What’s hot

White jerseys

White is the new black. Sky, Sunweb, UAE, Fortuneo-oscaro definitely got the memo, though thankfully, in the rainy Düsseldorf streets they left the white shorts at home. It’s a triumph for classic, subtle styling. Perhaps Vanish could be co-sponsor?

Custom kit

Mark Cavendish took personalised to the next level with his new Tour shoes, which feature the handprints of his two children, Frey and Delilah. Very sweet, although suspiciously similar to what usually happens when kids and paint are left alone with their parents’ favourite white footwear.

Disc brakes

When Marcel Kittel won in Liège there will have been more than a few component manufacturers cartwheeling for joy — this was the first Grand Tour win on a disc-brake bike. Expect discs to score more wins in the coming weeks but be prepared for the debate about their use to keep on rolling.

Rain

Rain, rain go away. Enough already and it’s only the opening weekend! Poor Düsseldorf. Not exactly the world showcase it might have hoped for. And we won’t even mention the crashes…

Crashes

There were crashes everywhere! Especially in Düsseldorf, but also on stage two, where the entire front of the peloton, including Chris Froome and half of Team Sky, went down. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Ion Izaguirre (Bahrain-merida) and Luke Durbridge (Oricascott) were forced to retire.

Skinsuit brouhaha

Sky landed in hot water over the use of their new Castelli skinsuit in the Düsseldorf time trial, and whether or not the ‘vortex generator’ on the arms was legal. It’s the same skinsuit technology the team used in the Giro and Dauphiné — technology which the commissaires said was acceptable.