The Tour de France is almost here and team line-ups are now confirmed. Goals are set and hopes are up for each of the 176 riders taking to the start line in Florence.
The Tour is undoubtedly a race synonymous with big mountain passes, but this doesn’t mean all sports directors want to bring a bus full of climbers. GC teams will need bigger riders who can protect the leader on flatter stages where there are risks of crosswinds and keep them safe in hectic bunch finishes. It’s also important to bring those with big engines to do the work early on in the stage to control the breakaway before the race hits some of the longer climbs.
There are also the teams, such as Alpecin-Deceuninck, who will have made their selection with the sprint stages and green jersey competition in mind, meaning they will likely bring a group of strong lead-out men who can deliver their sprinter to the line rather than focussing on riders who will contest the general classification. Teams without a pure sprinter or GC hopeful might opt to bring a squad of all-rounders – those who can search for opportunistic stage wins and have the freedom to go for the breakaway on days where they might have a chance at staying away for the victory.
So, there is a lot to consider when choosing an eight-rider line-up for the Tour de France, and it serves as one of the most important jobs for team management in the entire season. We look at who will be on the start line this year for their teams.
Visma-Lease a Bike
1. Jonas Vingegaard
2. Tiesj Benoot
3. Matteo Jorgenson
4. Wilco Kelderman
5. Christophe Laporte
6. Bart Lemmen
7. Jan Tratnik
8. Wout van Aert
DS: Frans Maassen and Arthur Van Dongen
UAE Team Emirates
11. Tadej Pogačar
12. João Almeida
13. Juan Ayuso
14. Nils Politt
15. Pavel Sivakov
16. Marc Soler
17. Tim Wellens
18. Adam Yates
DS: Simone Pedrazzini and Andrej Hauptman
Jayco Alula
21. Simon Yates
22. Luke Durbridge
23. Dylan Groenewegen
24. Chris Harper
25. Christopher Juul-Jensen
26. Michael Matthews
27. Luka Mezgec
28. Elmar Reinders
DS: Mathew Hayman and Andrew Smith
Ineos Grenadiers
31. Carlos Rodríguez
32. Egan Bernal
33. Jonathan Castroviejo
34. Laurens De Plus
35. Michał Kwiatkowski
36. Tom Pidcock
37. Geraint Thomas
38. Ben Turner
DS: Xabier Zandio and Zak Dempster
Lidl-Trek
41. Giulio Ciccone
42. Julien Bernard
43. Tim Declerq
44. Ryan Gibbons
45. Mads Pedersen
46. Toms Skujiņš
47. Jasper Stuyven
48. Carlos Verona
DS: Steven De Jongh and Maxime Monfort
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
51. Felix Gall
52. Bruno Armirail
53. Sam Bennett
54. Dorian Godon
55. Paul Lapeira
56. Oliver Naesen
57. Nans Peters
58. Nicolas Prodhomme
DS: Julien Jurdie and Sébastien Joly
Bahrain-Victorious
61. Pello Bilbao
62. Nikias Arndt
63. Phil Bauhaus
64. Santiago Buitrago
65. Jack Haig
66. Matej Mohorič
67. Wout Poels
68. Fred Wright
DS: Xavier Florencio and Roman Kreuziger
Soudal–Quick-Step
71. Remco Evenepoel
72. Jan Hirt
73. Yves Lampaert
74. Mikel Landa
75. Gianni Moscon
76. Casper Pedersen
77. Ilan Van Wilder
78. Louis Vervaeke
DS: Tom Steels and Davide Bramati
Red Rull-Bora-Hansgrohe
81. Primož Roglič
82. Nico Denz
83. Marco Haller
84. Jai Hindley
85. Bob Jungels
86. Matteo Sobrero
87. Danny van Poppel
88. Aleksandr Vlasov
DS: Rolf Aldag and Christian Pömer
Groupama-FDJ
91. David Gaudu
92. Kevin Geniets
93. Romain Grégoire
94. Stefan Küng
95. Valentin Madouas
96. Lenny Martinez
97. Quentin Pacher
98. Clément Russo
DS: Benoît Vaugrenard and Frédéric Guesdon
Alpecin-Deceuninck
101. Mathieu van der Poel
102. Silvan Dillier
103. Robbe Ghys
104. Søren Kragh Andersen
105. Axel Laurance
106. Jasper Philipsen
107. Jonas Rickaert
108. Gianni Vermeersch
DS: Christoph Roodhooft and Gianni Meersman
EF Education-EasyPost
111. Richard Carapaz
112. Alberto Bettiol
113. Stefan Bissegger
114. Rui Costa
115. Ben Healy
116. Neilson Powless
117. Sean Quinn
118. Marijn van den Berg
DS: Charles Wegelius and Tom Southam
Lotto Dstny
121. Arnaud De Lie
122. Cedric Beullens
123. Victor Campenaerts
124. Jarrad Drizners
125. Sébastian Grignard
126. Maxim Van Gils
127. Harm Vanhoucke
128. Brent Van Moer
DS: Mario Aerts and Marc Wauters
Israel-Premier Tech
131. Stephen Williams
132. Pascal Ackermann
133. Guillaume Boivin
134. Jakob Fuglsang
135. Derek Gee
136. Hugo Houle
137. Krists Neilands
138. Jake Stewart
DS: Steve Bauer and Dror Pekatch
Cofidis
141. Guillaume Martin
142. Piet Allegaert
143. Bryan Coquard
144. Simon Geschke
145. Jesús Herrada
146. Ion Izagirre
147. Alexis Renard
148. Axel Zingle
DS: Thierry Marichal and Bingen Fernández
Movistar
151. Enric Mas
152. Alex Aranburu
153. Davide Formolo
154. Fernando Gaviria
155. Oier Lazkano
156. Gregor Mühlberger
157. Nelson Oliveira
158. Javier Romo
DS: Vicente José Acosta García and Iván Velasco
Arkéa-B&B Hotels
161. Kévin Vauquelin
162. Amaury Capiot
163. Clément Champoussin
164. Arnaud Démare
165. Raúl García Pierna
166. Daniel Mclay
167. Luca Mozzato
168. Cristián Rodríguez
DS: Sébastien Hinault and Yvon Ledanois
Intermarché-Wanty
171. Louis Meintjes
172. Biniam Girmay
173. Kobe Goossens
174. Hugo Page
175. Laurenz Rex
176. Mike Teunissen
177. Gerben Thijssen
178. Georg Zimmermann
DS: Aike Visbeek and Lorenzo Lapage
Team dsm-fermenich PostNL
181. Romain Bardet
182. Warren Barguil
183. John Degenkolb
184. Nils Eekhoff
185. Fabio Jakobsen
186. Oscar Onley
187. Frank Van Den Broek
188. Bram Welten
DS: Christian Guiberteau and Matthew Winston
Astana Qazaqstan
191. Mark Cavendish
192. Davide Ballerini
193. Cees Bol
194. Yevgeniy Federov
195. Michele Gazzoli
196. Alexey Lutsenko
197. Michael Mørkøv
198. Harold Tejada
DS: Stefano Zanini and Dmitriy Fofonov
Uno-X Mobility
201. Magnus Cort
202. Jonas Abrahamsen
203. Christian Odd Eiking
204. Tobias Halland Johannessen
205. Alexander Kristoff
206. Johannes Kulset
207. Rasmus Tiller
208. Søren Wærenskjold
DS: Gabriel Rasch and Stig Kristiansen
TotalEnergies
211. Steff Cras
212. Mathieu Burgaudeau
213. Sandy Dujardin
214. Thomas Gachignard
215. Fabian Grellier
216. Jordan Jegat
217. Anthony Turgis
218. Mattéo Vercher
DS: Benoit Genauzeau and Romain Sicard