The Tour de France starts already this 29th of June, Saturday, in the Italian city of Florence. It is set to be a memorable edition and we have got all of the big names of Grand Tour racing present. Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel are among the list of contenders to win this year’s Tour.
UAE Team Emirates have Tadej Pogacar coming in fresh off a Giro d’Italia victory and is considered by most the main favourite to win the race. This is also because of UAE’s strong team which includes Tour de Suisse dominators Adam Yates and João Almeida; alongside Juan Ayuso who also has the ambition to finish high off.
Team Visma Lease a Bike come in with Jonas Vingegaard as their leader, despite the injuries suffered at Itzulia Basque Country a few months ago. The defending champion’s form is relatively unknown, even for his teammate. But Visma do have the unplanned presence of Wout van Aert as a domestique; alongside a very strong and experienced group of support riders including Vuelta a España winner Sepp Kuss and Paris-Nice winner Matteo Jorgenson.
BORA – hansgrohe back up Primoz Roglic, who is also among the favourites after winning the Criterium du Dauphiné. The German team have a strong climber block including Jai Hindley who led the race for a day last year and Aleksandr Vlasov.
We’ve got Remco Evenepoel making his debut at the Tour de France. He has not been able to win a stage-race this year and is not the strongest of climbers for the brutal stages; but his versatility and time-trialing talent should see him amongst the best. Soudal – Quick-Step also improved their support, and the Belgian will have the support of Mikel Landa and Ilan van Wilder.
INEOS Grenadiers also bring in a very strong and experienced block with riders such as Geraint Thomas and Laurens de Plus set to be in domestique roles. Carlos Rodríguez is the team’s main card after finishing fifth and winning a stage last year. The team also has Egan Bernal as a GC option as the Colombian returns to his top level; and wildcard Tom Pidcock who is also racing for his own ambitions.
Outside of these big teams we will also have a few riders fighting for the overall classification such as Simon Yates who was fourth in the overall classification last year; other riders who were part of the Top10 such as Pello Bilbao and Felix Gall, and of course Enric Mas who is aiming for success at the Tour and Vuelta a España.
