team Sky is coming soon, but first, we have to wait as Girls Aloud star Kimberley Walsh joins York singer/songwriter Alistair Griffin in singing the theme song, The Road.

Haven't had enough to watch on the television lately? Bored at work? Can't get enough Tour de France content? Take a gander at our Cyclingnews Youtube channel for loads of great content from Leeds and beyond.

It's time for Giant-Shimano, and four-stage winner Marcel Kittel. First up, however is Cheng Ji, who hopes to inspire his countrymen as the first Chinese rider in the Tour de France. He will turn 27 on the first rest day.

John Degenkolb is the team's other sprinter. "I hope to do a good job in the lead out train for Marcel. We're really motivated to make a nice performance like last year. We want to win a stage, and it would be so great to do it here with these big crowds."

Kittel gets a warm welcome from the crowds. The personable German won a Giro stage in Dublin earlier this year. He said his knees are shaking with nerves for the presentation. We doubt he'll be shaking when it comes time to sprint, however.

Now it's time for AG2R-La Mondiale. Jean-Christophe Peraud, and Romain Bardet, the team's co-leaders.

Kittel is finally able to reveal what's under his ball cap. His trademark hair cut is a bit smashed because he was required to wear the hat.

Kittel said the Yorkshire stages are going to be really hard, and will be tricky. If it rains, "it's going to be another factor you can't take into account before the race. It can be cold and windy, which makes it harder."

Now it's time for Astana and Vincenzo Nibali, who is hoping to surprise. He's had a habit of attacking on descents, and using his fearless style to gain an advantage, and we expect to see more of that this year.

Peter Sagan has a new Cannondale for the 2014 Tour - he has a Wolverine theme this year, with the green eyes representing his green jersey defense. Stay tuned to Cyclingnews, we're sure to have a pro bike coming on this.

Sagan knows anything can happen, and is going into the opening stages relaxed: "it's best not to think too much" he said.

He has his hair styled in Wolverine fashion as well. 

Now the crowd goes wild for the arrival of Team Sky. Bernhard Eisel leads the team out on stage. 

We missed the other interviews, but Richie Porte is up on the mic, saying Froome is relaxed off the bike, but has a killer instinct on the bike.

Now, we cut away from the defending champion to bring you Alejandro Valverde. I'm sure some Eurosport UK viewers won't be too happy about that.

Hopefully we'll get a little bit more from Froome from the back stage interview.

We have Froome back stage. He looks remarkably relaxed. "It's a huge relief to be here," he said. "It's been all about getting ready for this Tour de France," since last year.

He's asked about Wiggins, and is diplomatic. "If he was going to be part of this team, he was willing to do that job," to work for the team, that is. "the team is chosen very much on the role riders can provide and what's needed on the road. They chose the eight guys who they think are best suited," Froome said.

Now to complete the presentation is Tour director Christian Prudhomme and Welcome to Yorkshire's Gary Verity.

Prudhomme says this is the most people ever to attend the Tour teams presentation.

Prudhomme says Yorkshire is gorgeous - we hope the rain will lift so the helicopter cameras can show the splendor in its entirety.

Verity is now on the mic, having brought the dream to a reality. "When people look back at this time, this will be seen as a defining moment, if not the defining moment, for the people of Yorkshire and beyond", he said. "I promise you the grandest ever Grand Depart in history."

It's said that Yorkshire stands to gain 100 million pounds in tourism through the Tour's visit.

"The Tour de France will be life-changing for so many, in so many ways. You are part of history - viva Yorkshire, viva Le Tour de France," Verity said.

The presentation might be over, but Cyclingnews' Tour de France countdown never ends until the race begins! We've got an interview with Sky's manager David Brailsford, who says his team is ready: "We're up for it this year and we'll give it our best shot. We're ready to fight, then what be will be."

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