The Tour de France is now around the corner. From Florence to Nice, 3492 kilometers to be enjoyed and experienced, with the fight for the yellow jersey being central, but with many other stories to tell. Now the Grande Boucle is in all respects the largest cycling race in the world, and the quality of the parterre starting from the noble city also bears witness to this.
THE FAVORITES
Let’s start from the fight for the general and go with the one who to date appears to be the favourite, Tadej Pogacar. A truly overflowing condition at the Giro d’Italia, in which he won without apparent effort, and now he has history in his sights with the Giro-Tour double which has not been achieved since 1998. Returning to success in France after two years would be an indelible page that would be remembered for eternity.
But he won’t be alone: Jonas Vingegaad (Visma | Lease a Bike) will be at the start of the race to defend the number 1 behind him for two seasons, but there will be many question marks about his condition. As well as for Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep), who did not shine at the Tour of Dauphiné. Thus, at least on paper, Pogacar’s first opponent could be Primoz Roglic (Bora-Hansgrohe, but it will become Red Bull at the Tour), on which there is a small question mark on the longer climbs.
Tour de France 2024: Pogacar’s opponents. Roglic the most fearsome, Vingegaard and Evenepoel unknowns
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THE MEN FROM THE RANKINGS
Behind the favourites, many are pushing for a place in the sun. The eternal unfinished David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) will once again be the man on whom France’s hopes will rest, while the Decathlon-AG2R World Championship is banking on Felix’s strong climbing qualities Gall, albeit not very brilliant. The usual Enric Mas will try to keep the Movistar name high. Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-Easypost) are ready to jostle for a place in the sun just like the Colombian Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) and the possible surprise Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech), with a hope that Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) joins the fight, while Carlos Rodriguez he will be the leader of the Ineos-Grenadiers flanked by two super luxury wingmen like Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas.
LUXURY SEGMENTARIES
Speaking of men who could easily be protagonists in other teams. Said of Ineos, but there are many prominent riders who will put themselves at the service of their captains. Sepp Kuss at Visma | Lease a Bike will take up Vingegaard’s shoulder position, while Roglic will be able to count on Jai Hindley and Alexander Vlasov. Evenepoel will have Mikel Landa as bodyguards, there are Wouts for Buitrago Poels and Pello Bilbao, while in UAE Team Emirates it really went too far: Juan Ayuso, Joao Almeida and Adam Yates (podium at the last Tour) behind Pogacar, a real squadron.
MEN FROM ‘CLASSICS’
We are going to classify them here, but let’s talk about those riders who will liven up the race, who will perhaps try to enter the fight for stage victories. Two names above all, the usual, great rivals: Mathieu Van Der Poel and Wout Van Aert. Curiosity about the conditions of the second, who returned to the race at the Tour of Norway and appeared to be in an improving condition, while the first returns to the race in Florence after a couple of months of inactivity, probably aiming for the Olympic medal. More than one action is also possible from the Slovenian Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious), by the other man in Visma | Lease a Bike Christophe Laporte, of the parsley Ben Healy supported by Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-Easypost) or even the ubiquitous Magnus Court (Uno-X Mobility), someone who often gets the right escape.
SPEEDERS
The sprinters’ parterre is well-stocked, with one man appearing above all: Jasper Philipsen. The man from Alpecin-Deceuninck is perhaps the strongest of all in the sprint, but there are many elbowing behind him. We will see Arnaud in action De Lie (Lotto-Dstny) who has very interesting means, as does Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl Trek). Behind them Fabio Jakobsen (dsm-firmenich PostNL), coming off a poor ride, and especially Mark Cavendish (Astana-Qazaqstan), who wants to beat Eddy Merckx’s record of Tour victories. In short, there will be something for everyone in this Tour de France.
