Even with the GC in an early chokehold, the Tour de France never fails to give us plenty to talk about. That's especially true of the first week, where riders and teams are still infused with a back-at-school eagerness and the race has yet to settle.
This year's parcours certainly helped things along; we've seen sprint days, big GC days, and hard transitional stages that would in the past have been reserved for much later in the race.
