“I did altitude training camps and I’m in good form. To get the call-up was pretty awesome. It’s my first Tour de France and, sure, it is a little bit daunting but I’m super-excited.”
Pithie is coming off a strong performance in the key lead-up race, the Criterium du Dauphine, and this week completed a tough altitude camp at 2400m in Andorra, where he resides.
“I want take the opportunity with both hands. I’ve done all the preparation I can and I think I’m at a pretty good level.
“There’s not much to do now — my favourite part is racing, so the hard work I’ve put in over the last month especially will be on show.”
Pithie’s role is to support Roglic, who has stage wins on the Tour but not the overall honours which have been dominated by Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard the past five years.
“He [Roglic] is super-strong and has great experience in Grand Tours, so I’ll be racing every day to protect him and give him the best possible chance of going for the yellow jersey.
“My whole life since I started cycling was aimed at becoming a professional cyclist. It was my dream to race in the Tour de France.
“It’s one thing to be racing in the professional peloton but it’s something else to be selected to ride in the Tour de France.”
The 2025 Tour totals 3339km over 21 stages, with seven flat stages, six hilly, six mountainous and two individual time trials, one in the mountains.
Pithie becomes the 19th New Zealander to contest the Tour de France, starting with Harry Watson in 1928.
The stature of Kiwi riders in the race has grown significantly in recent years. While Le Tour celebrates its 112th year, the New Zealand involvement has been mainly in recent times, with 13 of the 19 Kiwis having ridden in the past 12 years.
Pithie, who turns 23 midway through the tour on July 17, makes it the 54th start from those 19 New Zealand riders, with more Kiwis competing in the Tour de France than the other Grand Tours.
New Zealanders have completed the Vuelta a Espana a collective 36 times and the Giro d’Italia 27 times.
Leading the way among New Zealanders are Julian Dean and Jack Bauer, who rode the Tour de France seven times each.
Dean leads the way for total Grand Tours, with 19 starts, ahead of George Bennett with 14.
The Tour de France favourite is Pogacar, the remarkable 26-year-old Slovenian who is riding for UAE Team Emirates and chasing his fourth title in six years.
Victory would see him join a select group of five riders who have won general classification honours at least four times: Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Induráin and Chris Froome.
