best looking tour de france riders

Keep Your Eyes on These Riders for the 2021 Racing Season

The pro road season is about to get going in full effect—here are 12 riders to watch.

The 2021 season already is underway with a string of early season races being run in the south of France.

Here’s a look at 12 male riders to watch (many of whom will be in action at the UAE Tour) heading into the 2021 season.

Julian Alaphilippe - Deceuninck-Quick Step

After hitting double digits in wins for 2019, Alaphilippe only won three last year, but one of them was the world road race championship, which epitomizes the phrase, “Quality over quantity.” Now the Frenchman gets to spend a year—at least—in the rainbow jersey, which gives him added inspiration to continue racing with the aggression and panache that make him one of the most exciting riders in the men’s peloton.

While he’s generally known for the hillier Classics held in the Belgian Ardennes, he will also be fun to watch at the Tour of Flanders. He made the winning breakaway in the Ronde in October, only to crash into a motorbike with about 35km to go. But before the mishap, Alaphilippe looked right at home on the cobbled Flemish roads and hills. Had he made it to the finish...well, who knows? But we do know this: Alaphilippe is a threat to win just about any race he enters. And with his contract set to expire at the end of the season, the competition to sign him will be fierce—and expensive.

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Tadej Pogačar - UAE-Team Emirates

Few expected Pogačar to win the 2020 Tour de France, but few were surprised either. Only 21-years-old at the time, Pogačar had already proven himself to be one of the most talented young riders in the sport with wins at the 2018 Tour de l’Avenir, the 2019 Tour of California, and a third-place finish (along with three stage wins) at the 2019 Tour of Spain. He can definitely win the Tour, we thought. But not for another year or two. Well, here we are.

Defending his Tour de France victory will certainly be his main goal this season, but Pogačar is a rider who could win any race he sets his mind to. Grand Tours, hilly Classics, cobbled Classics, time trials—there’s nothing that looks to be beyond his skillset.

Primož Roglič - Jumbo-Visma

Roglič won 12 races in 2020, but it’s the race he lost that defined his season: after leading the Tour de France for 11 days, he entered the final weekend almost a minute ahead of his compatriot, Pogačar. And, well, the rest is history .

But Roglič rebounded quickly, winning his first Monument (Liège–Bastogne–Liège) before successfully defending his title in the Tour of Spain. He heads into 2021 looking to take another shot at the Tour, where he and his team can hopefully put the lessons they learned last year to good use. From there, he and Pogačar should join forces to challenge for a gold medal at the Olympics, with Roglič a contender in the time trial as well. Along the way, expect to see the former ski jumper winning whatever races he can. Ever-aggressive, he’s never been one to turn down a chance to win a race when the opportunity presents itself, which is, incidentally, perhaps why he faded on the Tour’s final weekend.

Wout van Aert - Jumbo-Visma

Since devoting himself to road racing after several years racing cyclocross full time, van Aert has steadily become one of the strongest riders in the sport, someone capable of winning Monuments, time trials, and pacing his team’s GC leaders through the high mountains of the Tour de France. And 2020 was the Belgian’s best season yet thanks to wins in Strade Bianche and Milan-Sanremo, along with two stage wins at the Tour de France.

But like Roglič, van Aert’s 2020 season was defined by a few missed chances as well, including second-place finishes in the world championship time trial and road race and the Tour of Flanders. The latter was most likely his most gut-wrenching defeat: Flanders is the most important race of the year for Belgian fans, and to add insult to injury, van Aert lost to Mathieu van der Poel, a fierce rival, and even worse, a Dutchman. Looking ahead, van Aert’s building his 2021 season around three main goals: the spring Classics (watch for Paris-Roubaix), the Olympic individual time trial (scheduled right after the Tour de France), and the World Championships, which are take place on van Aert’s home turf: Flanders.

Jerseys From Your Favorite Teams

AGU 2020 Jumbo Visma Jersey

2020 INEOS Grenadier Jersey

Sportful 2020 Bora Hansgrohe WC Jersey

Giordana 2020 Astana Jersey

Mathieu van der poel - alpecin-fenix.

Like Pogačar, van der Poel looks as if he could win any race he sets his mind to. His road season last year was rather quiet—until he defeated van Aert to win the Tour of Flanders. That was all he needed to declare his season a success as he helped his team earn an automatic invitation to all of 2021’s World Tour events—including all three Grand Tours—by virtue of winning the season’s “Professional Continental” (basically, cycling’s Division 1-AA) classification.

Like van Aert, van der Poel will spend the first part of his season focusing on the spring Classics, and then should head to the Tour de France (but only, he says, for the sake of his sponsors). Leaving the Tour early is a real possibility, he told a Dutch website, because he wants to focus on the Olympic mountain bike race. Expect him to end his season with the World Championships in Flanders, another race that he should be a top favorite and another race in which his intense rivalry with van Aert should continue.

Remco Evenepoel - Deceuninck-Quick Step

Evenepoel was set to ride his first Grand Tour at last year’s Giro d’Italia, but the Belgian crashed into a stone wall and fell into a ravine at the Tour of Lombardy in August , breaking his pelvis and ending his season. Prior to the crash, the 20-year-old was a perfect four-for-four on the season, winning every race he entered (all stage races, to boot). Now 21, his recovery took a bit longer than expected, and he’s only recently been cleared to resume training. But we’re still hopeful he’ll be back in time to make a serious bid at the Giro d’Italia in May. And if he’s not ready for the Giro, we wouldn’t be surprised to see him start the Tour de France—just to gain some experience in the world’s biggest race and build some form for the Olympics in late-July.

Egan Bernal - INEOS Grenadiers

Once the 2020 restarted, Bernal looked to be on track to defend his 2019 Tour de France victory . He was racing well and the team selected a roster built to support him (leaving former winners Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas at home). But then the Colombian surprisingly abandoned the Critérium du Dauphiné—his final pre-Tour preparation event—due to back pain. He started the Tour saying his troubles were behind him, but never looked as strong as he did the year before. Finally, after losing large chunks of time on Stages 15 and 16, he abandoned the race .

He’s since spent the offseason working to heal his aching back, and recently announced the Giro d’Italia to be his primary objective—at least for the first half of the season. Often much more mountainous than the Tour de France, the Giro should suit Bernal just fine, perhaps setting him up for another Tour de France bid in 2022.

Chris Froome - Team Israel Start-Up Nation

Were it not for a crash while warming-up for a time trial at the 2019 Critérium du Dauphiné, Chris Froome might be a five- or six-time Tour de France champion by now. Instead, he’s racing for Team Israel Start-Up Nation after leaving team INEOS Grenadiers (with whom he won seven Grand Tours), and hoping that his best days haven’t passed him by. The Briton is naturally building his season around winning a record-tying fifth Tour de France, but at 35-years-old and more than three years removed from his last Grand Tour victory, it’s going to be a tall order. Then again, if Tom Brady can leave the New England Patriots and still win the Super Bowl, maybe Froome can leave INEOS and still win the Tour de France.

Peter Sagan - BORA-hansgrohe

Sagan had a rough 2020, winning only one race—by far the lowest annual win total of his professional career. He went winless at the Tour de France, and failed to add another green jersey to the seven he’s already won. Something just seemed “off” about the three-time world champion, as if his heart wasn’t in it anymore.

He even made comments in the press indicating that he might retire soon. But the Slovak appears to be entering the 2021 season with a renewed sense or purpose. And he should be: his contract is set to expire at the end of the season, and if he hopes to cash-in one more time before calling it a career, he’ll need to remind potential suitors that he has the motivation to win at the sport’s highest level. But while it seems like he’s been racing forever, he’s still only 31, and with a good result or two in the spring, should be able to convince several teams that signing him is a good investment—and perhaps rejuvenate his already-storied career.

Geraint Thomas - INEOS Grenadiers

Thomas won the 2018 Tour de France with one of the more flawless rides we’ve seen in recent years. But in 2019—despite starting the Tour in good shape—the Welshman was forced to play second fiddle to his teammate, Egan Bernal. Then, when he and Froome weren’t even selected for last year’s Tour by INEOS, some wondered if he would be racing for another team entirely in 2021.

Well, he’s not, and better still, he’s already been named as his team’s captain for the 2021 Tour de France. And while Pogačar and Roglič will be tough to beat, Thomas is one of the more complete Grand Tour riders in the peloton, and should benefit from the two individual time trials included in this year’s route. Overall, he’s at least a solid bet for the final podium, and a dark horse to win the whole thing should things go his way. What he lacks in flash he makes up for in consistency.

Sepp Kuss - Jumbo-Visma

In January, Dutchman Tom Dumoulin announced he was taking a break from professional cycling, a decision that might have created an opportunity for American Sepp Kuss—a name you might not be familiar with, but should start getting to know. Over the past few seasons, Kuss has become one of Jumbo-Visma’s most talented mountain domestiques, someone who can ride alongside his captains—like Primož Roglic—very late into high mountain stages. In fact, at the 2019 Tour of Spain, he was rewarded for his efforts to help secure Roglič’s first Grand Tour victory with a chance to ride for a stage win of his own—an opportunity which he promptly took advantage of by winning Stage 15. His first order of business in 2021 will be trying to help Roglič win the Tour de France, but after that, he might get a chance to lead the team himself at the Tour of Spain, a chance that might not have appeared had Dumoulin not taken a break.

Marc Hirschi - UAE-Team Emirates

You might remember Hirschi from last year’s Tour de France. Riding for Team Sunweb, the Swiss rider relentlessly animated the race, coming close a couple of times before finally winning Stage 12. After the Tour his good form continued with a win in Flèche Wallonne, a second-place in Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and a bronze medal in the road race at Worlds. His results must have been enough to generate a behind-the-scenes bidding war, because in early January Sunweb (now Team DSM) suddenly announced that it was releasing the 22-year-old from his contract. A few days later, it was revealed that he was joining UAE-Team Emirates. In Hirschi, UAE gained an incredible talent who alongside Pogačar gives the team two young cornerstones upon which to continue building their program. Literally, the rich got richer—and Hirschi did too.

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Our 8 favourite Tour de France bikes | The coolest Tour bikes, according to BikeRadar

The BikeRadar team makes its nominations for the best bikes in Tour de France history

Tim de Waele/Getty Images

George Scott

The Tour de France is the pinnacle of the sport, not just for riders vying for the yellow jersey but manufacturers putting their wares in front of an audience of millions.

In fact, we love the Tour almost as much for its tech as we do for the exploits of riders on the road.

Here, the BikeRadar team shares its favourite Tour de France bikes from years gone by – machines that paved the way for future Tour tech or, quite simply, looked damn cool.

Our choices focus on the modern-ish era because that's where we've seen many of the innovations that characterise today's bikes (or they're bikes we have first-hand memories of).

What's your favourite Tour de France bike? Let us know in the comments at the bottom of the article.

Greg LeMond’s 1989 Bottecchia with aero bars

George scott | editor-in-chief.

To describe a tech moment as game-changing is perhaps a cliché but Greg Lemond’s equipment choices at the 1989 race undoubtedly started a new era for Tour de France tech.

LeMond’s decision to use aero bars – a first at the Tour de France – in the race’s two time trials not only brought aerodynamics to the fore in professional cycling, but effectively won him the race.

Having won the first time trial in the race, the American famously overturned Laurent Fignon’s 50-second advantage on the final stage – another race against the clock – to take the title by eight seconds.

LeMond rode a steel Bottecchia on the Champs-Élysées course, hunkered down on its U-shaped bar (except when sprinting out of the saddle) to cheat the wind and secure the second of three Tour de France wins.

While today's time trial bikes are a far cry from LeMond's Bottecchia, aerodynamics now influence almost every equipment choice in the pro peloton, from frames and components to clothing and helmets.

Chris Boardman’s 1994 Lotus 110

Simon bromley | technical writer.

Perhaps the most iconic time trial bike in the history of road cycling, Chris Boardman’s Lotus 110 still has the power to wow.

A road version of Boardman’s famous Lotus 108 track bike, the 110’s carbon monocoque frameset was so advanced that you could drop it into today’s Tour and it would still look like something wild from the future.

The only issue would be that today’s chunky wheels and tyres wouldn’t fit in it.

Of course, part of what makes it so iconic – especially to us Brits – is that Boardman used it to take the yellow jersey by annihilating the field in the prologue time trial at the 1994 Tour de France.

Covering the 7.2km distance at a record average speed of 55.152kph (which stood until 2015), Boardman even caught his minute man, Luc Leblanc – who, deliciously, had previously belittled Boardman’s 1993 hour record.

A plethora of bold designs spawned in response to the efforts of Lotus, Boardman, Graeme Obree and the like, until the UCI introduced the Lugano Charter in 2000 and spoiled the party.

But, in this writer’s opinion, the Lotus 110 remains the most elegant and iconic bike of that era.

Miguel Indurain's 1995 Pinarello

Stan portus | digital writer.

Many bikes that are considered cool can be classified as exceptions to a particular rule. They are often machines that break the status quo and mark the beginning of a new period of cycling tech, regardless of whether the bike itself actually sticks around.

Miguel Indurain’s 1995 Pinarello doesn’t follow this pattern. In fact, its coolness comes from the fact that it was the last of its kind: the final steel road bike to win the Tour de France.

Indurain dominated the world of professional cycling in the first half of the nineties, winning every edition of the Tour from 1991 to 1995.

While his style of riding – winning the time trials and defending the yellow jersey in the mountains – feels like a prelude to modern Grand Tour racing, his bike feels like the perfect coda to a period of cycling that we’ll never see again.

His Pinarello is claimed to have been custom-built by the legendary Dario Pegoretti in Italy, with a TIG-welded frame that matched Indurain’s tall stature.

Kitted out with a full Campagnolo groupset , Indurain typically ran 53-39 chainrings paired with an 11-23 cassette on the back – a gear ratio that, today, might inspire dread and admiration in equal measure.

When it comes to looks, Indurain’s bike had the Team Banesto colours running across the tubing in that classic '90s effect, a gradient.

The decade might be associated with garish colourways and louder than loud patterns, but Indurain’s bike is a fine example of how nineties styling could be playful yet refined.

There might be little carryover from Indurain’s bike to the pro bikes we see today (except maybe the integrated shifters), but if one thing could persist, in this writer’s eyes, it’s what we can learn from that paintwork.

Mario Cipollini’s 1999 Cannondale CAAD4

Warren rossiter | senior technical editor.

The Saeco-era Cannondales, with their bright tomato red livery and yellow graphics, were iconic in their own right, but for the '99 Tour Mario Cipollini had a custom white and gold edition, on which he set records with four back-to-back stage wins.

In anticipation of Cipo’s success, Cannondale even provided mitts with the company's logo emblazoned on the palm, so no one would forget what bike he was riding when Cipollini held his arms aloft.

The reason for the new colour? To celebrate Julius Caesar’s birthday (12 July) – Cipollini even dressed as the Roman emperor, replete with toga and a golden laurel wreath on his head, during the race and the team wore a limited-edition white and gold kit on stage nine.

The bike was Cannondale’s own blend of aluminium (based on 6061 T6) for the CAAD4 and it ran on Campagnolo’s 9-speed Record titanium groupset.

The Magic Motorcycle cranks (branded CODA) are the precursor to Cannondale’s superlight SiSL2 cranks of today, and Cipollini ran Stronglight chainrings in a big 53/42t pairing.

Upfront, there was a Cinelli Integralter one-piece bar and stem.

The Cannondale Saeco team used wheels from both Spinergy and Mavic at the time and, for this bike, Cipollini chose first-generation Mavic Cosmic Carbone tubulars.

Super Mario rode this bike for the first seven stages, winning four in the process (and posting the then-fastest ever Tour stage in the process) ahead of the individual time trial. Cipollini quit the race and headed for the beach when the mountains arrived on stage nine.

Aside from what was a stunning bike, I think this CAAD4 shows what the modern Tour has been missing: proper personalities, theatre to match the drama of racing and proper special-edition bikes for publicity and grabbing headlines.

Cipollini wasn’t just a masterful sprinter, he was the ultimate showman and this bike matched his showmanship.

Lance Armstrong’s original Trek Madone

Matthew loveridge | senior writer.

Following on from the Trek 5000-series that Lance Armstrong took his (heavily-asterisked) first Tour victories on, the Madone is arguably the most famous bike of the last two decades.

It'd be a stretch to call it my favourite Tour bike, but I don’t think there’s a machine that epitomises mid-2000s pro cycling better than a Trek in U.S. Postal Service colours.

The original Madone 5.9 debuted at the 2003 Tour and it was more of a refinement of its predecessor, the 5900, than an all-new bike.

It was named for the Col de la Madone in France – not a climb used in races, but rather one that Armstrong favoured to test his form.

Compared to today’s bikes, and even the more curvaceous second-gen Madone that followed, the OG bike is relatively traditional looking, with a horizontal top tube and external headset.

At the same time, it sported Bontrager carbon tubular wheels (albeit super-skinny, low-profile ones) and then brand-new Shimano Dura-Ace 7800 components.

The eagle-eyed will note that this isn’t actually Armstrong’s Tour bike, it’s one set up for a mountain time trial in the 2004 Critérium du Dauphiné, hence the aero bars.

If you look really closely, there’s also a weight-shaving down tube shifter for the front derailleur – a favourite Armstrong mod if you believe the lore.

For such a lightweight bike, it’s one with a lot of baggage…

Frank Schleck’s 2006 Cervélo Soloist SL-C SL

Okay, I'm cheating here with two entries but Cervélo basically invented the aero-road bike so, as well as Mario Cipollini's Cannondale CAAD4, I'm nominating Frank Schleck's 2006 Soloist SL-C SL.

Sure, brands like Cinelli had the Laser much earlier but that was aero-styled rather than scientifically engineered to be aerodynamic.

In the aluminium era, aero tubes were more like round tubes ‘squashed’ into an aero shape. Cervélo, with the original Soloist, used NACA profiles to define the shape, and when it came to carbon, the Canadian brand adapted the Soloist design brilliantly.

By the time Team CSC and Frank Schleck got to ride the SL-C SL, Cervélo had managed to extract more than 200g from the standard SL-C (when we tested the frame back in 2007 it weighed a still-impressive 994g in a 58cm).

That made it not only the most aerodynamic bike in the 2006 Tour, but also one of the lightest (it tipped the scales at 6.9kg complete, just 100g over the UCI limit).

On stage 15, Schleck and his Soloist went head-to-head with Danielo Cunego through the 21 hairpins of Alpe d'Huez. When Schleck attacked 3km from the finish I’d like to think that the added aero of the Soloist gave him the edge, especially when he could have chosen the lighter Cervélo R3 for the mountain stages.

The Team CSC bikes used Shimano Dura-Ace with FSA K-Force chainsets, along with FSA bars and stems, Zipp aero wheels and True Temper’s Alpha Q fork. Remember when bikes used forks that weren’t specific to the frame?

Vincenzo Nibali’s 2016 S-Works Tarmac

Jack luke | deputy editor.

In a time dominated by dropped seatstays, aero-formed everything and total integration, I find myself bored senseless by the homogeneity of modern road bike design.

That last point is probably the key culprit for the remarkable sameness of pro bikes these days – in-house brands and proprietary components tie riders and teams to a very narrow selection of components, leaving little room for quirky customisation (though that seems to be changing , particularly in regards to wheels).

Seemingly hodge-podge builds largely died off with the end of the traditional triple triangle era and, as a professional bicycle tech nerd, I mourn the loss of this time.

For me, the Specialized Tarmac SL5 defines the latter part of that era and, in particular, I fondly remember Vincenzo Nibali’s 2016 Tour de France bike .

A full gallery of this bike was published just before I started working at BikeRadar – a time when I was studiously reading everything published on the site, earning it a special place in my heart.

With a mad kinda-naff-kinda-cool paint job, a full Campagnolo Super Record (mechanical!) 11-speed groupset, Corima S wheels and dreadful custom-painted FSA finishing kit, the bike is totally unlike anything we would see today, and just a few years later.

RIP, weird bikes of the Tour de France.

Marianne Vos’s 2019 Liv Langma Advanced SL

Helen cousins | operations manager.

As a two-time winner of La Course, in 2014 and 2019, and undeniable GOAT of the sport, my pick would be Marianne Vos’s 2019 winning Liv Langma Advanced SL. At the time, it was Giant and Liv’s lightest frameset, making it a good option for the rather hilly La Course route that year, rather than the team’s aero EnviLiv Advanced option.

Starting and finishing in Pau, the five-lap 121km course featured four climbs of la Côte de Gelos and then finished on a steep 17 per cent ramp inside the final 500m.

Vos's Team CCC-Liv bike was built around SRAM’s RED AXS 12-speed wireless rim brake groupset, and this was the last season Vos raced on rim brakes, switching to discs for the 2020 season onwards.

Her bike also featured some lightweight Cadex wheels, which looked to be a Vos-only spec choice for the race, with the rest of the team riding Giant branded wheelsets.

A classic looking bike and one that's still impressing us; now with disc brakes, we recently scored the Liv Langma Advanced SL Disc 4.5 stars out of 5.

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Tour de France

The top 10 tour de france riders of all time.

The Tour de France – originally scheduled to run from June 27 to July 19 – will now start on August 29 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look through the history books to profile 10 of the greatest riders from the race's history.

Eddy Merckx

Widely considered the greatest ever cyclist, 'the Cannibal' won the Tour in each of the first five editions he entered, four in a row between 1969 and 1972, then again in 1974 after he skipped the 1973 race to win the Giro-Vuelta double instead. Merckx's insatiable desire for victory saw him win a record 34 stages of the Tour in his career. He completed the Giro-Tour double three times, and in 1974 became the first man to win cycling's 'triple crown' of the Giro, Tour and World Championships road race, an achievement matched only once since by Stephen Roche in 1987. Merckx's hopes of a sixth title in 1975 were ruined when he was punched by a spectator on the Puy-de-Dome during stage 14, battling on to finish second overall despite suffering from an inflamed liver as a result of the incident. He would never again win another stage of the race he had dominated for so long, with his only other appearance in 1977 ending in a sixth-placed finish.

Bernard Hinault

The last Frenchman to celebrate victory in the Tour de France, Bernard Hinault took the title in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1985. A sixth title eluded 'the Badger' – a knee injury forced Hinault to withdraw in 1980 while in the yellow jersey, with a similar problem preventing him from starting in 1983. But most fascinating of all was the 1986 race, in which Hinault had pledged to help La Vie Claire team-mate Greg LeMond . If he did help, he did so grudgingly, happy to play up to the idea he was capable of winning a sixth title. An attack on stage 12 to Pau put him more than five minutes clear of LeMond and he held yellow for five days, losing it after stage 17. The pair finished arm-in-arm on Alpe d'Huez at the end of stage 18 but the gesture seemed an empty one given Hinault's interview immediately afterwards claiming the race was still on. LeMond eventually triumphed by three minutes but the distrust lingered, and Hinault retired at the end of the season, still only 32.

Miguel Indurain

Of the four men to have won five Tour titles, only Spaniard Indurain achieved it with five consecutive victories as he seized control of the race from 1991 to 1995. It was a record perhaps in keeping with a rider many criticised as "robotic" as he ripped up time trials to stamp his authority on the race. Indurain's success came in the second half of his career – he had competed in the Tour and Vuelta a combined 10 times, never cracking the top 15 until he finished 10th in the 1990 Tour and seventh in that year's Vuelta, teeing up the success that began a year later. He also claimed two Giro titles, in 1992 and 1993, but never bettered his second place from 1991 in his home Grand Tour.

Jacques Anquetil

★ D-61 ★ Jacques Anquetil, ahead of Imerio Massignan, wins one of his 5th Tour, unstoppable "Maitre Jacques"... #TDF pic.twitter.com/R0zkbqn39v — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) April 29, 2013

Anquetil was the first man to win the Tour five times, taking victory in 1957, 1961, 1962, 1963 and 1964, with a Tour-Vuelta double in 1963 and a Giro-Tour double in 1964. After emerging as a strong amateur, Anquetil broke the prestigious Hour Record while on national service in the French army, teeing up the professional career that would soon follow. Riding in a very different era, Anquetil never denied doping, saying during a television debate: "Leave me in peace; everybody takes dope". Anquetil died in 1987 from stomach cancer, aged 53.

Chris Froome

Froome's awkward-looking style on a bike might frequently be mocked, but none can now question the success it has brought him with seven Grand Tour trophies in the cabinet. His Tour successes in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017 have been complimented by his stunning 2018 Giro victory and Vuelta titles from 2011 and 2017 – the 2011 title having only been awarded last year after Juan Jose Cobo was found guilty of doping, retroactively making Froome Britain's first Grand Tour winner. Many believe Froome was strong enough to have beaten Sir Bradley Wiggins in the 2012 Tour but for team orders, and it remains to be seen if his chance at a record-equalling fifth title is now gone after a high-speed crash during last year's Criterium du Dauphine left him with a long list of injuries which may prevent him from ever getting back to his best again.

Greg LeMond

LeMond's victory in 1986 went down in history as one of the most fascinating ever Tours given the intra-team battle with Hinault, but for the American it was only the beginning as he followed up with an even more dramatic win in 1989. After suffering life-threatening injuries in a 1987 hunting accident, LeMond's future in the sport was in question – he was not considered a contender in 1989 and had told his wife he was thinking about retirement. But he bossed the stage-five time trial and battled tooth and nail with Laurent Fignon through the mountains. As they began a rare time trial into Paris on the final stage, LeMond began some 50 seconds behind Fignon but stunned the Frenchman to win the Tour by just eight seconds, going on to take the world title a month later. LeMond would claim a third Tour title in 1990.

Louison Bobet

★ D-55 ★ 1955, Louison Bobet, taking a lap of honor in the Parc des Princes, wins the Tour! #TDF pic.twitter.com/6XQQIjsTrg — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) May 5, 2013

Regarded as the first great rider of the post-war era, Bobet was the first to win the Tour in three consecutive years as he dominated from 1953 to 1955. Having taken up cycling after serving in the army during World War II, Bobet's introduction to the Tour was an inauspicious one as his 1947 debut ended in an early withdrawal and earned him the nickname 'cry-baby' as he wept at the difficulty of the race. But he returned a year later to spend two days in yellow and finished third in 1950 to point to far greater potential. He won the 1955 Tour despite saddle boils which required surgery and which Bobet said made him a lesser rider for the rest of his days. After missing the 1956 and 1957 Tours, he returned in 1958, finishing seventh, but was no longer able to compete for yellow.

Philippe Thys

Philippe Thys won his 3 @letour with the number 15 & it's not the end...Learn more > https://t.co/aHbuSnUsPf pic.twitter.com/l0UlesMUff — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) June 9, 2016

'The Basset Hound' was the first three-time winner of the Tour and a man who would no doubt have contended for or won many more but for the First World War. The Belgian's first win came in 1913 despite him suffering a broken fork and incurring a 10-minute penalty when he stopped at a bike shop for repairs. He won again in 1914 but, with the intervention of war, had to wait until 1920 for his third. Tour organiser Henri Desgrange wrote: "France is not unaware that, without the war, the crack rider from Anderlecht would be celebrating not his third Tour, but his fifth or sixth."

Raymond Poulidor

1⃣9⃣6⃣6⃣ Rivalry Anquetil/Poulidor reaches its peak 👉👈🇷️🇹️ Poulidor / ❤ AnquetilRead more> https://t.co/byljkwm1rX pic.twitter.com/1UgHNH9YNn — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) June 3, 2016

Raymond Poulidor never won the Tour de France but he rode his way into its legend during his long rivalry with Jacques Anquetil. 'Pou-Pou' became known as the 'Eternal Second' as he finished second three times and third five times, riding on to the age of 40 in his hunt for the yellow jersey – a garment that would always elude him. Poulidor came closest in 1964, losing by only 55 seconds to Anquetil after the two men rode themselves to exhaustion on the Puy de Dome. But with every failure, Poulidor's popularity with the French crowds only grew, even as he was competing with a compatriot, and by the time of his death last year he was arguably France's most popular ever rider.

Mark Cavendish

Mark Cavendish sits in a category of his own in the history of the Tour as its greatest ever sprinter. Though effectively competing in a different event to those seeking to wear the yellow jersey in Paris, Cavendish became synonymous with Tour success as he utterly dominated the flat stages at his peak. Between 2008 and 2011 he won an incredible 20 stages and in total the Manxman has piled up 30 victories – second only to the record of Merckx – before illness and injury slowed him and left a question mark where there had once appeared near certainty he would one day take the record for himself.

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Who are the Americans riding the Tour de France 2021?

Just four riders from the US have been picked to take part in the race around France

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There is less than a week until the start of the 2021 Tour de France and teams have already started announcing their squad line-ups with some American riders making the cut.

Only four riders from the US have been picked to ride the 108th Tour de France with neither national champion at the race. Road race champion, Joey Rosskopf rides for Rally Cycling, who aren't invited to race and Lawson Craddock (EF Education-Nippo) was not picked by the American team who only went for one rider from their registered country.

Each rider is at a different team with varying levels of expectations going into the race, with some being key support riders with chances of stage wins and good GC placings to riders likely looking to get into a breakaway.

Sepp Kuss on the attack at the Critérium du Dauphiné 2021

Sepp Kuss ( Jumbo-Visma ) is probably the biggest name in US cycling at the moment due to his success as a support rider for two time Vuelta a España winner and Tour runner up, Primož Roglič.

However, he has shown that his climbing ability is one of the best in the world, with his time trialing ability potentially keeping him away from the team leader's limelight. Kuss has impressed once again this season with strong climbing performances throughout the season starting at the UAE Tour all the way up to the Critérium du Dauphiné .

Kuss will be the last man in the mountains for Roglič with Steven Kruijswijk, Jonas Vingegaard, Robert Gesink and Wout van Aert expected to be the build-up riders.

Brandon McNulty

Brandon McNulty in the yellow leaders jersey at the Tour of the Basque Country 2021

Brandon McNulty has shown that he could be the next big general classification rider for the US as he has a very good time trial as well as an amazingly fast kick, which he has used on a few occasions to get surprisingly good stage placings.

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The UAE Team Emirates man took the leaders jersey at the Tour of the Basque Country through a breakaway much to the surprise of the likes of Roglič, but he will be one of the key men for defending champion, Tadej Pogačar in the mountains.

Neilson Powless 

Neilson Powless on the final stage of the Tour de Suisse 2021

Neilson Powless is another talented young rider who shows a lot of promise in the general classification with a strong time trial and good climbing legs on his day. However, the EF Education-Nippo rider does look like he needs work on consistency as he yoyoed about at the recent Tour de Suisse.

Powless, who wore the best young riders jersey for a few stages in Switzerland, will be the key man for leader Rigoberto Urán as well as pocket rocket Sergio Higuita in the high mountains with potential opportunities for break success also coming his way.

Sean Bennett

Sean Bennett on the attack at the Critérium du Dauphiné 2021

Sean Bennett is not as well known as the three above but he can still create some very exciting racing for a team that looks set to be in every break at the Tour.

Bennett, who is a bit of a puncher/Classics rider, will hope that he can maybe get into the breaks in the early stages and perhaps get hold of the mountains jersey. There are a few lumpy stages later on in the race that would suit him very nicely too for a potential stage win.

He doesn't really have a leader to support apart from maybe trying to set up Max Walscheid for a tilt in the sprints.

Canada also has three riders at the race with Israel Start-Up Nation leader Michael Woods being the headline name. 

Other names are from the French-speaking side of the country with Hugo Houle lining up for Astana-Premier Tech and Guillaume Boivin joining Woods at Israel Start-Up Nation.

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Hi, I'm one of Cycling Weekly's content writers for the web team responsible for writing stories on racing, tech, updating evergreen pages as well as the weekly email newsletter. Proud Yorkshireman from the UK's answer to Flanders, Calderdale, go check out the cobbled climbs!

I started watching cycling back in 2010, before all the hype around London 2012 and Bradley Wiggins at the Tour de France. In fact, it was Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck's battle in the fog up the Tourmalet on stage 17 of the Tour de France.

It took me a few more years to get into the journalism side of things, but I had a good idea I wanted to get into cycling journalism by the end of year nine at school and started doing voluntary work soon after. This got me a chance to go to the London Six Days, Tour de Yorkshire and the Tour of Britain to name a few before eventually joining Eurosport's online team while I was at uni, where I studied journalism. Eurosport gave me the opportunity to work at the world championships in Harrogate back in the awful weather.

After various bar jobs, I managed to get my way into Cycling Weekly in late February of 2020 where I mostly write about racing and everything around that as it's what I specialise in but don't be surprised to see my name on other news stories.

When not writing stories for the site, I don't really switch off my cycling side as I watch every race that is televised as well as being a rider myself and a regular user of the game Pro Cycling Manager. Maybe too regular.

My bike is a well used Specialized Tarmac SL4 when out on my local roads back in West Yorkshire as well as in northern Hampshire with the hills and mountains being my preferred terrain.

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Tour de France 2023: full team-by-team guide

Our in-depth look at every team, the main riders to watch and the cast of characters racing through France this summer

• Stage-by-stage guide to this year’s Tour de France

Ag2R-Citroën

Veteran French Tour battlers notorious for wearing brown shorts. Their Australian climber Ben O’Connor had a nightmare in 2022, ripping a muscle in a crash, but O’Connor is back on form this season so they need a repeat of his 2021 feats, with Paret-Peintre and Cosnefroy likely to target hilly stages.

Team Stan Dewulf, Clément Berthet, Felix Gall, Aurélien Paret-Peintre, Ben O’Connor, Benoît Cosnefroy, Oliver Naesen, Nans Peters

Main man Ben O’Connor – Aussie mountain man still out to prove 2021’s fourth overall was not a fluke

Alpecin-Deceuninck

From a relatively small cyclo-cross squad this cannily managed Dutch team has grown into a force to be reckoned with, mainly due to the presence of Mathieu van der Poel, the most charismatic racer in the bunch, but also because the team has recruited wisely around him. At the Tour they focus on Jasper Philipsen for the sprints and perhaps the green points jersey, with VdP targeting everything bar the high mountains; he will be a favourite on stage one’s short steep hills. Van der Poel took a long rest after his Classics campaign which seems to have paid off given his form in late June.

Team Silvain Dillier, Michael Gogl, Søren Kragh Andersen, Mathieu van der Poel, Quinten Hermans, Jasper Philipsen, Jonas Rickaert, Ramon Sinkeldam

Main man Mathieu van der Poel – flying this year, with two major Classic wins and a dominant display in the Tour of Belgium: expect fireworks.

Arkea-Samsic

This Breton-centred squad don’t have enough firepower to thrive in cycling’s most competitive milieu. Leader Warren Barguil was the future once but now looks like just another plucky contender. They will put riders in the daily daring moves but it’s hard to foresee a great deal more.

Team Warren Barguil, Clément Champoussin, Simone Guglielmi, Anthony Delaplace, Luca Mozzato, Jenthe Biermans, Matîs Louvel, Laurent Pichon

Main man Warren Barguil. “Wawa” was King of the Mountains and double stage winner in 2017, but there’s only so long you can live off past glories.

Astana Qazaqstan

Kakakhstan’s finest have changed tack by hiring Mark Cavendish; a stage win for the Manxman is the obvious target but there’s not a lot of sprint support here apart from Cees Bol, with Moscon for the grunt work beforehand. To hedge their bets, Federov and Lutsenko will target mountain stages.

Team Mark Cavendish, Aleksei Lutsenko, Cees Bol, David de la Cruz, Yevgeniy Federov, Luis Leon Sanchez, Gianni Moscon, Harold Tejada

Main man Mark Cavendish – the greatest sprinter of all needs one Tour stage win for the absolute record but it won’t be simple given the dearth of sprint stages.

Bahrain Victorious

Likely to be scarred mentally by the shocking death of Gino Mäder in the Tour of Switzerland, but if that tragedy brings them together, most of the riders look to be coming to form and they have a raft of chances to be “victorious” with new British champion Wright, Poels, Bilbao and Mohoric.

Team Niklas Arndt, Phil Bauhaus, Jack Haig, Pello Bilbao, Fred Wright, Mikel Landa, Matej Mohoric, Wout Poels

Main man Mikel Landa – the Basque climber is a cult figure due to his enigmatic, tragic mien; he could make the top five or fall apart. That’s “Landismo”.

Bora-Hansgrohe

Multiple opportunities for Germany’s finest, who pulled an excellently crafted Giro d’Italia win out of the bag last year with Australian climber Jai Hindley – quite the progression since their humble beginnings as team NetApp more than 10 years ago. Once again there is no place for the sprinter Sam Bennett, who has not ridden the Tour since winning two stages and the points prize in 2020. Around Hindley there’s plenty of climbing strength with Konrad, Buchman and Higuita plus a 2022 stage winner in Jungels, and a sprinter who can look after himself in Meeus.

Team Emanuel Buchman, Marco Haller, Jai Hindley, Bob Jungels, Patrick Konrad, Nils Politt, Jordi Meeus, Danny van Poppel, plus one to be named by Friday 30 June

Main man Jai Hindley. Fourth in the recent Criterium du Dauphiné bodes well but can he step up into cycling’s most hostile environment?

A team of options and caveats. Zingle, Martin, Lafay, Izaguirre and Geschke can hope for an opportunistic stage win, while Coquard is competitive in a small group finish. But they will struggle to rival the heavyweights so will probably end up with the French fallback: the daily suicide break.

Team Bryan Coquard, Simon Geschke, Ion Izaguirre, Victor Lafay, Guillaume Martin, Anthony Perez, Alexis Renard, Axel Zingle

Main man: Guillaume Martin – a cerebral climber who has written a book on philosophy; he could scrape into the top 10 overall but that looks like his limit.

DSM-Firmenich

This squad doesn’t have the biggest budget but it has a knack of landing key wins when it matters. They split neatly into a climbing half around the evergreen Romain Bardet, and Degenkolb, Edmondson and Eeckhoff in the sprint half in support of Sam Welsford – one of the surprises of this season.

Team Nils Eeckhoff, John Degenkolb, Kevin Vermaerke, Alex Edmondson, Sam Welsford, Matthew Dinham, Chris Hamilton, Romain Bardet.

Main man Romain Bardet. No longer the force he was when he finished second in the 2016 Tour but still capable of a solid top 10 overall.

EF Education-Easypost

The American team that loves to act the kooky underdogs but the facts belie this. They had a great Tour in 2022 thanks to Magnus Cort’s stage win; this year they had notched up 20 race wins by late June. The Olympic champion Carapaz, Bettiol, Uran and Powless could all land a stage.

Team Richard Carapaz, Rigoberto Uran, Neilson Powless, Alberto Bettiol, Esteban Chaves, Magnus Cort, James Shaw, Andrey Amador

Main man Magnus Cort – behind the (sponsored) fighter pilot moustache is a ruthless stage hunter chasing his 10th Grand Tour stage win.

Groupama-FDJ

In their 27th Tour, as usual it’s going to be fly or flop, with a bit more pressure after leader David Gaudu’s spat with sprinter Arnaud Démare sidelined this proven winner. Much loved Thibaut Pinot starts his final Tour; expect tears aplenty, hopefully on the Champs Elysées rather than before.

Team David Gaudu, Kevin Geniets, Stefan Küng, Olivier Le Gac, Valentin Madouas, Quentin Pacher, Thibaut Pinot, Lars Van den Berg

Main man David Gaudu – is France’s best hope for a podium finish but can he bear the weight of a nation?

Ineos Grenadiers

Once upon a time, the squad reputed to be the richest in cycling were the ones to beat in the Tour, but they have lost direction since Chris Froome’s departure and Egan Bernal’s horrific crash in 2022, and are now scrabbling to keep up with Jumbo and UAE. That’s reflected in a victory haul this season of around half that of the Big Two. A lot hangs on Tom Pidcock, winner at l’Alpe d’Huez last year; with Bernal struggling to return to his best, this line-up prompts a mild chin stroke rather than a sense of shock and awe.

Team Dani Martínez, Tom Pidcock, Michal Kwiatkowski, Jonathan Castroviejo, Carlos Rodriguez, Egan Bernal, Omar Fraile, Ben Turner

Main man Tom Pidcock. Super talented and a terrifyingly good bike handler, the 23-year-old Yorkshireman needs to build on a great 2022 race.

Intermarché-Circus-Wanty

Seamless progress for the Walloon team since their Tour debut in 2018. No Belgians in their squad which won’t go down well at home, but they have a real stage win hope in Girmay, a potential top 10 finisher in Meintjes and wildcards such as Calmejane, Costa and Teunissen.

Team Lilian Calmejane, Rui Costa, Biniam Girmay, Louis Meintjes, Adrien Petit, Dion Smith, Mike Teunissen, Georg Zimmerman.

Main man Biniam Girmay – after landing a sprint stage of the Giro last year, the Eritrean is a good bet to become the first black African Tour stage winner.

Israel-PremierTech

With only five wins this year, they need to buck that trend with climber Woods, the punchy Teuns, sprinter Strong or all-rounder Clarke. They will have to box clever, because none of these is the very best at their speciality. No place for Chris Froome after his poor start to 2023.

Team Guillaume Boivin, Simon Clarke, Hugo Houle, Krists Neilands, Nick Schultz, Corbin Strong, Dylan Teuns, Michael Woods

Main man Michael Woods – 36 years old and a four-minute miler in the past, the Canadian is a decent outside bet on any steep uphill finish.

Jayco-AlUla

All in for sprinter Groenewegen and climber Yates. Yates has had a lean 2023, but he’s notched up 10 Grand Tour stages since 2018 and will have plenty of chances in a very hard Tour. Harper and Craddock support him in the mountains; Mezgec will deliver Groenewegen in the sprints.

Lawson Craddock, Luke Durbridge, Dylan Groenewegen, Chris Harper, Chris Juul-Jensen, Luka Mezgec, Elmar Reinders, Simon Yates

Main man Dylan Groenewegen. Looking for his sixth career Tour stage win, the Dutchman has had a strong season with half a dozen wins to his name already.

Jumbo-Visma

One of the two “superteams” in the race; there are times when Jumbo seem to win when, how and where they want. Here it’s all in for Vingegaard with Küss, Van Baarle and Kelderman his mountain support crew. The biggest asset is Wout van Aert, the most powerful all-rounder in cycling, who could probably hope to win half a dozen stages if he was the team leader. What’s disconcerting is that Jumbo put out a strong squad to win this year’s Giro with Primoz Roglic, and they can afford to leave all of them out of the Tour including the Slovene.

Team Wilco Kelderman, Dylan van Baarle, Wout van Aert, Tiesj Benoot, Christopher Laporte, Nathan van Hooydonck, Sep Küss, Jonas Vingegaard

Main man Jonas Vingegaard – wraith-like Dane who had the climbing legs to break Tadej Pogacar when it mattered last year, but the second Tour win never comes easy

There’s plenty of value for money here. It’s all about stage wins. The 2019 world champion Mads Pedersen is the best bet, but Skjelmose took the recent Tour of Switzerland while Ciccone landed stages in Catalonia and the Dauphiné. They boast three newly crowned national champions in Skjelmose, Kirsch and Simmons.

Giulio Ciccone, Tony Gallopin, Alex Kirsch, Juan Pedro Lopez, Mads Pedersen, Quinn Simmons, Mattias Skjelmose, Jesper Stuyven

Main man Mads Pedersen – he has stage wins at the Giro and Paris-Nice to his name this year, and will have a good chance on the hillier days at the Tour

Lotto-Dstny

Relegated to the second division last season, Belgium’s oldest team put most of their eggs in a basket labelled Caleb Ewan. Most of the team will be dedicated to ensuring he is in the right place at sprint finishes; strongmen Vermeersch and Campenaerts may be let off the leash on the non-sprint days.

Team Caleb Ewan, Jasper de Buyst, Jacopo Guarnieri, Florian Vermeersch, Frederik Frison, Victor Campenaerts, Pascal Eenkhorn, Maxim van Gils

Main man Caleb Ewan – five Tour stages to his name so far, one more would make Lotto’s Tour.

There’s a mid-table look to cycling’s oldest team, a far cry from when Miguel Indurain won five Tours in a row. Mas can target the podium, and Jorgensen is one of the most exciting prospects in the sport, but the fact he’s rumoured to be moving on in 2024 speaks volumes.

Team Alex Aranburu, Ruben Guerreiro, Gorka Izaguirre, Matteo Jorgensen, Enric Mas, Gregor Mühlberger, Neilson Oliveira, Antonio Pedrero

Main man Enric Mas – often the bridesmaid never the bride, the Spaniard is one of the big group targeting third place behind the Big Two while aiming for better if they falter.

Soudal-Quickstep

Belgian winning machine have converted themselves to a Grand Tour team led by Remco Evenepoel, who sits this one out. Here it’s about fidgety Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe and sprinter Fabio Jakobsen. “Juju” is under pressure from manager Patrick Lefevère and needs to find his former magic touch, while Jakobsen needs to at least repeat his stage win of last year; his five victories this year suggest that’s on the cards with the support of top lead-out man Mørkøv. Asgreen, Lampaert and Cavagna will support Alaphilippe in the hills and go in the breaks when he’s having a recovery day.

Team Julian Alaphilippe, Yves Lampaert, Tim Decelercq, Dries Devenyns, Fabio Jakobsen, Kasper Asgreen, Michael Mørkøv, Remi Cavagna

Main man Julian Alaphilippe – double world champion endured a torrid 2022 but has won twice this year and will be a favourite for stage one.

TotalEnergies

Once a reservoir of developing French talent, now a home for stars past their sell-by dates such as Boasson-Hagen, Oss and Sagan, while French riders Turgis and Latour are no longer cutting edge. Between them they will deliver various near misses, while a stage win would be a miracle.

Team Edvald Boasson-Hagen, Mathieu Burgaudeau, Steff Cras, Valentin Ferron, Pierre Latour, Daniel Oss, Peter Sagan, Anthony Turgis

Main man Peter Sagan. Once a mega star, the multiple world champion, Tour stage winner and record points winner is now on his farewell Tour.

UAE Team Emirates

Cycling’s other “super team”, with a wealth of strong men to rival Jumbo-Visma in support of double Tour winner Tadej Pogacar, who had taken on another dimension this year with his wins in the Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold and Flèche Wallonne before his untimely crash in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Behind “Pog”, Adam Yates has hit form in the Critérium du Dauphiné and won the Tour de Romandie back in May, so should prove a decent understudy. After illness ripped through their ranks in last year’s Tour, arguably contributing to Pogacar’s defeat to Vingegaard, every cough, sniffle and minor headache will be viewed with suspicion.

Team Mikkel Bjerg, Felix Grossschartner, Vejgard Stake Langen, Rafal Majka, Tadej Pogacar, Marc Soler, Matteo Trentin, Adam Yates

Main man Tadej Pogacar – cycling’s biggest winner is targeting a third Tour; wins in his national road and time trial titles suggests the form has returned after a hiatus to nurse a broken wrist.

Invited to their first Tour, the Norwegian squad have a solid reputation for developing new talent and making the most of their resources. They bring a promising line-up fronted by veteran sprinter Kristoff, climbers Johanneson and Traeen, a strong all rounder in Waerenschold, plus the gritty Rasmus Tiller at the helm.

Team Jonas Abrahamsen, Torsten Traeen, Søren Waerenschold, Anton Charmig, Jonas Gregaard, Rasmus Tiller, Tobias Halland Johannesen, Alexander Kristoff

Main man Alexander Kristoff – is long in the tooth but could still snag a stage win; in a team of Tour debutants his experience will be crucial.

Changes can be made until Friday 30 June. Team line-ups correct at time of publication

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Tour de France 2023 team guide: Start list, star riders for Jumbo-Visma, UAE Team Emirates, Ineos and all 22 teams

Updated 30/06/2023 at 21:12 GMT

Our Tour de France 2023 preview series continues with a team guide looking at each of the 22 teams and weighing up their options, targets and best riders ahead of the 110th edition of the race. Felix Lowe also asks the important question on the tip of everyone’s tongues: what French thing would each of the participating teams be? Stream the 2023 Tour de France live and on-demand on discovery+.

'It’s pretty nuts!' – Cavendish explains why the Tour de France is 'above the sport'

Pogacar and Vollering star in top 10 riders of 2023 - but who gets top spot?

01/01/2024 at 11:01

• Tour de France stage guide as Pogacar and Vingegaard chase yellow

UCI WorldTeams

Ag2r citroen.

• Ben O’Connor
• Oliver Naisen
• Benoit Cosnefroy
• Nans Peters
• Felix Gall*
• Aurelien Paret-Peintre
• Stan Dewulf
• Clement Berthet*

ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK

• Mathieu van der Poel
• Soren Kragh Andersen
• Quinten Hermans
• Michael Gogl
• Jonas Rickaert
• Jasper Philipsen*
• Ramon Sinkeldam
• Silvan Dillier

'I feel like a new person' - Van der Poel 'confident' going into 2023 Tour de France

ASTANA QAZAQSTAN

• Alexey Lutsenko
• Gianni Moscon
• Yevgeniy Fedorov*
• Mark Cavendish
• David de la Cruz
• Luis Leon Sanchez
• Harold Tejada

'It’s going to be a fairytale!' – Cavendish wins Stage 21 after help from Thomas

BAHRAIN-VICTORIOUS

• Mikel Landa
• Matej Mohoric
• Pello Bilbao
• Fred Wright*
• Nikias Arndt
• Phil Bauhaus

BORA-HANSGROHE

• Emanuel Buchmann
• Marco Haller
• Jai Hindley
• Bob Jungels
• Jordi Meeus*
• Patrick Konrad
• Nils Politt
• Danny van Poppel
• Guillaume Martin
• Anthony Perez
• Ion Izagirre
• Simon Geschke
• Bryan Coquard
• Alexis Renard*
• Axel Zingle*
• Victor Lafay

EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST

• Richard Carapaz
• Alberto Bettiol
• Rigoberto Uran
• Neilson Powless
• Esteban Chaves
• Magnus Cort
• Andrey Amador

GROUPAMA-FDJ

• David Gaudu
• Valentin Madouas
• Thibaut Pinot
• Lars van den Berg*
• Olivier Le Gac
• Stefan Kung
• Quentin Pacher
• Kevin Geniets

INEOS GRENADIERS

• Egan Bernal
• Michal Kwiatkowski
• Carlos Rodriguez*
• Daniel Martinez
• Thomas Pidcock*
• Jonathan Castroviejo
• Ben Turner*
• Omar Fraile

‘Heart in your mouth’ – Pidcock flies past rivals at terrifying speeds on descent

INTERMARCHE-CIRCUS-WANTY

• Louis Meintjes
• Georg Zimmermann
• Mike Teunissen
• Adrien Petit
• Biniam Girmay*
• Lilian Calmejane

JUMBO-VISMA

• Jonas Vingegaard
• Wilco Kelderman
• Wout van Aert
• Tiesj Benoot
• Dylan van Baarle
• Christophe Laporte
• Nathan van Hooydonck

So then... can Wout van Aert win yellow?

• Giulio Ciccone
• Tony Gallopin
• Mattias Skjelmose*
• Jasper Stuyven
• Juan Pedro Lopez
• Mads Pedersen
• Alex Kirsch
• Quinn Simmons*
• Matteo Jorgenson*
• Ruben Guerreiro
• Nelson Oliveira
• Gorka Izagirre
• Gregor Muhlberger
• Antonio Pedrero
• Alex Aranburu

SOUDAL QUICK-STEP

• Julian Alaphilippe
• Kasper Asgreen
• Yves Lampaert
• Remi Cavagna
• Tim Declercq
• Michael Morkov
• Fabio Jakobsen
• Dries Devenyns

TEAM ARKEA SAMSIC

• Warren Barguil
• Clement Champoussin*
• Anthony Delaplace
• Laurent Pichon
• Simon Guglielmi
• Jenthe Biermans
• Luca Mozzato*
• Matis Louvel*

TEAM DSM-FIRMENICH

• Romain Bardet
• John Degenkolb
• Matthew Dinham*
• Alexander Edmondson
• Nils Eekhoff*
• Chris Hamilton
• Kevin Vermaerke
• Sam Welsford

TEAM JAYCO ALULA

• Simon Yates
• Dylan Groenewegen
• Luka Mezgec
• Elmar Reinders
• Lawson Craddock
• Luke Durbridge
• Chris Harper
• Christopher Juul-Jensen

UAE TEAM EMIRATES

• Tadej Pogacar*
• Vegard Stake Laengen
• Felix Grossschartner
• Mikkel Bjerg*
• Rafal Majka
• Matteo Trentin

‘Wow’ – Vingegaard allows Pogacar to catch up after crash in ‘incredible’ gesture

UCI ProTeams

Israel-premier tech.

• Michael Woods
• Dylan Teuns
• Nick Schultz
• Krists Neilands
• Simon Clarke
• Guillaume Boivin
• Corbin Strong

LOTTO DSTNY

• Victor Campenaerts
• Jasper De Buyst
• Pascal Eenkhoorn
• Frederik Frison
• Jacopo Guarnieri
• Florian Vermeersch*
• Maxim van Gils*

TOTALENERGIES

• Peter Sagan
• Edvald Boasson Hagen
• Pierre Latour
• Anthony Turgis
• Mathieu Burgaudeau
• Valentin Ferron*

UNO-X PRO CYCLING TEAM

• Alexander Kristoff
• Torstein Traeen
• Soren Waerenskjold*
• Jonas Abrahamsen
• Anthon Charmig*
• Jonas Gregaard
• Tobias Johannessen
• Rasmus Tiller

Roglic: Tour de France not an obsession, but my responsibility to go for it

18/10/2023 at 12:09

discovery+ and Eurosport break streaming records for Tour de France coverage

27/07/2023 at 14:07

Vingegaard has 'little way to go' before Merckx comparisons – McEwen

25/07/2023 at 16:44

Preview: Tour de France. World's best climbers and sprinters go head to head in a seasonal climax

From the 1st to the 24th of July the peloton will be in the roads of France, Denmark and Switzerland for the 109th edition of the Tour de France . The most iconic, popular and one of the most important races for most of the riders and teams, who will be fighting for meaningful wins over the course of three weeks.

Over the course of the three weeks there will be several classifications that the riders will be fighting for. The General Classification will see the race's best stage-racers go head to head on every single stage as they attempt to take time on each other - specially in the mountains, as will the Youth Classification contenders. In the Points Classification, the sprinters will go head to head in the bunch sprints, aswell as the intermediate sprints spread throughout the 19 road stages. As for the King of the Mountain Classification, it will be decided in the race's highest mountains, toughest Alpine and Pyrenean passes between those who go over them first.

You can check the profile and details of every stage here , the updated startlist with all the names expected to be in the race here , and the prize money that will be distributed between all teams here .

General Classification battle

The preliminary startlist will see general classification contenders as follows: Ben O'Connor, Rigoberto Urán, Damiano Caruso, Jack Haig, Jakob Fuglsang, Michael Woods, Giulio Ciccone, Louis Meintjes, Daniel Martínez, Adam Yates, Geraint Thomas, Aleksandr Vlasov, Alexey Lutsenko, Primoz Roglic , Jonas Vingegaard , Tadej Pogacar , David Gaudu, Guillaume Martin, Enric Mas and Nairo Quintana.

Important Stages

The fifth stage is a highly antecipated day. A short stage with only 153 kilometers on the menu, however 19.4 of those will take place over cobbled roads. 11 sectors to be exact, all of which in the second half of the stage. It will be an important day for the overall classification, as the tension will rise to an all-time high and crucial losses can be had if something goes wrong.

Stage seven will have the riders race into the Vosges. As is traditional the Planche des Belles Filles (7Km; 8.7%) will be the first real summit finish of the race. It will be the first opportunity for the climbers to make differences in their terrain, and will be a good gauge to measure who will be capable of fighting for the win and podium in the end.

Stage 11 will see the first big high-mountain stage. The menu isn’t complicated, with the Lacets de Montvernier (3.4Km; 8.2%), Col du Telegraphe (11.9Km; 7.1%) and Col du Galibier (17.7Km; 6.9%) taking the riders through high altitude. It will be a brutal day, as the riders will descend into Briançon and climb the Col du Granon (11.3Km; 9.2%) for the highest stage finish in the race.

Stage 12 will be the final in the Alps, as a hattrick of ascents will mark the day. The riders will early on climb the Col du Galibier (23Km; 5.1%) via the opposite direction, followed by the Col de la Croix the Fer (29Km; 5.2%), and the return of the Alpe d’Huez (13.8Km; 7.9%) for the stage finish.

Stage 17 will have a pan-flat first half, and a very hard second half. A very short stage with only 129 kilometers on the menu, however featuring the Col d’Aspin (12Km; 6.5%), the Hourquette d’Ancizan (8.2Km; 5%) and the Col de Val Louron-Azet (10.7Km; 7.7%) before the final climb. That will be into Peyragudes (8Km; 7.2%), where more gaps will be established, with the finale in the brutal ramps of the local airfield.

The final mountain day comes right after. The formula is exactly the same as the day before, with a flat first half, short distances and a combination of similar climbs in the second half with a summit finish. Here however they will be longer, with the Col de Aubisque (16.4Km; 7.1%) opening things up for the day, the Col de Spandelles (10.3Km; 8.3%) dealing further damage and then the summit finish at Hautacam (13.6Km; 7.8%) being the last ascent where the climbers can do real differences.

The final time-trial of the race will come on it’s penultimate day. The 40.7-kilometer individual challenge will be ridden between Lacapelle-Marival and Rocamadour, a rolling time-trial which is far from ideal for the specialists, with a hilly finale. Rocamadour is no stranger to high-level pro races, and the final hilltop is a familiar sight, albeit with added importance on this day.

Cycling UpToDate prediction:

**** Tadej Pogacar

*** Primoz Roglic, Jonas Vingegaard

** Daniel Martínez, Aleksandr Vlasov, Enric Mas

* Jack Haig, Geraint Thomas, Jakob Fuglsang, Adam Yates

Points Classification battle

As for the sprinters who will be hunting stages and the green jersey: Magnus Cort Nielsen, Mads Pedersen, Jasper Philipsen, Alexander Kristoff, Caleb Ewan, Wout van Aert , Fabio Jakobsen , Bryan Coquard, Dylan Groenewegen, Michael Matthews and Peter Sagan.

The two first bunch sprints will come in Denmark, after the initial time-trial. The cities of Nyborg and Sønderborg will host the finales, although tension will be sky-high and the second stage is particularly vulnerable to crosswinds.

In the fourth day of racing the peloton returns to familiar French roads. This will be a day for the sprintes, however it includes quite a few hilltops throughout the day that may spark some surprises in northwestern France.

Stage 13 will have the peloton travel from the Alps into the Massif Central. A day for the sprinters, likely, however a lot can happen and besides the possibility of a breakaway succeeding, the several rolling hills will provide platforms for attacks to surge.

The final day of the second week will see the riders travel south, from Rodez into Carcassonne. It is another day designed for the sprinters however with plenty obstacles that may see a surprise pop out.

Stage 19 will be a transition day, as the riders head north for a flat stage. It is a day on paper for the sprinters, however this late into the race it will always be more complicated to chase down breakaways.

And as traditional, the final day will feature soft distances and the classic final circuit inside of Paris, where the riders will finish the race off within the Champs-Élysées.

CyclingUpToDate prediction:

**** Wout van Aert

*** Fabio Jakobsen, Mads Pedersen

** Jasper Philipsen, Michael Matthews, Peter Sagan

* Caleb Ewan, Alexander Kristoff, Bryan Coquard, Dylan Groenewegen

Tour de France 2022 Stage Analysis | Profiles Tour de France 2022

You will be able to keep up with the Tour de France on CyclingUpToDate as we bring you race reports, interviews, and analysis of every team on a daily basis.

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Bike Finder

Results have arrived, the stage-winning bikes from the 2023 tour de france.

We are keeping track of which bikes win each stage of the 2023 Tour de France. We'll find out what bike manufacturers are dominant, and what drivetrains, wheels, and tires are regulars on the podium.

Written by: Bruce Lin

Published on: Jul 28, 2023

Posted in: Bikes

The Cervelo S5 may not have won any stages this year, but it helped Jonas Vingegaard take a much bigger prize: the Yellow Jersey. Photo: ASO/Pauline Ballet

The Tour de France is full of exciting race action, tragic defeats, and heroic moments. It's what makes the Tour so magical. But bike nerds like us are here for another reason: the bikes! 

Riders, teams, and manufacturers all bring their best equipment to the Tour, so its the perfect place for us to geek out on new bikes, gear, and tech. 

For the duration of this year's Tour, I'll be keeping track of what bikes are winning each stage. At the end, we'll have some fun data, and maybe some inspiration for how to equip our own bike quivers at home. 

[button] Shop Road Bikes [/button]

2023 Tour de France - The Final Scores

 The 2023 Tour de France is now done and dusted. After spending the first two weeks locked wheel to wheel with Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard landed a couple killer blows on stages 16 and 17 to secure his second Tour victory. There were a lot of different winning bikes, and a few notable "losers." Let's review...

2023 Tour de France Jersey Winners

• General Classification  - Jonas Vingegaard - Cervelo S5 / Cervelo R5
• Points Classification  - Jasper Philipsen - Canyon Aeroad CFR
• Best young rider - Tadej Pogacar - Colnago V4Rs
• King of the Mountains - Guilio Ciccone - Trek Madone SLR / Trek Emonda SLR

The Yellow Jersey winner, Jonas Vingegaard, can be seen riding into Paris aboard his Cervelo S5 . This is the bike he used for the majority of this year's stages. He only switched to the lighter Cervelo R5 for the mountain stages, and it's what he rode on stage 17 when he took minutes out on Pogacar to essentially win the Tour.

Both Cervelo's have nabbed plenty of stage wins in the previous two years, but they came up short this year. The only Cervelo win was Vingegaard's Stage 16 TT win on the Cervelo   P5 . But hey, winning the overall is a much bigger deal. One thing I want to point out is that Vingegaard rode many stages with a 1x drivetrain. Take a look at his S5 above, and you'll see the single chainring set-up. I've been preaching the gospel of 1x road for a while, and while Vingegaard did switch back to a 2x for the mountain stages, I do feel a bit validated! 

The Green Jersey Winner, Jasper Philipsen and his Canyon Aeroad CFR were leagues ahead of everyone else. With 4 wins, they won the most stages this year and proved that they were the fastest combo on flat finishes. 

The White Jersey winner, Tadej Pogacar, put up a brilliant fight on his Colnago V4Rs . Unlike Vingegaard, Pogacar used the same frame for every stage, opting only to swap to shallower ENVE SES 2.3 wheels on the hardest mountain stages.  

The Polka-dot Jersey Winner, Guilio Ciccone, cleverly targeted the King of the Mountains and secured it late in the race on Stage 20. While he rode a polka-dot Trek Madone SLR into Paris, most of his KOM points were won on the lighter Trek Emonda SLR . Like Vingegaard, Ciccone had the option to switch between aero and all-rounder frames. 

Stage-Winning Frames and Components

• Best Bike - Canyon Aeroad CFR - 4 wins
• Best Drivetrain - Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 - 18 wins
• Best Wheels - Shimano Dura-Ace C60 - 4 wins
• Best Tires - Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR - 8 wins

Of course, since Jasper Philipsen got the most stage wins, so did his bike, the Canyon Aeroad CFR . But thanks to the efforts of Tadej Pogacar and Adam Yates, the Colnago V4Rs was a strong second with three wins. 

Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 dominated most stages the Tour. It's not surprising since Shimano sponsors most of the teams. But even though Shimano groupsets won the majority of stages, it was SRAM AXS that took the overall. Interestingly, it looks like Vingegaard pairs Force AXS shifters with  RED AXS drivetrains, likely because he likes the new revised hood shape . Also, I have to say it again — Vingegaard rode several stages on a 1x drivetrain. AWESOME.

Again, thanks to Philipsen, the Shimano   Dura-Ace C60 wheels were the top wheel of the Tour with 4 wins, while Pogacar and Yates put the ENVE SES 4.5 into second with 3 wins. Interestingly, these wheels are close in depth, but Pogacar and Yates took their wins on hilly/mountain stages. It goes to show that deep aero wheels can win on climbs. Also, it's worth noting that Dura-Ace wheels took 2 additional wins with Ineos, but Kwiatkowski and Rodriguez rode the shallower Dura-Ace C36  to their two mountain stage wins. 

The tubeless  Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR was the tire of the Tour with 8 wins. Again, like Shimano, Continental sponsors the most teams, so it's not that surprising. But independent rolling resistance testing has shown that the GP 5000 S TR is among the fastest of the fast. The tubeless   Vittoria Corsa Pro TLR G2.0 , however, was the tire that took the overall under Vingegaard, and it did also win 4 stages thanks to Philipsen. We did see a few clinchers win (all the Specialized teams and Cofidis still use clinchers), and we did see Vingegaard bust out some tubulars in the early Basque stages. But the story of this Tour was one of tubeless domination. 

The Formula for the Ultimate TdF Stage-Winning Bike

Frame: Canyon Aeroad CFR Drivetrain: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 Wheels: Shimano Dura-Ace C60 Tires: Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR

Aero bikes won more stages. Pair the most sucessful aero frame with a benchmark drivetrain, aero wheels, and the fastest tires, and maybe you can win more stages than Jasper Philipsen. 

My Dream TdF Stage Winning Bike

Frame: Look Blade 795 RS Drivetrain:  SRAM RED eTap AXS (1x) Wheels:  ENVE SES 4.5 Tires: Vittoria Corsa Pro TLR G2.0

I just have to be different. I think the Look Blade 795 RS was the best looking new bike at the Tour, and I love that it finally broke the 15-year-long Cofidis win drought. Of course, me being a weirdo, it needs a 1x SRAM AXS drivetrain, just like Vingegaard used in many of the early stages this year. Then my favorite blingy wheels, the ENVE SES 4.5. Finally, I have to have bright, tanwall tires, so the Vittoria Corsa Pro is the pick for me. 

Stage 01 Winner - Bilboa > Bilboa

Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) took the first Yellow Jersey of the race by beating his twin, Simon Yates (Team Jayco-AlUla), to the finish line after an extraordinary breakaway. This may be the first time a pair of twins have competed for a stage win at the Tour! Yates is riding the newly released Colnago V4Rs, which the UAE Team rode all of last year under the "Prototipo" guise. This year they also switched to Shimano drivetrains, ENVE wheels, and Continental tires. 

Stage 02 Winner - Vitoria-Gasteiz > Saint-Sébastien

Victor Lafay (Cofidis) ended Cofidis' 15-year-long drought of Tour de France stage wins with a thrilling and powerful attack in the final meters of stage 2 to beat top favorites like Wout van Aert, Tadej Pogacar, and Tom Pidcock. He did it on Look's new Blade 795 RS. This French brand made the first carbon bike to win the Tour de France way back in 1986, and they brought us the first clipless pedals. Cofidis' Blade 795 RS is painted in Look's iconic Mondrian colors for the Tour. 

Stage 03 Winner - Amorebieta-Etxano > Bayonne

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took advantage of a monster leadout from Mathieu van der Poel to beat Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny) to the line, proving that he is the sprinter to watch out for in this year's Tour. He did box out Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma) against the barrieers before the finish but was cleared by the race jury. Philipsen is riding Canyon's super fast and recently updated Aeroad CFR, which has a revised seatpost to reduce slips and squeaks. This is the same bike van der Poel used to win Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix this spring so it's already a proven winner. 

Stage 04 Winner - Dax > Nogaro

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has now won two stages in a row, beating Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny) to the line once again and showing that he and Mathieu van der Poel might be the most potent sprinter/lead-out combo in the peloton. The finish was marred by several crashes, but Philipsen kept his Canyon Aeroad CFR safely ahead of all the chaos to take the win.

Stage 05 Winner - Pau > Laruns

Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) snuck into a large breakaway group to win the Tour's first mountain stage and snatch the Yellow jersey. Not only did the established favorites get caught out, but Adam Yates and two-time winner, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), lost significant time to last year's winner, Jonas Vingegaard ( Team Jumbo-Visma ), who moved into second. Hindley performed his coup on the Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL7, one of the most popular modern road racing bikes. Introduced in 2020, it combined Venge-killing aerodynamic efficiency with the Tarmac's agility and light weight to create a do-it-all racer that's super fast on flat and mountainous terrain. Interestingly, Bora, as well as the other two Specialized teams, are actually running still the old S-Works Turbo Cotton clincher tire, even though there's a new tubeless version of the Turbo available. Bora has stated that it does switch to the tubeless version for wet stages. 

Stage 06 Winner - Tarbes > Cauterets-Cambasque

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) struck back after losing time to his main rival, Jonas Vingegaard (Team Jumbo-Visma) yesterday. Attacking on the final climb, Vingegaard was unable to follow, and Pogacar took the stage win, 24 seconds, as well as 10 bonus seconds. Vingegaard, however, is now in the Yellow Jersey, but the gap between the two is only 25 seconds. It's looks like it's going to be a big fight in the mountains. Pogacar has a much better kick, and might take a few more stage wins on his Colnago V4Rs. Fun fact: while Ernesto Colnago had been building Tour-winning bikes for decades, when Pogacar won his first Tour back in 2020, it was actually the first Tour win for a Colnago-branded bike.

Stage 07 Winner - Mont-de-Marsan > Bordeaux

After three sprint stages, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and his Canyon Aeroad CFR have scored a hat trick of wins. He really is the fastest sprinter this year, and with three more flat stages in this year's Tour, there's a very good chance we'll see Philipsen and the Aeroad CFR take the top step again. Of note, Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan Team), took second, and looked oh so close to beating the Tour stage win record. The next chance for the sprinters will be stage 11, so we'll hopefully get a few different riders and bikes in the mix soon!

Stage 08 Winner - Libourne > Limoges

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), finally broke Jasper Philipsen's winning streak in Limoges. The story of the day, however, was Mark Cavendish's crash and subsequent abandonment due to a broken collarbone. Pedersen is aboard the new Trek Madone SLR Project One. The Madone received a major update for 2023 with an "IsoFlow" opening in the seattube to enhance aerodynamics and improve comfort. It is also the first SRAM-equipped bike to win a stage. Pedersen's bike features a custom oil-slick Project One paint job for the Tour. Interestingly, he runs a massive 56-tooth outer chainring plus a gold Flattop chain, which SRAM reserves for world champions like himself. 

Stage 09 Winner - Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat > Puy de Dôme

In the GC fight, Pogacar has now closed to 17 seconds behind Vingegaard, but it was the breakaway that won the day. Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) judged his effort perfectly to take one of, if not the biggest win of his career. Woods overhauled a fading Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar Team) in the final meters of Puy de Dome aboard his Factor OSTRO VAM. Factor is a small British brand and the OSTRO VAM is its latest aero all-rounder. Since Israel-Premier Tech is also sponsored by FSA, this is one of the few bikes to run a mixed drivetrain, with Shimano components paired with an FSA carbon crankset. 

Now that was an exciting opening 9 stages! We're witnessing an incredible battle between the two favorites — Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar — and it's not clear (yet) who will be the strongest in the final week. 

While everyone catches their breath on the first rest day, here are some quick hit stats:

Most Wins - Canyon Aeroad CFR 

With three wins, the new Canyon Aeroad CFR has been the king of the first half of the Tour. This is entirely down to Jasper Philipsen's domination of the sprint stages. So far, the Colnago V4Rs is the only other bike with multiple stage wins (2). 

Shimano vs. SRAM

Shimano holds a strong 8-1 lead over SRAM. It's not too surprising since SRAM only sponsors 2 of the 22 teams at the Tour. Campagnolo sponsors one (AG2R) and the rest are running Shimano. However, since SRAM sponsors Jumbo-Visma, I think we can expect some more stage wins as the Tour continues. 

Tubeless vs. Clincher

I'll have to do some deeper investigating to be sure (many teams use a mix of tubeless, clincher, and tubular wheels), but it appears that 7 out of 9 stages so far have been won on tubeless tires. This shift started a few years ago, and at this point, all the top teams have the option to run tubeless set-ups. Victor Lafay and Jai Hindley are the only stage winners riding clinchers. The Cofidis team do also have wheels and bikes set up with tubulars, and Bora says it uses tubeless tires for wet stages or poor conditions. But it seems that most of the time they still prefer the clincher, probably with latex tubes. 

Stage 10 Winner - Vulcania > Issoire

The breakaway was expected to prevail today, and Pello Bilbao (Team Bahrain Victorious) came out on top in the final sprint. He dedicated his first Tour stage win to his late friend and teammate, Gino Mäder, who tragically passed away after a crash during this year's Tour de Suisse. In Gino's memory, Bilbao has promised to plant trees in deforested areas, an obsession of  Mäder's.  Bilboa has been donating €1 to Mäder’s charity for every rider he beats in each stage, and promised to donate double if he won a stage. 

As for the bike, Bilboa rode a Merida Scultura Disc Team. Merida is a Taiwanese manufacturer, who like Giant, actually manufactures frames for many other brands as well. The fifth-generation Scultura was released at the end of 2021 and incorporated new aero touches from Merida's Reacto aero bike. Team Bahrain brought frames with "Pearl-inspired" white paint, but Bilboa is riding a black bike, likely to commemorate Mäder.

Stage 11 Winner - Mont-de-Marsan > Bordeaux

Jasper " Disaster the Master" Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and his Canyon Aeroad CFR are looking unbeatable this year with 4 wins now. Philipsen didn't even need a leadout from Mathieu van der Poel this time. He jumped on the wheel of Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco–AlUla) in the final meters and steamed past. Philipsen clearly has the power and the positioning. Maybe his new aero bike is just that much more slippery than everyone else's. 

Stage 12 Winner - Roanne > Belleville-en-Beaujolais

Rider: Ion Izagirre Insausti Bike:  Look Blade 795 RS Drivetrain:   Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 Wheels:  Corima WS EVO 47 Tires:  Michelin Power Cup Competition Line Bike Type:   Aero/All-Rounder Stage Type:   Hilly

Ion Izagirre  Insausti  (Cofidis) took advantage of a chaotic day to go off the front alone and secure a second stage win for Cofidis. This is the French team's best performance in over a decade after a 15-year-long drought of Tour de France stage wins, and it's Izagirre's second Tour stage win after he took his first seven years ago. Interestingly, like his teammate and Stage 2 winner, Victor Lafay, Izagirre appears to be riding the Corima WS EVO 47 wheels with clinchers (instead of tubulars) rather than the higher-end Corima MCC EVO 47 wheels. Also, after seeing it again, I am starting to thing that Look's new Blade 795 RS in the   iconic Mondrian colors  might be the best looking bike at this year's  Tour. 

Stage 13 Winner - Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne > Grand Colombier

Rider: Michal Kwiatkowski Bike:  Pinarello Dogma F Drivetrain:   Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 Wheels:  Shimano Dura-Ace C36 Tires:   Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR Bike Type:   Aero/All-Rounder Stage Type:  Mountain

Former world champion, Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) dropped the breakaway to take the summit finish of the Grand Colombier. Pogacar also managed to take another 8 seconds on Vingegaard with a late burst. Ineos (formerly Team Sky) has been riding the Pinarello Dogma for over a decade. The current Dogma F replaced the Dogma 12 in 2021. It continues to use Pinarello's trademark asymmetric frame design, but I'm always sad that the current Onda fork and rear stay design don't use the quirky wavy carbon the Dogma used to be so well-known for. 

Stage 14 Winner - Annemasse > Morzine Les Portes du Soleil

Rider: Carlos Rodriguez Bike:  Pinarello Dogma F Drivetrain:   Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 Wheels:  Shimano Dura-Ace C36 Tires:   Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR Bike Type:   Aero/All-Rounder Stage Type:  Mountain

Carlos Rodriguez makes it two stages in a row for the Ineos Grenadiers and the Pinarello Dogma F. He paced his effort perfectly to bridge back to the front after getting dropped on the final climb and went alone to the win on the descent. He's now taken third in the GC away from Jai Hindley, but the two are separated by a single second. Likewise, the battle for first between Vingegaard and Pogacar remains a battle for seconds as the two remained glued together. With time gaps this close, maybe the podium in Paris will be determined by whose bike is slightly more aero...

Stage 15 Winner - Les Gets les Portes du Soleil > Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc

Another brutal day in the mountains and Wout Poels (Team Bahrain Victorious) took the win to give his team its second stage of this year's Tour. When he launched an attack on his Merida Scultura Disc Team, the other Wout (van Aert) didn't respond. He took the win nearly 3 minutes up on van Aert. Once again, there's nothing separating Vingegaard and Pogacar, the GC leaders, who came in several minutes behind Poels. Like his Bahrain Victorious teammate, Pello Bilbao, who won stage 10, Poels is riding the lightweight Merida Scultura for this tough and mountainous stage. He also switched to shallower 45mm Vision wheels. 

The GC race between Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar is still incredibly tight. They've been stuck to each other on every stage, which has allowed several opportunists to sneak away and steal stage wins as the Jumbo and UAE teams spend all their time and energy marking at each other. 

Double Stage Winners

Several teams and bikes have had a relatively good Tour so far, winning two (or more) stages:

• Alpecin-Deceuninck - Canyon Aeroad CFR  - 4 wins!
• UAE Team Emirates - Colnago V4Rs - 2 wins
• Cofidis - Look Blade 795 RS - 2 wins
• Team Bahrain Victorious - Merida Scultura Disc Team - 2 wins
• Ineos Grenadiers - Pinarello Dogma F - 2 wins

Of these multi-stage winners, the biggest surprise has to be the Look Blade 795 RS of Cofidis. After 15 years without a Tour stage win, to take two on a brand new bike makes the new Blade 795 RS look very promising. I also think it might be the best looking bike in the Tour right now. 

What Bikes Are Underperforming?

Of course, it's riders who win, not bikes, but sometimes, you expect certain bikes to win because they're ridden by exceptional teams and riders. Personally, I'm surprised that Specialized and Cervelo haven't taken more wins.

Specialized sponsors 3 teams at the Tour, all with high-power riders capable of winning stages. The Tarmac SL7 was also hailed upon its release as the king of aero all-rounders. But this year it's only taken a single stage with Jai Hindley. 

Cervelo is sponsoring Jumbo-Visma and Wout van Aert, a team and rider that have won multiple stages at the Tour over the last few years. But with a major focus on keeping Jonas Vingegaard in yellow, van Aert and the team perhaps don't as much freedom to chase stage wins this year, though van Aert has come very close on several occasions. 

What's Coming Up Next?

The next stage is the first and only time trial of this year's Tour. The winning rider will need a lot of horsepower, but also a very slippery bike. When seconds matter, reducing aerodynamic drag to save a few watts can be the difference. 

I also expect to see some serious fireworks between Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar in the time trial and the final couple of mountain stages. Maybe Cervelo will finally nab a stage win? Even if they don't, making it to Paris in the Yellow jersey is perhaps the bigger prize. 

Stage 16 Winner - Les Gets les Portes du Soleil > Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc

I thought Jonas Vingegaard (Team Jumbo-Visma) might make it all the way to Paris without a stage win, but he had the TT of his life today, taking a commanding win and pulling out an additional 1 min 38 sec over Tadej Pogacar (who chose to switch to a road bike for the final climb of the TT). Cervelo is well-known for its class-leading aero bikes, and the P5 TT bike has definitely shown itself to be very fast since Vingegaard's teammate, Wout van Aert, rounded out the podium. It's equipped with a 1x wireless SRAM RED AXS drivetrain, with a massive aero chainring, a full rear disc from Reserve, and Vittoria's Corsa Speed G+ 2.0 TLR tires which are among the fastest road tires ever tested.

Stage 17 Winner - Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc > Courchevel

While the big news is that Jonas Vingegaard increased his lead over Tadej Pogacar to a massive 7 minutes and 35 seconds, it was Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën Team) who took the Queen stage win aboard his BMC Teammachine SLR 01. The Teammachine is BMC's high-tech aero all-rounder, but it's particularly unique because it's the only bike in the peloton equipped with Campagnolo. AG2R are running the recently released Super Record EPS electronic groupset, which the team help develop and test. The latest Super Record group is a big shift for the legendary Italian component maker as it's a wireless disc-brake-only group which also does away with Campy's iconic thumb shifters. At $5,399 for a complete group, it's also absurdly expensive!

Stage 18 Winner - Moûtiers > Bourg-en-Bresse

Kasper Asgreen (Soudal Quick-Step) got into a four-man breakaway that displayed exceptional teamwork to hold the peloton at bay and disappoint the sprinters in a thrilling finish. It's the second stage win for the Specialized S-works Tarmac SL7. Asgreen's bike is essentially the same as the bike Jai Hindley used to win stage 4, with one notable exception. It seems that like the other two Specialized teams — Bora and Team TotalEnergies — riders at Quick-Step are still using the older Specialized S-Works Turbo Cotton clincher tire, in some cases with the older Roval Rapide CLX wheels instead of the Rapide CLX II. A possible explanation is that the older clincher set-up is a bit lighter (around 100 grams) than the newer tubeless wheel and tire combo. He may also prefer the tubular-like ride quality of the Turbo Cotton tires. Either way, it's a proven winner since Asgreen won Tour of Flanders in 2021 on this exact set-up. 

Stage 19 Winner - Moirans-en-Montagne > Poligny

Stage 20 Winner - Belfort > Le Markstein Fellering

Rider:   Tadej Pogacar Bike:   Colnago V4Rs Drivetrain:   Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 Wheels:   ENVE SES 4.5 Tires:   Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR Bike Type:   Aero/All-Rounder Stage Type:  Mountain

The Tour de France overall was essentially decided on stage 17 when Jonas Vingegaard gained minutes on Tadej Pogacar on the final climb. In his post-race interview, Pogacar expressed a desire to win stage 20, the final mountain stage, a small but important consolation prize for his efforts this year. Of course, Pogacar being the animal that he is, delivered the win. It may not be the Tour finish he hoped for, but he and the UAE team were able to take 3 stages this year on their brand-new Colnago V4Rs. Despite winning the overall, Jumbo Visma and Cervelo had a much quieter Tour. Only the Cervelo P5 TT bike won a stage, while the S5 and R5 came up a bit short (though Wout van Aert came very close several times). The overall is the bigger prize though, so while Colnago won more battles, Cervelo won the war.  

Stage 21 Winner - Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines > Paris Champs Elysées

Jonas Vingegaard has wrapped up GC, so the final parade into Paris ends with one last chance for the sprinters on the famed Champs Elysées. The expected favorites — Jasper Philipsen, Dylan Groenewegen, and Mads Pedersen — were all there at the final sprint. But it was an amazing upset by Jordi Meeus (BORA - hansgrohe) who beat everyone to the line by mere centimeters. It is a great finish and a bit of redemption for Meeus, who struggled to make in impact in the early stages. It also gives the Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL7 its third win, putting it on terms with the Colnago V4Rs, and it also means that clincher tires were able to pip all the tubeless tires one last time.  

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Who are the North American riders in the 2022 Tour de France?

Kuss, Woods, Simmons, McNulty and Powless amongst seven US and three Canadian riders in the peloton

The Tour de France has long been the domain of the European riders and the peloton of 176 is still largely made up of riders from across the continent. This year, there are ten riders from North America in cycling's biggest event of the year, with seven from the United States and three Canadians heading to the big show.

That's an increase from last year's seven and from among them Sepp Kuss took the first stage victory by a rider from the United States in a decade.

Cyclingnews profiles the 10 North Americans who will be on the start line, and looking for more, when the race kicks off in Copenhagen on Friday.

Joe Dombrowski (Astana Qazaqstan)

It's hard to believe it but the 2022 Tour de France will be Joe Dombrowski's debut Tour. The winner of a stage in the Giro d'Italia in 2021 and 12th place overall in 2019, the 31-year-old has competed in the Giro seven times – including this past May – and the Vuelta a España four times.

Dombrowski made his name as a winner of the Baby Giro (2012) and Tour of Utah (2015). He started his career with Team Sky, spent five seasons with Slipstream's various iterations before moving to UAE Team Emirates. He made the switch to Astana Qazaqstan after two seasons, and supported Vincenzo Nibali in his fourth-place finish at the Giro.

How the American will fare in the Tour de France after finishing the Giro and Route d'Occitanie remains to be seen, but it won't be his first Grand Tour double: he raced the Giro and Vuelta in 2016, 2017 and 2021 but this will be his first back-to-back Grand Tour.

With a line-up missing a major overall contender, Dombrowski should be free to go in breakaways in search of stage victories or the mountains jersey. Astana's lineup, which includes Gianni Moscon and Alexey Lutsenko, seems more geared toward an attacking strategy as the team fights to keep its position in the WorldTour in 2023.

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Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost)

It will be Tour de France number three for Powless, the first tribally recognised Native North American to take on the French Grand Tour, and it has the potential to be his best yet after an impressive fourth place overall at the Tour de Suisse.

Finishing a Tour de France can change a rider. Finishing two even more so, and after the 2021 Tour, Powless turned around and smashed out his first major victory, winning the San Sebastian Classic from a breakaway.

Powless was on the attack again at the Tour de Suisse, missing out on a stage win at the hands of Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe). While the 25-year-old will ride mostly in support of the team's GC leaders, he will likely target a high placing overall as the team also needs to earn points to avoid losing its place in the WorldTour in 2023.

Antoine Duchesne (Groupama-FDJ)

The 30-year-old Canadian has been with Groupama-FDJ since 2018 but last raced the Tour de France when he was part of Direct Energie in 2016.

A former Canadian national champion, Duchesne has fashioned himself into a reliable domestique. He'll be supporting Thibaut Pinot and David Gaudu, the Groupama-FDJ general classification contenders. The French outfit left top sprinter Arnaud Démare behind to go all-in for a Tour de France podium this year, so look for Duchesne to be at the pointy end of the peloton when the breakaway needs to be brought back.

Hugo Houle and Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech)

The Israeli team with a Canadian sponsor brings two Canadians to the Tour de France in two very different roles. Michael Woods, the team's co-leader for the overall classification – along with Danish rider Jakob Fuglsang – and Hugo Houle, one of the team's main motors.

Houle came to Israel-Premier Tech along with the title sponsor after four seasons with Astana and will be competing in his fourth straight Tour de France. As a former Canadian time trial champion, Houle is frequently seen dragging the peloton along or jumping into breakaways.

Last year, he won the combativity prize in the Tour de France on stage 10 after being in the breakaway.

Woods, on the other hand, is the rider to watch when the road tilts upward. The 35-year-old came to the sport late from a running background, but has shown himself to be a major contender, finishing seventh in the Vuelta a España in 2017 and winning stages in the Tour of Spain in 2018 and 2020.

Woods won the Route d'Occitanie and a stage, showing he is on good form heading into the Tour de France.

Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma)

Of all the North Americans in the Tour de France, the rider who will likely get the most television time is Sepp Kuss. The Jumbo-Visma rider won stage 15 of the 2021 Tour de France in Andorra, giving the US its first stage win at the race in a decade, and is one of the best climbers in the business. His talents are most often put to use in the closing kilometres of key climbs where he works to tee up teammates Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard, the team's GC leaders.

Kuss has also won a stage of the Vuelta and Critérium du Dauphiné. It will be the 27-year-old's third Tour de France and his eighth Grand Tour after four Vueltas and two starts in the Giro d'Italia. Maybe the third time will be a charm?

Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar Team)

Jorgenson, 22, will make his Tour de France debut with the Spanish Movistar team and will mainly ride in support of Enric Mas. It will be the second Grand Tour, after finishing the 2021 Giro d'Italia, for the versatile and talented rider who won the points classification at the Tour de l'Avenir before turning pro.

Since then, he's shown himself as a strong climber and sprinter, a rider who can roll in the breakaway and is consistent enough to finish high up in the general classification – an eighth place finish in the Paris-Nice last year is an example. The Californian has yet to truly come into his own and could turn out some surprises this July.

Kevin Vermaerke (Team DSM)

Vermaerke is the second youngest of the North Americans starting the Tour de France this year and making his Grand Tour debut with Team DSM after he put in a solid ride at the Critérium du Dauphiné.

As a former winner of the under-23 Liège-Bastogne-Liège, it wasn't a surprise to see Vermaerke throwing down in the winning move on stage 2 at the Dauphiné, where he ended up fourth behind another Ardennes specialist Alexis Vuillermoz.

Vermaerke will be supporting Romain Bardet and has shown prowess in the mountains, in particular this year at the Tour of Oman. Team DSM like to race aggressively and the 20-year-old Vermaerke will undoubtedly be in a few breakaways.

Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo)

Simmons, 21, is seven months Vermaerke's junior and is the youngest rider of the 2022 Tour de France. The rider from Durango turned professional after winning the Junior World Championships in 2019 and made waves in his first season with insensitive social media posts that resulted in him being benched by his team during the busiest part of the condensed 2020 late-season calendar.

Simmons has let his legs do the talking since then and won a stage and the overall Tour de Wallonie in 2021, finished his first Grand Tour in Spain last fall, narrowly missing out on a stage win from a breakaway on stage 19.

That result showed Simmons' body had matured enough to endure three weeks of Grand Tour racing and mountains classification victories in Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour de Suisse this year were the results of relentless attacking. Expect Simmons to be equally combative on the bike in July as Trek-Segafredo aim mainly for stage wins at the Tour.

Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates)

McNulty, 24, will reprise his role as a trusted climbing domestique for defending Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar this July. The Arizona native is racing in his third Grand Tour, having made his debut in the 2020 Giro d'Italia as UAE's GC leader, finishing 15th overall and coming second on stage 10 behind Peter Sagan.

Wherever Pogačar goes, McNulty will be there as his trusted helper along with fellow climbers Marc Soler and George Bennett. It's not the most glamorous role, getting bidons from the team car, but helping a teammate win the Tour de France is an experience any rider would relish.

And yet, McNulty can do much, much more as he demonstrated in Paris-Nice when he escaped solo to win stage 5, much as he did to win the Faun Ardèche Classic in February and the Trofeo Calvia in January. Whether circumstances will allow him to go for Tour de France glory remains to be seen.

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Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.

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Here Are the Contenders Primed to Challenge Cycling’s Dominant Duo in the Giro and Tour de France

[table-of-contents] stripped

As we grow nearer to Grand Tour season, the story is no doubt going to center around cycling’s two biggest names: Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard. Can Pog pull off the Giro/Tour double? If he’s going to, he’ll have to vanquish Vingegaard, the only rider who’s been able to go toe-to-toe with Pogačar. On the other side of the coin, can Vingegaard go three-for-three, becoming just the ninth rider to win at least three Tours (and the sixth to win three consecutively)?

But what about the other riders in the peloton who have a real chance at dethroning the two-headed monster? Surely there are more names to watch than just Pogi and Jonas, more riders who— like Sepp Kuss did in last year’s Vuelta —can shock the world by taking down the giants.

Here are the contenders primed to challenge cycling's dominant duo in the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France :

Remco Evenepoel

There’s no denying that Evenepoel is one of the most talented riders in the WorldTour ranks. And with a pair of Liège-Bastonge-Liège wins and a Vuelta win, he already has a palmarès that most riders dream of. But after a bitterly disappointing Giro abandonment last season and years of answering questions about when he’s going to race the Tour, the time may be here for Evenepoel to exorcize some of the demons and answer the questions that always seem to be following him around.

Yes, he’s won a Grand Tour, but it wasn’t the Grand Tour. Maybe 2024, his Tour debut, is the year to rectify that for and with his Soudal-Quick Step team.

Primož Roglič

With a new team in Bora-Hansgrohe, Roglič will once again be looking to avenge one of the most bitter losses in cycling history: to recapture the Tour de France win that he was just one heartbreaking stage away from in 2020.

That 2020 loss, combined with Vingegaard’s unexpected ascension, pushed Roglič to the fringes of the Grand Boucle. Now, he’ll head into France as the undisputed team leader. And while Roglič’s had a less-than-stellar season thus far, according to Bora’s performance director Rolf Aldag, all eyes are on the Tour for Roglič and his team.

Cian Uijtdebroeks

Just twenty years old, Ujitdebroeks is heading into the Giro with expectations that are simultaneously high and reasonable. Early reports are that the Visma-Lease a Bike all-rounder will be chasing both stage wins and the pink jersey.

Uijtdebroeks finished eighth in last summer’s Vuelta a España and none of the seven riders ahead of him are slated to start the Giro. Of course, it’ll help his cause that he’ll have Wout van Aert, perhaps the world’s greatest domestique, working for him throughout Italy.

Ben O’Connor

Last year, Ben O’Connor asked his French team, Decathlon-AS2R La Mondiale, if he could shift his focus from the Tour de France to the Giro d’Italia. After two consecutive Tours marred by crashes, sickness, and just plain bad luck, O’Connor is hoping to right his ship with a go at the pink jersey.

To the surprise of many, AG2R acquiesced and, as O’Connor has the most WorldTour points of any Giro entrants as of this writing, early returns say they may have made the right move.

Geraint Thomas

Like Pogačar, Ineos Grenadiers’ Geraint Thomas is targeting the Giro/Tour double. He’ll be the team’s sole GC hunter in Italy, as he aims to avenge the pink jersey he lost to Primož Roglič on the penultimate stage of last year’s Giro.

The picture in France gets a bit murkier, as Ineos will be sending Tom Pidcock and Carlos Rodríguez both to the start line in June, making Thomas’s hunt for a second yellow jersey—he won the Tour 2018—a far less straightforward proposition.

Alexsandr Vlasov

The 27-year-old Bora-Hansgrohe rider raised plenty of eyebrows at the dawn of this season when he said he would let the road decide whether he would race for or against his new teammate—and presumed team leader—Primož Roglič.

Well, the reality of that statement might come to a head sooner rather than later. Vlasov has been looking strong this spring, with his most eye-catching performance coming in Paris-Nice, where he finished fifth overall, seventh in the points classification, and fourth in the KOM race. Roglič, on the other hand, finished that race tenth, eleventh, and tenth in those very same classifications.

Simon Yates

Whereas so many riders are bolstered by hype, Simon Yates’s chances for a surprise Tour victory are supported by the fact that he just always seems to be there, near the front, toe-to-toe with the best and the brightest. The Jayco-AlUla leader, who finished fourth overall in 2023, will be making his seventh Tour appearance, so he knows the race as well as just about any of the other contenders. But more than anything, he’ll likely need a few breaks to roll his way.

Jai Hindley

The 2022 Giro champion is expected to ride in support of Roglič in the Tour. But we all know how mercurial Roglič can be, which means Hindley may be presented with a sudden and unexpected chance to fight for the yellow jersey.

Sepp Kuss, Juan Ayuso, and Adam Yates

I’m combining these three, as their longshot potential to make a run at GC would depend on Vingeaard and/or Pogačar blowing up or abandoning, neither of which either does very often. Kuss has shown that he has the strength and the grit to win a Grand Tour, but his shot at the yellow jersey would wholly depend on whether or not Vingegaard is at or near the front.

The same goes for Ayuso and Yates, who will both ride in support of Pogačar this summer. Yates finished third in last year’s Tour, proving that he’s much more than just another domestique. Meanwhile, all signs have been pointing to UAE Team Emirates grooming the 21-year-old Ayuso to be something of a 1A to Pogačar.