BARCELONA, 30 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Tour de France kicks off its 110th edition this Saturday, July 1, in Bilbao, with three stages in the Basque Country, with the presence of current champion Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) to try to defend the crown against Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and the rest of the leaders of the other 20 participating teams.
Jumbo-Visma. Powerful team with a single born leader; Jonas Vingegaard. This time the Dane will be the spearhead and will not share stripes with the absentee Primoz Roglic –winner of the Giro d’Italia and candidate for La Vuelta–. The Dane will have in Sepp Kuss, Wilco Kelderman and Wout van Aert his main squires.
UAE Team Emirates. The Emirati team will once again have the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, winner of the 2021 and 2020 editions and current runner-up, as its main star. He seeks to become one of the most successful in the French round and will be helped by the Spanish Marc Soler and the British Adam Yates, ‘plan B’ for the team.
Movistar Team. Enric Mas leads an ambitious Movistar Team with Antonio Pedrero, Gorka Izagirre, Matteo Jorgenson and Ruben Guerreiro. But, fifth and sixth in 2020 and 2021, he wants to go one step further in a Tour that he could not finish last year and, at his maturity of 28 years, he is confident of achieving it.
Bahrain-Victorious. Trio of leaders whose physical form will decide who is boss in the end; Wout Poels, Mikel Landa or Pello Bilbao. These three cyclists of proven quality will fight to lead a group that also includes the Australian Jack Haig and the always hardworking Matej Mohoric. In principle, Mikel Landa should be the first sword.
INEOS Grenadiers. The powerful INEOS will be led by the Colombian Egan Bernal, who has risen from the ashes of multiple injuries and operations after being run over while training in January 2022. He is not yet at his best pace, the one that won him the 2019 Tour, but he is coming from being eighth in Romandie and 12th in the Dauphiné. He will be accompanied by his compatriot Daniel Felipe Martínez and the young Spaniard Carlos Rodríguez.
BORA-hansgrohe. Jai Hindley is looking to make a big debut in the Tour de France. The Australian won the 2022 Giro d’Italia and was tenth in La Vuelta 22, and comes from being fourth in the recent Critérium du Dauphiné, the ‘pre-Tour’. Another trick will be that of Emanuel Buchmann, fourth in the 2019 Tour.
Groupama-FDJ. Farewell to the great Thibaut Pinot. The French cyclist, one of the best if not the best of the last generations, retires at the end of the year. So he arrives on the Tour wanting to say goodbye to his fans, to forget the falls and problems of 2022 and to continue the great Giro that he did this year, fifth overall. Ready to take over is David Gaudu, fourth in the last ‘Grande Boucle’ and a great French hope.
AG2R Citroen Team. After a 2022 Tour full of falls and misfortunes, the Australian Ben O’Connor hopes to recover the best sensations, like the ones he had in 2021 to be fourth overall and also win the stage. If he is physically fit, he should be considered. And a lot.
Lidl-Trek. New name, new kit and new hopes. Its leader will be the sprinter Mads Pedersen, who this 2023 has won a stage in Paris-Nice and in the Giro d’Italia. The Spanish Juanpe López and the Italian Giulio Ciccone will try to achieve some medium or high mountain stage, although it seems that they have no one for the general.
Team DSM-Firmenich. For the general classification with the Frenchman Romain Bardet and for sprint victories with the German John Degenkolb. That would be the ideal scenario for a Dutch team where they refuse to think that Bardet could have gone too far, at 32 years old. At the moment, this 2023 comes from signing a fifth place in the Tour of Switzerland and a seventh in the Romandie and in Paris-Nice. The last train of Bardet?
Intermarché-Circus-Wanty. He appears on the Tour with a team thinking about breakaways and with the Eritrean Biniam Girmay and his strength to look for a sprint in massive arrivals. At 23, he still has a lot to improve and the Tour de France could be a great showcase for him, since he already won a stage in the 2022 Giro.
Alpecin-Deceuninck. The ‘great grandson of Poulidor’, Mathieu van der Poel, leads the Belgian team. The reigning champion of Paris-Roubaix will attempt a partial victory, just like his teammate Jasper Philipsen.
Team Jayco AlUla. Another team with duality. The British Simon Yates, fourth in the last Paris-Nice, knows what it is to be ‘Top 10’ of a Tour and, despite starting among the second line of candidates, he has no pressure on a team that will seek stage victories with sprinter Dylan Groenewegen.
Astana Qazaqstan Team. Far from his best years, in Astana they go to the gala round looking to fish in troubled waters with the veteran Mark Cavendish, who has 34 partial victories in his Tour de France and who retires at the end of the year. Winning would be the best of goodbyes for one of the best sprinters in history.
cofidis. Guillaume Martin is, along with Bardet or Gaudu, one of the Gallic hopes. At 30, he is no longer a surprise or revelation and is confident of improving on eighth place in 2021 by continuing his good Dauphiné, sixth overall.
EF Education-EasyPost. Ecuador or Colombia; Richard Carapaz or Esteban Chaves+Rigoberto Urán. In principle, Carapaz would be the leader but he is far from being in his best moment. The good thing for EF is that all three have a level and the ability to seek a stage or the mountains classification if there are no general options.
Soudal-Quick Step. Praise the ‘musketeer’ Julian Alaphilippe, with freedom of movement to try to find his goals, and with the sprinter Fabio Jakobsen leading the ‘wolf pack’ in the stages with a possible end to the sprint.
Team Arkéa Samsic. Warren Barguil’s umpteenth attempt. At 31 years old, he has not started the season in the best way. Even so, he will try to improve the two tenth positions achieved in previous Tour de France or, if it gets difficult, try to win a stage and safeguard the honor of himself and his team.
TotalEnergies. Peter Sagan returns to a Tour de France in which he has won 12 stages, the last one in 2019. The three-time world champion has been suffering lately, but his name and his caste are worth, at least, putting him on the shortlist of aspiring to win stage.
Israel-Premier Tech. Michael Woods leads the Israeli team with its thick Canadian accent, with Woods accompanied by his compatriots Guillaume Boivin and Hugo Houle to go in search of the ‘bell’ in the form of a good general. However, he failed to finish either of the two previous Tours in which he started. Too utopian.
Lotto Dstny. The sprint Caleb Ewan will try to be a ‘pocket rocket’ again in the Tour de France, where he has five partial victories, the last two in 2020. It is the great bet of a Lotto that he will pursue, with Victor Campenaerts , some victory from the escape.
One-X Pro Cycling Team. Everything to the sprint. His leader will be the veteran Alexander Kristoff, who at 35 has accumulated 88 victories, the last two this year. Without pressure, the young Torstein Traeen, eighth in the last Dauphiné, and Tobias Halland Johannessen will look for a ‘Top 15’.