This year's Tour de France was dominated by Tadej Pogačar, who wore the yellow jersey from stage four all the way to Nice, only giving two other riders the chance in the yellow limelight. He also took six of the 21 stage victories up for grabs and became the only rider in 26 years to complete the historic Giro-Tour double. Pogačar alone provided plenty of talking points throughout the course of the race.
Beyond the Slovenian however, there were plenty of other landmark moments in this year's race, namely from Biniam Girmay, who became the first Black African rider to win a Tour stage (plus, two more on top of that) and take home the green jersey, and Mark Cavendish, who broke the legendary 35th Tour stage record.
The past three weeks have certainly kept us entertained, but what about those who come away from the Tour empty-handed? Victories and jerseys don't tell the full story, however, and some riders and teams were impressive during the race even though they may have missed out on their ultimate goal.
Here, Rouleur takes a look at what each of the Tour's teams brought to the race and rate their overall performance.
Alpecin-Deceuninck 8 / 10
Even if things didn’t go as smoothly as last year’s four stage haul success, their lead-out train misfiring sometimes and the green jersey eluding him, Jasper Philipsen still managed to bounce back spectacularly in the second week to finish with a very impressive total of three stage wins.
Arkéa–B&B Hotels 7 / 10
In Bologna on stage two, Kévin Vauquelin achieved what neither Nairo Quintana, nor Warren Barguil, nor any other rider in Arkéa–B&B Hotels’s 10 year history at the Tour de France could manage — win a stage. That success alone made their race a historic success, even as they faded towards the end.
Astana Qazaqstan 7 / 10
When Astana signed, and then re-signed, Mark Cavendish, they could barely have hoped for a better send-off. It wasn’t just how, in winning the stage five sprint in Saint Vulbas, he achieved the record-breaking stage win he set out exclusively to break; it was the way he had to fight through such advisory during his opening weekend sickness, to the unwavering solidarity shown to him by his teammates rallying around him, to the fact he battled his way all the way to the finish to celebrate in Nice, that made their Tour such a fairytale narrative.
Bahrain-Victorious 4 / 10
As one of the teams worst affected by the illnesses spreading around the peloton, with GC leader Pello Bilbao having to pull out and Fred Wright missing the time cut on the stage in the Massif Central, Bahrain-Victorious were up against it this Tour. Phil Bauhaus did come close to winning a stage when he placed second behind Jasper Philipsen in Nîmes, though, and Santiago Buitrago slipped back into 10th place in GC after the final time trial.
Cofidis 2 / 10
After the highs of last year’s double stage win success, this was a Tour to forget for Cofidis. Guillaume Martin wasn’t at his best and missed out on the top 10, Ion Izagirre was one of three riders to leave during the second week, and though Bryan Coquard’s consistency was enough to see him place third in the points classification, he didn’t manage a higher stage finish than seventh.
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale 2 / 10
The momentum of a very successful first half of the season for Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale was not carried into the team’s home Grand Tour. Felix Gall missed out on a top 10 on GC and Sam Bennett was well short of his best in the sprints, while most of the rest of the lineup had a go from breakaways to no avail.
Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL 7 / 10
It seems an age ago now, but think back to the opening day of the Tour de France and all the glory was Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL’s, after a spectacular one-two in which Romain Bardet and Frank van den Broek miraculously held off the chasing peloton to deliver both the stage win and yellow jersey to the Bardet. Sure, we didn’t see much from their riders after that, but it hardly mattered after such a stunning day.
EF Education-EasyPost 8 / 10
A lesson in perseverance, EF Education-EasyPost’s tireless efforts to attack in pursuit of a stage win were at last rewarded on stage 17, when Richard Carapaz triumphed on what was the only mountain stage in which the early breakaway was successful. Better yet, Carapaz also managed to win the polka-dot jersey, having already had the honour of spending a day in yellow during stage three.
Groupama-FDJ 2 / 10
The first Tour de France of the post-Pinot era suggests the French team will significantly miss their former French star. Neither of their young hopefuls Romain Grégoire or Lenny Martinez made an impression, while GC leader David Gaudu was mostly anonymous.
Ineos Grenadiers 4 / 10
With neither a stage win nor a high GC finish to their name, this was Ineos’ worst Tour de France for a decade, leaving the team contemplating whether they have the riders they need to return to their former glory. Rather than go on to challenge for the podium, Carlos Rodríguez slipped from fifth in the second week to seventh, while Tom Pidcock and Michał Kwiatkowski’s efforts from the breakaways were enough only for a second and third place finish respectively.
Intermarché–Wanty 9 / 10
A star-making ride from Biniam Girmay has long been anticipated in the cycling world, and dearly hoped for by his Intermarché–Wanty, but few expected it to be quite as brilliant as this. The Eritrean sprinted quicker than ever before to follow his historic first win in Torino with two more stages, then survived a worrying crash in the final week to seal the green jersey and complete a perfect Tour.
Israel-Premier Tech 5 / 10
Whether or not Derek Gee was better off looking for stage wins or, on the back of his podium finish at Critérium du Dauphiné, ride for GC was a dilemma for Israel-Premier Tech, and though he did seriously impress in finishing ninth overall, the team did lack his potency in the breakaways. A rejuvenated Pascal Ackermann came closest to a stage win, with three third-place finishes during the second week bunch sprints.
Jayco Alula 6 / 10
With all the headlines generated by Biniam Girmay, Jasper Philipsen and Mark Cavendish, it’s easy to forget that Dylan Groenewegen won a sprint too, but Jayco Alula will remember it as the result that made their Tour a success. Simon Yates dropped out of GC contention early, but was unfortunate not to win a stage with second-place at Superdévoluy and third on Isola 2000.
Lidl-Trek 3 / 10
The team’s plans received a huge blow in the first week when Mads Pedersen crashed out of the race, and, though they came agonisingly close with a Jasper Stuyven attack on stage nine in Troyes, and no redemptive stage win was forthcoming. Yet more frustratingly, Giulio Ciccone slipped out of the GC top 10 on the very last stage.
Lotto-Dstny 6 / 10
Most attention was paid to Arnaud De Lie to see what he could deliver on his much-anticipated Tour debut, and indeed the 22-year-old did impress with five top five finishes in the sprints. But instead it was old-timer Victor Campenaerts who made the team’s Tour, winning stage 18 in Barcelonnette with a craftily executed breakaway sprint.
Movistar 4 / 10
Of all the winless teams at this Tour de France, few came as close or fought as resiliently as Movistar. Fernando Gaviria placed second and third in the opening week bunch sprints, Oier Lazkano got into many breakaways and came close to the polka-dot jersey, and after dropping out of GC contention early on, Enric Mas found some form in the Alps with a third and fifth place finish.
Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe 1 / 10
From going into the Tour anxious as to how to keep all their star names happy and united, Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe must be scratching their heads at how all of them ended up misfiring. Primož Roglič crashing out in the second week was, of course, disastrous considering how much they invested in his yellow jersey bid, but worse still was the fact that Aleksandr Vlasov had already abandoned, while Jai Hindley lacked the form either to threaten the GC top 10 or come close to a stage win.
Soudal–Quick-Step 9 / 10
It wasn’t just the doubts around Remco Evenepoel’s credentials as a Grand Tour contender that were so thoroughly debunked by the debutant’s intelligent, consistent ride for third place; so were those questioning the ability of his team to support him, with Mikel Landa especially impressive to finish fifth overall. Add to that Evenepoel’s time trial win in Gevrey-Chambertin, and their first Tour oriented towards GC could hardly have gone better.
TotalEnergies 7 / 10
Seven long years since Lilian Calmejane won a stage for them back when they were known as Direct Énergie, TotalEnergies’ drought at the Tour de France was at last ended by Anthony Turgis this year on the gravel roads to Troyes. Had Mattéo Vercher not been edged into second by Campenaerts on stage 18, things really would have been too good to be true for the second-tier wildcard invite.
Visma-Lease a Bike 6 / 10
Not only did Visma-Lease a Bike lose their Tour de France crown to Tadej Pogačar, they also comprehensively ceded their status as the race’s best team to UAE Team Emirates. Jonas Vingegaard bounced back brilliantly from his pre-Tour injuries to ride as well as he did, finishing second overall and winning a stage, but will be hurting at how they were so dominated by their rivals — perhaps best epitomised by the moment Pogačar chased down Matteo Jorgenson on Isola 2000 to deny them even a consolation stage win.
UAE Team Emirates 10/10
Not only was Tadej Pogačar the man of the Tour de France, UAE Team Emirates was the race’s best-performing team. As well as the triumphant Pogačar, they also placed top in the team classification.
João Almeida (fourth) and Adam Yates (sixth) in the top 10 on GC, while the six stage wins he delivered was double that of any other team. They never looked under any pressure during their 18 days defending the yellow jersey, Nils Politt in particular astonishing with the amount of work he got through,, and their line-up of assorted climbing stars dominating in the mountains.
Uno-X Mobility 5 / 10
The attacking spirit of this Norwegian wildcard entry was epitomised by Jonas Abrahamsen, who might not have been awarded with a stage win (nor, somewhat harshly, the super-combativity prize), but did enjoy a prolonged stint in the polka-dot jersey. Alexander Kristoff also proved he’s far from past it with a couple of third-place finishes in the bunch sprints.
