INEOS Grenadier
The defending champion Egan Bernal is coming in very strong, although previously planned Froome and Thomas are missing the race the team got equally as strong (if not better) replacements in Carapaz, who is himself a winning candidate and Andrey Amador. This is probably the most experienced team, maybe not above Jumbo but they have experience that can't be matched, and several riders that have been present in diverse Tour wins. Bernal should have strong support in the mountains and could make a deadly duo with Carapaz if they overcome their physical issues, the rest of the team is strong enough to cover every scenario.
Team: Egan Bernal, Andrey Amador, Richard Carapaz, Jonathan Castroviejo, Michal Kwiatkowski, Luke Rowe, Pavel Sivakov, Dylan van Baarle
Team Jumbo-Visma
Their competitors come mainly in the form of the killer bees. Jumbo have every year grown a stronger and strong team, and this year with the adition of Tom Dumoulin and the rising of George Bennett, Sepp Kuss and Wout van Aert (if it were any possible to rise further) they are coming with an absolute scary team, the Dauphiné was a sign, as long as the races previous to it. With Steven Kruijswijk missing the race they are a number down, but I don't think it will be crucial, there's been a lot of talk on Roglic's current health from the Dauphiné crash but I believe in some responsability shifting, because Roglic had been rated the absolute man to beat. Tom Dumoulin has been in rising form and back to his best after a horrible season in 2019, no-one knows how far he will be able to go, but Jumbo will be licking their lips. Amund Jansen and Tony Martin will take care of their leaders in the flat stages, it's another team that covers every terrain exceptionally well.
Team: Primoz Roglic, Tom Dumoulin, Amund Jansen, Tony Martin, Robert Gesink, Wout van Aert, George Bennett, Sepp Kuss
Bora - Hansgrohe
Bora are a team that are looking to me a little weird. You look at these names and you think damn it's a beast of a team capable of taking two or three jerseys in the end of the race, and that's no lie, the way Buchmann rode last year in the Tour, and has looked this year, he is there alongside the big names in current cycling. The team's issue is that three of it's main riders (Buchmann, Muhlberger, Schachmann) have gotten injured in the last couple weeks. All of them were in doubt for the Tour, however all of them are set to be in Nice, their form is relatively unknown with these current events, and the other team star Peter Sagan should be capable of taking another green jersey, but at the same time he hasn't won this season and his latest racing stint, in the Dauphiné, wasn't particularly motivating. However he finished fourth in Milano-Torino and Milano-Sanremo, and having his two main men in Oss and Postleberger alongside him he should hopefully prove me wrong throughout the race.
Team: Emanuel Buchmann, Felix Grossschartner, Lennard Kamna, Gregor Muhlberger, Daniel Oss, Lukas Postleberger, Peter Sagan, Maximilian Schachmann
AG2R La Mondiale
AG2R coming in with solid ambitions for the Tour, after Romain Bardet announced he would actually come to the Tour but with no GC ambitions (which I doubt for reasons I've said in yesterday's post) they will be targeting stages, and Bardet has looked very sharp in the Dauphiné. Latour, Cosnefroy, Naesen and Peters should have pretty good chances of taking a win if they get the right opportunity, and a KOM jersey may very well be on the plans for the French team.
Team: Romain Bardet, Mikael Cherel, Benoit Cosnefroy, Pierre Latour, Oliver Naesen, Nans Peters, Clément Venturini, Alexis Vuillermoz
Deceuninck - Quickstep
Then there's Deceuninck, coming with high ambitions as they do every year, targeting stage wins and they can get them quite easily I would say. In case Alaphilippe doesn't target the GC he has a free card for stage hunting, where he has plenty opportunities, and also a KOM jersey. Devenyns, Jungels and mainly last-minute addition Cavagna can very well take on breakaways with high targets, whilst Asgreen will for sure be in support he can do the same he's a mega talent, whilst Declercq and Morkov should be in big focus for Sam Bennett who will be targeting the sprints.
Team: Julian Alaphilippe, Kasper Asgreen, Sam Bennett, Tim Declercq, Dries Devenyns, Bob Jungels, Michael Morkov, Rémi Cavagna
Groupama - FDJ
After last year's disaster in the Alps Groupama were left in a very tough position. Pinot looked mega strong throughout the whole race, lost time in crosswinds but was the strongest climber before the final week came and was in route for a possible win, we know how that ended though... This year he's back, and I trust that he's coming to get the win he deserves, he has Gaudu, Reichenbach, Molard and Madouas for strong support in the mountains and he has Kung as the big flat engine, but also Ladagnous and Bonnet as road captains who will be supporting the leader and also making sure he won't loose time again in the flat stages.
Team: Thibaut Pinot, William Bonnet, David Gaudu, Stefan Kung, Matthieu Ladagnous, Valentin Madouas, Rudy Molard, Sebastien Reichenbach
Bahrain - Mclaren
Bahrain are coming in with a dedicated team for the GC. This year they bring in Mikel Landa, new addition to the team and a rider with constant high ambitions in the Grand Tours. After some successful stints he's now coming in as sole leader and highly motivated for sure, he has strong support in Bilbao, Caruso and Poels who will have a big saying in Landa's depth and confort in the mountains, with Colbrelli and Haller focusing on the sprints and hilly stages, this is a team that will also stage hunt probably as every rider in the team has the quality to win a stage.
Team: Mikel Landa, Pello Bilbao, Damiano Caruso, Sonny Colbrelli, Marco Haller, Matej Mohoric, Wout Poels, Rafael Valls
EF Pro Cycling
EF come with a three pronged aprach, a very diverse and interesting team that we don't really know what they can achieve. Rigoberto Uran has the experience and still has good legs, Daniel Martinez comes in after an impressive Dauphiné win but no Grand Tour results to give confidence that he's a natural leader despite his evident quality, and there's Sergio Higuita comes after an impressive debut season in the World Tour and a superb performance in the Paris-Nice this year. A lot can be done with these riders, race situation will decide what will happen there. Alberto Bettiol and Hugh Carthy are ideal stage hunters who will for sure hope to have good form to hunt sucess.
Team: Rigoberto Urán, Alberto Bettiol, Hugh Carthy, Sergio Higuita, Jens Keukeleire, Daniel Martinez, Tejay van Garderen, Neilson Powless
Team Arkéa Samsic
Arkea are coming in with some unique ambitions for this Tour, after formed in 2006 the team is coming in with ambitions higher than ever, Nairo Quintana came in the team this year and with power, winning Provence and Haut Var, and then looking mega strong in Paris-Nice winning the queen stage. A car crash has put his training into a bit of a fuss in July, but he's looked good in the build-up to the Tour (except the final day of the Dauphiné). He's got a lot of experience and clearly his best climbing legs back. Although he doesn't have the same support as many of his rivals, but he's actually got a full team focused in him. I like it I do, it's a Pro Continental team coming in with a focus as big as the biggest World Tour teams, Barguil and Anacona should be his main supporters in the mountains and could do very well if they have their peak form.
Team: Nairo Quintana, Dayer Quintana, Winner Anacona, Warren Barguil, Kevin Ledanois, Diego Rosa, Connor Swift, Clément Russo
Movistar Team
Movistar, the good whole question of what will they do. Unfortunately their standards are coming down, they're rebuilding their team with lots of diverse young riders so I can't say they're objectively bad. But they are subjectively bad, with a sole win this season, it would seem like a better move to shift their leaders into other races, but all Valverde/Soler/Mas are here and none of them is looking very good. Putting all their eggs in this star-filled Tour is a risk, although Valverde finished runner-up last year in the Vuelta it's hard to imagine he can be even close here, a Top10 would already be a success, so stages/KOM/teams should be their focus I assume.
Team: Alejandro Valverde, Enric Mas, Marc Soler, Carlos Verona, Nelson Oliveira, José Joaquin Rojas, Imanol Erviti, Dario Cataldo
Trek - Segafredo
Trek are coming with a split team, very diverse, on one side they are targeting the GC with Mollema and Porte however it' tough to really guess where they could end up, they aren't reliable Grand Tour riders and they also don't come with good support for the mountains, however they come with a lot of their classics block in Theuns, Stuyven and Pedersen who will be looking for stages but also the team will be wishing for crosswinds as they've probably be as strong as Deceuninck and could really thrive in it.
Team: Bauke Mollema, Richie Porte, Kenny Elissonde, Niklas Eg, Toms Skujins, Mads Pedersen, Jasper Stuyven, Edward Theuns
CCC Team
CCC come with a team purely focused on the stages, and in what a way. The truth is before the NC's some weeks ago they hadn't gotten a single win this season, and on this the biggest of stages they have good chances of getting one. They have a team of climbers and puncheurs that all have a lot of freedom, Trentin and van Avermaet will be looking for the hiller stages preferencially with a flat or small hilltop finish, De Marchi and Geschke can do both hills and mountains pretty well, and Hirt and Zakarin can focus on the purely mountainous stages. The team comes with no set leader so it actually does well into their chances of netting a stage, because they can be on the move everyday.
Team: Alessandro De Marchi, Simon Geschke, Jan Hirt, Jonas Koch, Michael Schar, Matteo Trentin, Greg van Avermaet, Ilnur Zakarin
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
Cofidis come with a strong team, back in the World Tour they've revamped their squad and come with high ambitions into the race, on one side with Elia Viviani who's been having a rough season however he has some good legs nonetheless, although the team won't be putting all their cards in him he has Laporte and Consonni as two very strong leadout men. On the other side is Guillaume Martin, recent podium finisher in the Dauphiné and a very consistent rider, a strong proven climber he will love the fact that time-trialing will be very absent this year, he can profit from his capacities and will fight for a place in the Top10 which he absolutely can if he avoids mishaps, he's supported by two strong riders that will for sure also hunt for stages in Nicolas Edet and Jesus Jerrada.
Team: Guillaume Martin, Elia Viviani, Cristophe Laporte, Simone Consonni, Nicolas Edet, Jesús Herrada, Anthony Perez, Pierre-Luc Périchon
UAE - Team Emirates
After last year's disaster UAE are back at it with fresh and higher ambitions and they come with a team motivated to have it. Tadej Pogacar comes as a strong podium contender and white jersey contender aswell, there is a lot to contest there and the Slovenian has a strong team to support. UAE is known for being completely deorganized in the mountains but I think that with a strong leader they can hold their own, Aru and Polanc will be his main domestiques I'd say whilst Formolo and De la Cruz could be in the stage hunting and KOM jersey alongside supporting however they can. On the other side Kristoff will also be targeting the sprints with Laengen and Marcato as his trusty leadout men.
Team: Tadej Pogacar, Fabio Aru, David de la Cruz, Alexander Kristoff, Davide Formolo, Vegard Stake Laengen, Marco Marcato, Jan Polanc
Astana Pro Team
Astana come with a really strong team, similar to UAE and Bahrain they have a strong leader in Miguel Angel Lopez who's had a slow buildup for the Tour but with no mishaps, he seems to be coming into form when he needs to and he's got a team full of strong riders who can help him when needed but also hunt for stages. The Izagirres and Lutsenko specially, they will go all out for stage wins and for sure they can get some specially if the rain comes hard in the race (sadly for them it doesn't seem like it). With Tejada for the mountains, Luis Leon Sanchez and Hugo Houle to support on the flats and rolling hills with Fraile another stage hunter, I see no way they won't leave the Tour without at least a good GC or stage win.
Team: Miguel Angel Lopez, Hugo Houle, Omar Fraile, Gorka Izagirre, Ion Izagirre, Alexey Lutsenko, Luis Leon Sanchez, Harold Tejada
Lotto Soudal
Lotto come with a pure stage win squad aswell, no GC contender and Caleb Ewan despite being perhaps the strongest sprinter in the startlist, he's said to not be targeting the green jersey. Tim Wellens had to withdraw from the race but Gilbert and de Gendt will be on the hunt for hilly stages from the breakaways, and the rest of the team (except for Cras) will be focusing on Ewan with his leadout men de Buyst and Kluge present, Degenkolb and Frison also here to help along the work and positioning for the pocket rocket.
Team: Caleb Ewan, Steff Cras, Jasper de Buyst, Thomas de Gendt, John Degenkolb, Philippe Gilbert, Roger Kluge, Frederik Frison
Mitchelton-Scott
Mitchelton, I think I've read enough to convince that Yates won't be contesting the overall, I was convinced of a possible bluff but he's said to be very sick until some weeks ago, so I think his preparation isn't on point, it's then a stage hunting team with Nieve and Chaves who could also thrive in the mountains, and Impey who could do it on the hills. Luka Mezgec will be targeting the sprints whilst the three remaining rouleurs will be helping around I guess, without a GC tilt they really won't have much of a purpose here as they aren't fast enough to put Mezgec in pole-position for the sprints.
Team: Adam Yates, Mikel Nieve, Esteban Chaves, Sam Bewley, Cristopher Juul-Jensen, Jack Bauer, Daryl Impey, Luka Mezgec
Israel Start-Up Nation
Israel come into the Tour with some controversy with the selection of Guy Niv, but an understandable one as the team's goal was from the start to bring an Israeli to the Tour. Dan Martin wasn't in good health in the Dauphiné and honestly I don't have expectations of seeing him performing, it's a team with strong men and I would expect Politt, Hermans and perhaps Hofstetter to try and net a win, they all have to come from breakaways though.
Team: Daniel Martin, André Greipel, Ben Hermans, Hugo Hofstetter, Krists Neilands, Guy Niv, Nils Politt, Tom van Asbroeck
Team Total Direct Energie
Direct Energie are perhaps the team with the lowest level in the race, they have Bonifazio who will be targeting the sprints, he did well last year and won a stage in Paris-Nice so actually I think he can be there well present in the sprints, however the rest of the team will just be marking presences in the breakaways in order to showcase the sponsors, Calmejane is a quality rider but he isn't seemingly coming in with great form so I doubt he'll be contesting stages.
Team: Lilian Calmejane, Niccolo Bonifazio, Mathieu Burgaudeau, Jerome Cousin, Fabien Grellier, Romain Sicard, Geoffrey Soupe, Anthony Turgis
NTT Pro Cycling
NTT on the opposite come with a rider on flying form, in just some days Giacomo Nizzolo won his National and European championships in impressive fashion, both of them. Confidence is very high for Nizzolo and he comes with a team well capable of supporting him on the sprints, he's got three good sprinters backing him up in Gibbons and Boasson Hagen who can themselves look for breakaways, and the monster Max Walscheid who can put everyone in a perfect slipstream. The rest of the team will be seeking stages, with puncheurs Valgren/Gogl/Kreuziger mostly looking at the hilly stages and Pozzovivo coming with a weird selection in my opinion, I'm very glad to see him back healthy, there are lots of opportunities but I don't think he can profit, and could do much better in the Giro.
Team: Giacomo Nizzolo, Domenico Pozzovivo, Michael Valgren, Ryan Gibbons, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Max Walscheid, Michael Gogl, Roman Kreuziger
Team Sunweb
Sunweb come with another stage hunting team, no responsabilities at all from the start. Michael Matthews wasn't selected and I'd say most of the reason is that, all stages he can win are the perfect ones for breakaways, so often enough did Sunweb burnt themselves completely to not be able to catch breakaways and then wander with a fatigued team. This year however we won't see any of that, Cees Bol is coming for the sprints with some good support in Arndt, Pedersen and Nieuwenhuis, whilst Roche/Benoot/Kragh Andersen and Hirschi are brilliant puncheurs who can with no doubt take a win from this race if they got good form.
Team: Soren Kragh Andersen, Nikias Arndt, Tiesj Benoot, Cees Bol, Marc Hirschi, Joris Nieuwenhuis, Casper Pedersen, Nicolas Roche
B&B Hotels - Vital Concept p/b KTM
Finally there's Vital Concept, the team that finally got their invite for the Tour and it couldn't have came with better timing. They come with stage winning ambitions and their two leaders seem to be in peak form, Pierre Rolland won the Tour de Savoie Mont Blanc some weeks ago and looked good in the Dauphiné, whilst Bryan Coquard won a stage in the Tour d'Occitanie and was on the verge of winning a brutal finish of the French nationals. There are lots of rough sprint stages which he will love and Rolland will have lots of opportunities, so they have some chances of success and prove their wildcard was well delivered.
Team: Bryan Coquard, Pierre Rolland, Cyril Barthe, Maxime Chevalier, Jens Debusschere, Cyril Gautier, Quentin Pacher, Kévin Reza
You can find the Route Preview here: https://echelons.wixsite.com/website/post/tour-de-france-route-preview-1
You can find the Overall Preview here: https://echelons.wixsite.com/website/post/tour-de-france-overall-preview-1
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