2013 Tour de France team and the oldest. The teams entering the race were: UCI ProTeams UCI Professional Continental teams In the run up to the 2013 Tour de France, Chris Froome () was widely considered as the top pre-race favourite for the general classification, with his closest rivals thought to be Alberto Contador () and Joaquim Rodríguez (). 's Vincenzo Nibali was also a possible contender after getting his first Tour podium in 2012 but he had focused on the 2013 Giro d'Italia. The other riders considered contenders for the general classification were riders Cadel Evans and Tejay van Garderen, Richie Porte (),
1998 Tour de France 1998 Tour de France The 1998 Tour de France was the 85th edition of the Tour de France and took place between 11 July and 2 August. For the first time the tour started in Ireland. The 1998 edition of Tour de France was won by Marco Pantani, with Jan Ullrich, the defending champion, and American Bobby Julich finishing on the podium in second and third respectively. Erik Zabel won his third consecutive green jersey in the points classification. Christophe Rinero claimed the polka dot jersey as the winner of the mountains classification. Because the 1997 Tour had seen many