1. Ben O'Connor's rise
If the lanky lad from Fremantle is the face of the Australian bids for top honours at Grand Tours for the next decade, I'm very comfortable with that. Open and honest, with a very laid-back way of approaching the sport, O'Connor is a very likeable figure that nonetheless goes all-out in his racing. He's currently sitting in 5th position, has won a stage and has fluctuated a bit wildly in the general classification.
A lot of that was due to bad luck with early crashes, he was really banged up after the first stage and many thought that his Tour, let alone his bid for a top placing, may be over. That he's fought back shows his resilience and he'll be looking to finish off with a best-ever Grand Tour finish in his maiden Tour de France.
2. Watching Tadej Pogačar
The 22-year-old has already wowed the cycling world many times over with his early career performances and there's no telling what might come next. He's a pure racer, he'll try to win just about everything that he can and when his team isn't strong enough to fire, the young Slovenian goes into overdrive.
It's hard to see him being beaten in this Tour de France, so if you're looking for a competitive battle it will probably rely on illness, a crash or a really bad off-day. I'm not going to wish that upon him though, it's rare that we get to see true sporting legends forge a legacy like Pogačar is capable of, and we get to be there at the start of it. Stages 17 and 18 look to be good points for him to stamp his authority on the race on the summit finishes there and a repeat performance in the time trial is in the frame.
3. A proper polka dot battle
It's actually really quite rare that we see a proper, three-week long fight for the maillot à pois rouges among the top climbers. The best battle in the last decade was between Thomas Voeckler and Frederic Kessiakoff in the 2012 Tour, which was a fun struggle between two breakaway specialists but even that was the full-on royal rumble that you would expect of the competition known as the 'king of the mountains'.
This time, we have Nairo Quintana, two-time Grand Tour winner, Michael Woods, podium finisher at the World Championships, Wout van Aert, outstanding all-round rider, and Wout Poels, Liege-Bastogne-Liege winner all putting in a concerted effort to fight for each and every climb. The key stages for this battle will most likely be 17 and 18, with the crucial double points on the summit finishes the opportunity to add the most to their respective tallies.
4. Cavendish setting a new Tour stage win record
Mark Cavendish joined legend of the sport Eddy Merckx with his 34th Tour de France victory in Carcassonne, but there's the potential for two more yet, with a flat day on Stage 19 and the traditional finale in Paris still to come. Cavendish already holds the record for the most victories on the Champs-Élysées with four, and with his and his team's current form, he'll add to the tally and set a new high point for stage victories.
5. Joining the #couchpeloton for all the fun and hijinks
If there's a constant pleasure throughout the Tour de France, it's the joy generated from interacting with the people at home watching the great race. These days, I'm beavering away in the office on stories or working away on video or similar to bring to the world at large, but it never ceases to amaze when you catch some of the brilliant things the #couchpeloton on Twitter comes up with.
Fantastic food constructions, witty banter, adorable pets, funny gifs and pithy observations are the highlights, but the real special part is the sense of community among the regular participants and how that swells to encompass all the newcomers during the Tour de France. If you're liking the taste of what it's like from the pictures featured on the SBS broadcast as it heads into an ad break and the #trolldj tunes as it comes back in, you'll love the full smorgasbord of the #couchpeloton. Particularly on the upcoming #toursanga day on Friday, it will be interesting to see what some people will claim fits into the definition of a sandwich.
