All hail Imladrik for the reporting! Repeat after me: IMLADRIK! IMLADRIK! IMLADRIK!
Welcome to the biggest race on the calender! This year starting in Luxembourg! We wont spend much time talking about the route or the race here as you can rather go and read jph27's great writeup here
Race History
Part of the mangame since the begining and just like nothing counts in football from before Premier League started so it is here aswell, thus the first second winner will watch stage 1 from home this year. Of course we are talking about the legend Frank Schleck who won back in 2008. The first however was a frenchie, with Moreau winning back in 2007. After Moreau there has only been one French winner, he has however won twice and is back again this year, Lecuisinier.
Another former winner who can watch from home this year is the 2009 surprise winner Stijn Devolder. 2 stages in Belgium this year where we guess he will be a guest of honor. Continuting trough story German Markus Fothen won in 2010 before mangame legend Simon Spilak took it in 2011, then there are legends after legends winning with Cunego in 2012, Madraso in 2013 and Luxembourg getting it back with Frank's brother Andy Schleck in 2014. Pluchkin took the win in 2015 before Andy took it back in 2016, and another repeater in 2017 when Spilak managed to again celebrate in Paris. 2018 we got a new winner when Taarämae got his first and only victory before Madrazo got his second in 2019.
Then we got the changing of the guard with Herklotz in 2020, Lecuisinier in 2021, Herklotz again in 2022 and Lecuisinier again in 2023. Last year with no Herklotz on the starting line everyone expected Lecuisinier to be the first to win 2 in a row, but Kudus not only beat him, but crushed him with nearly 6 minutes.
Favourites
As we will do a per team presentation we will not do a big favorites presentation here, but there are one rider who are here to write himself first in the history books. The big home favorite Lecuisinier. He is by far the best climber present, got a great team to support him and he is here to get his 3rd overall win. Anything else would be a big dissapointment.
His biggest competitors are Haig and Sivakov. Great climbers both of them who will be very happy to get a podium here. Behind them we have a good field of clibers, but lets be honest none of them should be on Lecuisiniers level over 3 weeks.
Looking at sprints Cullaigh is the biggest name present with a hope to get the yellow jersey on stage 1. Other strong sprinters include Groves, Samolenkov, Hsu and Aniolkowski. All with big hopes on the flat stages.
With big parts of the first week being hilly tyhere are several strong puncheurs present and the most exciting on is also a great climber in Higuita. He will lead relegation fighting Los Pollos Hermanos and a great first week could really help them. He will get stiff competitions from riders like Formolo, Yates (who might target a green jersey?), Bagioli and Romo among others. Specially in the first week.
There is only one ITT stage and here Zmorka is the best pure TT rider present, together with Mullen. However the stage comes as late as stage 20 and we expect the GC riders to be the most dangerous here.
With no big main GC leader this team is made to try to win stages on all terrains. Romo is a very good bet on the hilly stages and if he can manage to get himself into the yellow jersey during the first week I believe the team will see this years TDF as a success. If they can do that and pick up a stage or two I believe the team manager will be really happy. Prasad is a good sprinter who will have to do everything on his own, to be honest I hope for his sake the team does NOT try to give him a leadout! Williams and Lopez are two interesting riders if they can get themself into a break on the mountain stages while riders like Nuha, Vabo, Canal and Bakke Christophersen are here to get experience
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
"Skjelmose my prince please just decide to actually decide actually race this one"
-baseballlover312
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Mattias Skjelmose Jensen
73
79
77
74
76
73
77
75
58
64
66
70
66
76
Frederik Rodenberg
74
60
63
65
64
70
77
73
59
79
79
63
64
74
Jonas Gregaard
71
78
75
71
66
78
75
75
61
63
70
58
75
66
Niklas Eg
67
77
74
71
74
76
74
75
59
60
68
66
65
72
Gyasi Sulvaran
72
71
73
75
72
69
77
67
54
66
74
77
67
73
Mathias Norsgaard
73
62
64
65
79
69
75
65
62
57
66
57
59
77
Hugo Forssell
69
62
66
69
75
69
74
75
57
77
77
69
67
78
Mathias Krigbaum
76
69
70
70
74
74
75
73
62
65
64
70
69
73
Carlsberg are here with a pretty classic 2-horse build. Skjelmose Jensen will be the GC leader with a hope for a top 5 (but more likely in the fight for a top 10) while Rodenberg will be the main man in the sprints. The main goal of the team however will be to get Jensen a white jersey, which he is the big favorite for! Forssell is present as a leadout for Rodenberg, even thought we are a bit afraid his flat might be a problem while Jensen has several good support riders in Gregaard and EG in addition to good TT support for the TTT with Norsgaard being the strongest one. In our opinion a well built squad who should be able to deliver on the big goal of going home with a white jersey for Jensen.
Cedevita
"Take my spot, you couldn't do any worse"
- redordead
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Pascal Ackermann
72
65
71
77
61
75
71
79
61
77
80
66
63
68
Kristjan Hocevar
68
77
76
75
64
69
68
70
54
66
75
72
70
65
Fred Wright
76
70
71
72
70
73
74
71
70
72
73
78
68
70
Veljko Stojnic
74
68
69
70
75
74
78
73
56
67
70
74
65
77
Husein Selimovic
71
73
72
70
60
74
77
73
62
65
76
75
74
66
Sergio Chumil
66
74
73
71
71
73
72
72
55
62
67
67
68
71
Gerben Kuypers
69
60
67
74
58
69
75
68
72
64
75
67
76
60
Matic Zumer
69
73
71
69
56
71
76
63
56
65
77
74
83
57
Another team whos main goal is stage wins here in Cedevita and Ackermann could be the perfect guy to not only give them that, but fight for the green jersey aswell. His combination of sprinting ability and puncheur ability could very well also give him several days in the yellow jersey early on in this field. Hocevar is the strongest climber for the team,b ut not a rider we would expect a lot from considering his low energy stats. A really interesting rider however is Fred Wright, a rider who can do everything well while not being best in anything. If he can get into breakaways he could become a real nightmare and we would not be surprised if he ends up with a stage win this year. All in all I would actually be suprised if Cedevita leaves this race with nothing.
Colombini Kometa
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Ryan Eastman
69
81
76
70
76
75
74
74
55
61
68
72
65
72
Felix Sprenger
73
70
71
71
68
75
71
70
65
67
79
75
78
70
Kwanele Jele
66
77
71
64
52
74
75
71
55
54
70
78
83
54
Casper Van Uden
68
64
64
63
66
70
73
69
52
74
74
63
72
65
Isaac Del Toro
68
71
70
69
68
71
70
72
63
60
72
65
69
67
Stan Martino
68
73
70
66
64
73
72
72
67
65
68
71
72
64
Luke Borg
68
69
69
69
61
65
67
64
63
68
74
71
68
62
Andrea Alfio Bruno
68
62
66
70
60
69
70
63
62
66
68
69
68
59
While you would expect the organizers to invite the best PCT teams they have rather decided to lend a hand to a more struggeling squad, but considering the leader they send here we can understand it with Colombini sending on of the best climbers present in Eastman. The experienced american will be looking to get a good GC position this year, maybe even fight for a podium? We believe that Colombini would see this as a success if he manages to score a top 5! His most important support rider is Jele who will also fight for a good spot in the youth competition. This will also be the first opportunity to see one of the riders that well could win here in the future with the young Mexican Del Toro doing his tour debut. This year he will most likely just ride for the experience, but who knows what he will do in the years to come?
cycleYorkshire
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Gabriel Cullaigh
74
62
65
67
63
73
70
78
72
82
81
66
68
67
Simon Yates
73
69
75
80
67
76
69
71
51
76
79
73
63
70
Ethan Hayter
78
66
68
70
78
75
78
74
60
73
73
71
63
79
Franck Bonnamour
73
71
73
74
61
76
75
72
62
69
74
76
68
61
Pedro Silva
67
72
73
73
59
76
74
68
60
65
76
77
66
61
George Alexandru Stancu
66
77
73
68
65
68
72
71
50
58
69
69
65
65
Nickolas Zukowsky
72
63
67
70
75
73
72
73
61
73
73
77
67
76
Kasper Andersen
70
68
68
68
64
71
67
70
65
70
68
69
73
59
Who will the team ride for? Cullaigh is the best sprinter present and if everything works out he should have the yellow jersey after stage one, then they have one of the biggest favorites for the next stages in Yates who will might have his own yellow jersey ambitions. My guess is they will ride for Cullaigh on stage 1, then for Yates. Then the question is, if Yates is in the fight for the green jersey, what do they do on the later flat stages? We cant really see Cullaigh lead out Yates when he is the best sprinter in the race. Could be a good idea to set up a camera in the Yorkshire bus for this years TDF Netflix show. Other than the two mentioned riders Yorkshire has pretty much sent a supportsquad for them with strong domestique riders. Hayter is a strong flat rider who will most likely also try for a good result on stage 20 while Stancu is the best climber they have, not that he will do a lot in the mountains in our opinion... This is however THE team to look for in the flat and hilly stages and could well end up being the team with most stage wins.
EA Vesuvio
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Alex Kirsch
70
79
77
74
71
75
73
75
67
68
67
62
62
71
Kevin Geniets
74
70
74
78
68
75
77
71
64
62
69
75
69
71
Jay Lampawog
76
65
67
68
76
76
75
73
76
64
68
75
67
74
Keagan Girdlestone
71
77
75
72
74
77
73
75
55
61
68
68
65
74
Edoardo Affini
73
66
67
67
77
76
79
72
64
64
70
73
68
78
Kristofer Gunnlaugsson
77
67
66
65
76
73
79
70
66
75
72
60
60
75
Michel Ries
70
77
74
70
61
75
75
71
58
61
71
73
78
61
Liam Curley
73
60
65
69
69
72
70
69
71
67
68
74
71
70
One of the longest living teams in the game and a team with 3 TDF wins, though the last one was back in 2016. Kirsch is following the tradition of strong Luxembourgian GC riders but he is not up there with the very best like the Schleck brothers used to be. He should still be in the fight for top 10 this year, even though he is not a favorite to end top 10. He does however have a good squad with Ries and Girdlestone for the mountains and Geniets for the hilly stages, as well as Lampawog, Affini and Gunnlaugsson for the TTT. Gunnlaugsson is also a rider it will be very interesting to see if given a day or 2 in a break with his finish and ability on the flat. All in all a good squad, but we are a bit afraid that Kirsch is just a bit too strong for the team to attack like crazy and a bit too weak to do alot himself.
ELCO - ABEA
"We already won and dominated here before, so it's only fair that we allow others to have some fun. We'll steal a couple of stages, just to prove we could do more if we wanted..."
-SotD
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Marcos Altur
75
63
67
70
63
75
70
70
82
72
68
70
63
63
Georgios Boutopoulos
78
68
70
72
66
73
75
69
74
73
78
80
74
68
Jay Vine
69
77
76
75
66
69
77
77
61
67
75
76
63
70
Zisis Soulious
69
74
75
75
66
76
75
69
51
71
78
63
76
66
Dimitrios Christakos
69
77
75
72
70
69
74
72
58
61
70
74
70
73
Panagiotis Karatsivis
70
76
74
72
70
72
74
73
60
64
74
74
67
69
Alexandros Agrotis
72
75
73
71
74
76
72
75
63
65
68
71
70
75
Kaspars Sergis
67
74
75
75
57
67
71
71
57
57
68
75
65
57
Back in PT after one year away and while the team does not really send one leader here they send a very interesting squad. 4 climbers without one you can really peg as leader makes us believe they hope for some early action in the mountains, maybe the KoM is the big goal? Vine and Christakos are the best pure climbers but Karatsivis and Agrotis is not far behind. If they do not have anyone in the breaks on the mountain stages I would call that a fail from the team. With riders like Boutopoulos, Soulious and Sergis aswell this is a squad made to attack, attack and then attack again until it sticks with Altur sitting and leading as a road captain just sending out rider after rider. ELCO will have no favorites on any stages but will be THE team to try to stick it to the favorites this year! The kind of team that everyone watching loves to cheer for
Evonik - ELKO
"We want to finish what we could not finish last year: Get Lucisinier his third TDF victory"
- Knockout
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier
71
85
80
75
78
78
80
79
65
67
74
65
70
77
Tobias Foss
69
79
76
72
77
77
79
79
66
60
69
68
66
72
Pascal Eenkhoorn
71
78
76
73
69
76
77
80
65
64
71
69
67
75
Roger Adria
72
73
74
75
66
75
73
66
58
73
74
68
68
68
Alekss Krasts
70
76
74
72
73
72
72
72
59
66
70
73
73
73
Kristers Ansons
78
68
69
70
71
73
72
70
69
73
76
72
69
70
Hannes Bergstrom Frisk
67
75
72
69
73
73
72
76
61
55
65
67
66
73
German Dario Gomez
65
74
72
69
72
72
69
72
57
59
70
65
68
70
Going from ELCO to ELKO we are going from having a goal to attack to having a goal to win. Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier is one of several riders with 2 wins in his collection, can he become the first to 3? This team is set together with one purpose, place Lecusinier in as good as possible position to win again! Lets start with Lecusinier, he is the strongest climber here while also being one of the best TTers. The support team is also one of the strongest around with Tobias Foss as the main man, he could have led well over half the teams here himself and at leat gotten a top 10! Then there is also Eenkhoorn who is a great climber while Adria and Krasts are good allround clibmers able to support on all terrains. Bergstrom and Gomez are two other riders who will support early on the stages while Ansons is a great flat domestique to control the peloton. Is there any weaknesses? There are 2, but none of them great. Teams could be able to get some time on the TTT and Lecuisinier is not the best puncheur. If a team could get time there they could be able to challange. Do we believe it will happen? No, we believe Lecuisinier will win TDF by quite a margin!
Fastned
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Taylor Phinney
69
81
77
73
79
71
68
70
54
68
69
64
67
79
Harm Vanhoucke
71
77
75
72
72
71
72
76
63
67
68
72
70
73
Mario Gonzalez Salas
69
56
58
59
79
73
75
65
59
60
53
77
60
79
Michel Hessmann
71
72
71
69
76
77
71
72
53
60
68
68
75
74
Josh Atkins
74
53
60
67
77
72
73
70
65
60
61
69
63
76
Thibault Guernalec
69
69
71
72
74
66
73
72
60
63
64
63
65
74
Harold Martin Lopez
64
74
73
71
67
68
71
69
58
62
66
63
63
65
Andrea Dal Col
68
55
58
61
76
65
67
63
51
59
65
62
59
75
Phinney has never won the TDF and with him being well past his prime that train has mosy likely left the station but he is here for what is most likely his swan song TDF. Still a strong climber and among the very best TT riders he should not be underestimated, but we are a bit afraid his body is not in the shape for a 3 week race any more. Still this is one of the strongest (if not the strongest) TTT squad here and if they can get enough time there anything can happen, right? Vanhoucke is a good support in the mountain and will most likely end up being an important rider for Phinney on all the climbs. All in all a team here to support Taylor one last time to see what he can do!
Gazelle
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Andreas Leknessund
73
78
76
74
78
77
81
77
69
66
69
75
69
78
Bartosz Warchol
69
79
76
73
66
74
75
71
58
60
68
65
67
66
Louis Vervaeke
73
76
75
73
70
76
77
78
56
60
69
58
69
70
Manuel Senni
70
76
74
72
73
75
78
74
58
65
71
65
72
73
Benjamin Brkic
72
74
74
74
72
74
73
70
65
67
72
64
67
74
Getachew Sendeku
71
76
74
72
74
72
73
74
58
62
68
54
63
73
El Mehdi Chokri
75
61
64
66
75
74
72
67
76
65
68
66
69
75
Marko Pavlic
69
75
74
72
72
71
73
74
63
68
69
70
70
74
Leknessund is the leader of a really interesting climbing squad, unless Warchol decides that being just a tiny bit better up the longest mountains should make him number 1. 7 good climbers here with all of them being good allround riders should make for an interesting race from Gazelle. Already mentioned Leknessund is also a good TTer and one of the physically (energy stats) best riders in the race. Can he challenge higher than his pure climbing indicates? Even if he can't this is a team you can't let steal too much time via a mountain break as they will then be able to use all their climbers to make future time losses smaller and then throwing a wrench into attacking plans. A team to watch this race!
Grieg-Maersk
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
David Gaudu
73
71
75
78
66
78
75
71
57
68
70
69
69
66
Magnus Cort Nielsen
72
78
76
74
72
76
75
74
60
54
71
65
64
72
Jai Hindley
71
72
74
76
67
75
72
72
55
67
73
76
70
67
Frederik Wandahl
70
68
72
76
65
74
75
69
58
66
73
66
72
65
Johannes Staune-Mittet
65
74
73
71
72
68
69
73
58
60
66
71
67
71
Embret Svestad-Bardseng
71
72
72
71
67
73
69
72
60
66
70
70
69
67
Anders Foldager
71
65
66
67
65
68
72
66
59
68
72
71
70
67
Anthon Charmig
66
71
70
68
61
66
70
65
60
61
69
70
64
62
Grieg-Maersk has a squad set up for 2 things, stage wins on hilly stages and Cort Nielsen doing something in the mountains / GC. Nielsen is a strong climber but a way behind the very best present in France this year, could still well be placed in that field who can with 1 or 2 great days get a surprise position in the GC, or maybe fight for KoM? On the hilly stages Gaudu is one of the best riders present and with Hindley and Wandahl here aswell Grieg could very well pick up a stage win and even a day or 2 in yellow if the timing is right. Other than that the team seems to be here to give young riders experience.
What can Stüssi do? That is the big question for Indosat. This is his last year before decline hits him and he is here as the lead with a strong support from Frankiny and Zweihoff. So again, what can Stüssi do? He is not the best climber here, but he is a good climber, he is a good TT rider but there are better better and he has some weakness on the hills. Still this might just be the year where he suprises? There is just that feeling and with his mountain support that it is set up for him from the team management. A top 10 would be a good result looking at the competition. This is however not a team who has put all their eggs in one basket and with a weaker sprint field than we often see in France sending Nur Hasan here could end up being a genius decision. His leadout in Silva isn't the strongest but he is still one of the best pure sprinter here, good form on the right day might give him a stage or 2!
Jura GIANTS
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Kaden Groves
75
62
67
72
65
75
73
80
66
80
79
64
67
71
Jake Stewart
77
62
67
72
68
74
77
73
76
76
71
67
68
70
Muhammad Abdurrahman
68
77
75
72
72
74
74
74
55
60
68
74
64
72
Lorenzo Delco
73
72
73
73
70
75
74
75
67
64
72
68
77
71
Antonio Tiberi
67
75
72
69
73
69
71
68
54
60
69
70
68
72
Jan Sommer
74
60
63
65
65
73
72
68
73
70
70
71
66
66
Pablo Castrillo
68
73
73
72
69
72
73
70
57
58
67
68
72
68
Jason Osborne
75
60
65
70
74
73
74
67
65
58
63
77
62
75
While on some teams you can say that the climber is the main man going into the race there is no doubt that for Jura GIANTS it is the sprinter, Kaden Groves. Groves is one of the best sprinters of the game and he is set to fight for a repeat of his green jersey from last year, where he won it on the last stage! He is a strong sprinter who can survive the hills, even thought he is not as strong as a Yates or Ackermann on the hills. Still, you don't need to be as strong as them as long as you can survive them to fight at the end! Jake Stewart is a strong leadout rider who should be able to deliver Groves in the best positions while Osborne, Delco and Sommer are good domestiques to have to control the peloton on the flats. Abdurrahman is the "GC" leader of the team and will most likely be given a free role on the mountain stages to go in breaks and see what happens, while Tiberi is his man. Can Groves repeat the green jersey from last year? We believe he will be in the fight at least!
King Power
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Hsuan Ping Hsu
75
65
66
67
69
75
70
73
72
80
79
67
71
69
Rasmus Tiller
74
65
68
70
67
76
75
70
79
74
73
69
70
69
Thanakhan Chaiyasombat
69
78
76
74
70
71
75
75
52
66
74
73
69
70
Quinn Simmons
71
74
75
76
62
71
75
76
67
67
77
75
71
62
Filippo Conca
73
71
73
75
64
72
74
71
62
73
74
76
73
65
Sakchai Phodingam
68
77
76
74
61
69
71
72
60
64
73
76
70
61
John Salazar
76
71
71
70
70
74
73
73
69
70
73
70
69
72
Patompob Phonarjthan
72
61
63
64
62
70
73
75
56
76
75
64
67
63
Another team with their main guy being a sprinter with Hsu as the big leader. He got a good leadout train with Tiller, Conca, Salazar and Phonarjthan who should give him en edge in the stage wins battle. The other leader for the team here is Chaiyasombat who is the main climber, supported by Phodingam and the young talents Simmons (who can get a good youth result). Mainly a squad built to try to pick up stage wins, either from attacks or from Hsu in the sprints. Salazar is a rider who can be dangerous in any break while Simmons and Conca can do something on the more hilly stages. In general we believe a stage win will make the team leave France pretty happy.
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Sam Oomen
71
81
78
75
74
78
77
78
56
66
69
72
68
77
Aaron Van Poucke
68
77
77
77
64
69
72
69
60
67
75
76
67
66
Viktor Potocki
71
71
72
72
77
75
77
75
52
65
69
71
72
77
Szymon Sajnok
74
61
63
65
78
70
76
71
63
73
72
62
70
79
Jakub Mareczko
74
53
57
61
57
71
73
79
50
78
77
61
66
75
Sasha Weemaes
75
60
61
62
77
75
72
69
55
74
73
67
64
77
Joel Suter
79
65
68
71
69
75
74
71
69
68
74
76
72
69
Walter Calzoni
64
75
74
73
64
65
71
75
62
60
66
56
63
71
Sam Oomen is ready to lead a battle for a podium and he might have a good chance in this field. A strong climber with great energy stats and no really big weaknesses, a top 5 would be good but there is a possibility to a podium here. Can he do it? Van Poucke is a great support rider and the team has managed to scrape together Potocki, Sajnok and Weemaes to form a TTT train. Thought they are missing nr 5 there with Suter not being a top TTer. He does however, together with Weemaes give a strong flat presence. Other than supporting Oomen the team has sent Mareczko to try in the sprints with again Weemaes and Sajnok as support. He is not the strongest sprinter, but he is at the level who suddently can find himself in a position to win. Mainly the teams success here relies on Oomen, and we are excited to see what he can delivers in a field that behind the big favorite is open.
Los Pollos Hermanos
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Sergio Higuita
69
79
80
80
65
76
78
79
60
66
75
73
64
62
Luis Enrique Lopez Nolasco
65
79
75
71
73
72
71
75
52
59
70
74
68
71
Victor Alejandro Ocampo
70
61
64
66
80
74
73
75
54
58
64
59
66
78
Oscar Samuel Galvan Ramirez
72
76
74
72
75
72
74
74
50
64
67
70
69
76
Alejandro Osorio
69
77
75
72
72
73
72
74
55
56
68
62
64
68
Bilguunjargal Erdenebat
75
60
63
65
78
77
78
74
51
59
64
69
68
79
Jose Pablo Aguilar Mendez
74
57
57
57
78
72
72
72
51
64
69
65
66
78
Fatiu Abolaji
73
64
63
61
76
71
75
72
65
60
61
67
65
78
Higuita the big headliner together with one of the stronger TTT squads makes for an interesting combo. Higuita can win any of the hilly stages while staying with the best in the mountains. Is it enough to win? Most likely not, but he should be mentioned as a potential top 3 candidate. In addition to a strong TTT support he has Lopez Nolasco, Osorio and Galvan Ramirez giving him great support in the mountains, it is pretty much set up for a great Colombian story this year! And that is it from LPH this race, everything is set up to give Higuita the best possible chanse to do well, will he get top 3? Top 5? We do not know, but are looking forward to the journey!
Polar
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Andrea Bagioli
71
73
77
80
69
77
73
71
60
71
78
77
68
71
Tao Geoghegan Hart
70
79
77
74
78
76
74
75
62
62
69
70
70
76
Ryan Mullen
75
62
66
70
81
75
74
72
62
60
70
61
64
78
Stef Krul
76
63
65
66
78
70
73
70
60
61
66
75
63
78
Luke Durbridge
70
55
60
64
78
68
69
65
50
59
59
65
58
78
Truls Engen Korsaeth
73
56
58
60
77
71
71
70
59
66
72
65
64
78
Jean Bosco Nsengimana
64
73
72
71
73
70
69
72
52
65
70
73
65
75
Tushantha Rajapakshage
71
63
66
69
75
69
70
66
60
50
67
74
53
77
Geoghegan Hart has been given the possibility to lead in France and it will be interesting to see how he does. For starters we are quite sure he will win time in the TTT with the strongest TTT team present (together with Tinkoff). Mullen, Krul, Durbridge, Forsaeth and Rajapakshage are here pretty much for that one stage. That can mean that he goes into the mountains as nr 1. How far can he take that? Mountain support is pretty much non-excistant with Bagioli and Nsengimana being the strongest ones. That is not alot in this company, and we guess Bagioli is here more to try on the hilly stages than help Hart. Still, if he can use the time he will win on the TTT well Hart could be dangerous in the battle for top 5
Rabobank
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Davide Formolo
71
78
79
79
68
75
75
72
52
68
70
65
64
68
Stanislaw Aniolkowski
76
62
64
66
56
76
74
79
63
80
79
57
64
59
Olav Kooij
75
63
65
67
68
75
73
76
65
78
79
64
67
76
Bas Van der Kooij
73
62
66
69
60
75
74
83
66
78
77
62
66
66
Juan Sossa
68
73
75
77
58
75
72
74
55
61
70
74
68
59
Milan Vader
75
74
72
69
67
72
78
72
62
62
66
70
68
71
Joren Bloem
77
61
65
69
62
74
76
72
67
70
70
69
62
67
Enkhtaivan Bolor-Erdene
77
62
64
66
71
71
77
70
63
65
73
71
71
71
Formolo and Aniolkowski leads a strong team focused on winning stages. Yes, Formolo will be able to make some waves in the GC but as we see it his main job is to win *something* and maybe get a few days in yellow. He is a strong puncheur and climber but will not be able to fight with the best over 3 weeks. Still a top 10 could be possible. Aniolkowski is a strong sprinter with THE best leadout in the race with Kooij (maybe learning to lead here next year?) and Van der Kooij (ok, that is fun) here to help. Can he use the leadout to win? Time will show, but he has some strong riders to beat. Sossa is another strong puncheur here capable of winning from a break and Bloem and Bolor-Erdene are perfect flat riders, either for attacks or to stop attacks for Aniolkowski. We really like the team Rabobank has sent here!
Sony - Force India
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Jack Haig
72
83
79
74
77
76
75
78
58
61
73
70
67
77
Marlen Zmorka
74
61
64
66
82
74
75
72
61
62
70
67
60
82
Gijs Leemreize
66
79
78
76
65
70
74
74
60
62
72
76
68
65
Hugo Hofstetter
74
62
66
70
64
71
71
75
73
77
78
71
68
66
Szymon Rekita
72
58
61
63
79
70
73
73
62
69
70
63
73
78
Leo Hayter
73
77
73
68
74
74
74
71
61
66
75
66
70
75
Dinmukhammed Ulysbayev
70
76
74
72
72
72
71
72
60
62
65
68
64
71
Naveen John
68
70
69
68
75
70
73
72
58
64
67
74
66
76
When you invest a lot of money in a new captain for the team you want to send him to races where he can score well for you and this couldn't have been better for Sony. Okay, so we got Lecuisinier here, but Haig going into TDF as the second best rider on paper? The team would've taken that any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Haig is 1 of 2 riders who could maybe challenge and while we believe he wont win a top 3 should be expected. He is the 2nd best climber, a good TTer with a nice TTT team and got several great support riders present with Leemreize, Hayter and Ulysbayev for the climbs and Zmorka, Rekita and John for the TTT. All in all a team built to make Haig ride a good TDF. Including that Hayter should fight for a good Youth position and Hofstetter is a wildcard in the sprints. We predict an exciting Tour for Sony - Force India!
Team Puma - SAP
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Jannik Steimle
74
66
68
70
65
71
69
74
67
78
80
61
62
71
Lennard Kämna
71
77
74
71
78
76
73
75
62
63
67
71
70
78
Georg Zimmermann
68
77
75
73
61
77
78
75
52
60
71
70
75
61
Anton Schiffer
69
76
75
74
66
74
73
74
58
60
66
71
69
65
Mike Aaron Egger
66
75
75
74
55
70
76
71
59
64
74
73
65
55
Alexandros Matsangos
73
68
69
70
71
74
71
63
75
62
69
67
67
71
Pauls Rubenis
73
60
61
62
59
70
73
68
73
72
71
67
69
64
Abderrahim Zahiri
70
72
72
71
65
73
65
62
57
61
63
69
70
71
What to expect from Puma this year? Steimle is a good sprinter, but not among the very best here. Still he could grind out some good results and he got a nice hill stat to help him over the speed bumps. He is however all alone. The team also sends 4 good climbers, with Kämna being the big leader supported by Zimmermann, Schiffer and Egger. Kämna got an interesting combo with his strong TT while Zimmermann is a physical speciment but there are better versions of them also present. Still a team that will need to go for the chanses they get and with the depth they should be able to always send someone in the breaks, if they stick they can be dangerous!
Team UBS
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Caio Godoy
68
81
79
76
67
75
76
77
54
59
75
71
68
67
Alexandre Balmer
68
76
75
73
74
74
75
70
63
61
69
72
75
69
Thery Schir
67
77
75
72
72
73
72
74
50
59
65
69
68
72
Antonio Barbio
68
74
73
72
76
72
73
68
59
63
67
76
71
75
Martin Schäppi
72
64
66
67
75
74
72
69
76
66
68
70
60
75
Phan Age Haugard
71
56
58
59
78
73
76
68
55
56
66
72
64
78
Elia Blum
74
61
65
69
77
72
75
73
63
63
66
67
71
76
Javier Serrano
69
64
68
72
64
75
76
69
74
60
68
73
72
62
Godoy is a strong rider and one of the favorites for a top 5 with the posibility of fighting for a podium here. Can he do that this race will be seen as a success for UBS! He got great support from Balmer and Schir in the mountains. They should be able to deliver him well positioned to fight on the climbs. He also has a good TTT support with Barbio, Schäppi, Haugard and Blum. The team is put together to support Godoy and it is up to him to deliver a good result!
Tinkoff Team - La Datcha
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Pavel Sivakov
69
82
77
72
76
79
77
82
58
66
69
66
74
75
Artem Samolenkov
74
64
64
64
69
75
71
78
60
81
79
60
70
70
Nikita Razumov
74
63
67
70
79
75
72
73
56
64
66
70
65
79
Aydar Zakarin
74
66
66
66
79
75
70
75
55
65
70
74
65
79
Alexander Vlasov
72
75
74
72
77
76
71
78
55
64
69
70
74
77
Petr Rikunov
69
77
75
73
74
73
71
74
51
67
66
63
74
76
Ildar Arslanov
68
76
74
71
73
76
76
76
53
61
66
62
68
74
Roy Goldstein
74
55
58
61
79
70
72
72
52
58
61
61
56
79
Pavel Sivakov arrives as on the of main competitors for the yellow jersey, a strong rider who is a great climber, a good TTers and just in general a physical specimen. That should help him a lot over 3 weeks. He got Vlasov, Rikunov and Arslanov to help him up the mountain and one of the strongest TTT squads with Razumov, Zakarin, Vlasov and Goldstein. Will it be enough to win? Most likely not, but thats not because they don't try, it's just because there is one guy present just that much stronger. Still a top 3 should be the goal! Samolenkov is also present as a sprinter for the team, he is a strong sprinter but on his own here as everything is about helping Sivakov. If he can win a stage or 2 that is a bonus for the team in their hunt for the GC
Trans Looney Tunes
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Mark Padun
67
82
80
77
66
72
74
76
53
60
75
76
70
65
29
Dylan Page
75
57
62
66
60
72
72
75
66
78
79
62
55
59
32
Michail Mavrikakis
70
79
76
72
71
74
73
69
54
61
67
63
64
71
31
Jaka Primozic
69
76
75
74
68
79
77
79
61
66
73
72
67
69
27
Ben Tulett
71
67
68
68
73
71
72
67
57
63
69
72
70
73
24
Bostjan Murn
72
69
68
67
72
75
75
72
58
60
66
66
69
73
24
Mark Padun is ready for France and we are excited to see how it goes! One of the big signings from free agency this year and with his climing ability many were surprised when he elected to take another year in PCT, but then he might've known he would be able to race and lead TDF? Anyway he is here with what we most likely think is a goal of top 5 and while the squad is small with only 6 riders it is strong with support from Mavrikakis and Primozic. Both riders who should be able to stay with Padun far up the mountains. Tulett and Murn is here for learning, while Dylan Page hopes to get some good sprinting results. With Padun and Page we expect a strong ride from TLT here!
Xero Racing
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Daan Olivier
71
80
78
75
68
75
79
75
58
63
70
69
70
68
Martins Blums
72
77
77
77
68
71
73
74
63
64
70
73
78
71
James Fouche
66
78
77
75
69
72
73
77
62
61
75
75
65
69
Daniel Felipe Martinez
66
77
75
72
73
72
73
73
53
64
69
65
69
72
Roman Lutsyshyn
70
50
52
54
64
69
73
74
55
79
80
58
57
70
Jamalidin Novardianto
76
61
65
68
68
70
78
74
69
73
79
74
68
75
Guillaume Martin
68
75
74
72
66
74
71
75
52
59
71
63
65
67
Volodymyr Dzhus
65
76
73
70
64
74
74
68
55
58
75
70
63
64
Xero sends a strong climbing squad lead by Daan Olivier with 5 other strong clibmers in Blums, Fouche, Martinez, Martin and Dzhus. Expect a team who will want to push the pace on the climbs and deliver Olivier to fight with the best. This is a team who will need to be aggressive in the mountains as TTing is not their strong suit and time will be lost both on the TTT and on stage 20. Together with the climbers Lutsyshyn forms his own squad in the squad together with Novardianto who is here as his friend and helper. They will try to fight for the flat stages while the climbers hide in the peloton.
Edited by Heine on 25-02-2026 09:45
Thanks for a great preview, Heine! We didn't really come here for a GC with Higuita, but if in the end he would get a top-10 or better, we won't complain. Ideally he does win a stage though.
Thanks for a great preview, Heine! We didn't really come here for a GC with Higuita, but if in the end he would get a top-10 or better, we won't complain. Ideally he does win a stage though.
I really believe Higuita can do well here, I think the route fits him with few TT km and you got a good TTT squad to drag him trough there. There is a reason I guess him in the top 3
Thank you for the deep preview, Heine. Really enjoyable read all the way through. Will post predictions later
For us, I hope for an overperformance that results in points, simply because I really fear our ranking drop if we go three weeks here struggling to score. On paper, I agree Romo looks promising for the first week, but this is the TdF, where GC riders also should have their say on such stages. Prasad has done GT magic for us before, would be lovely if he can sneak a stage podium here or there. If so, it will definitely be a success for him. And as the preview writes well, you're on your own, Prasad!
PHL and Evonik clearly are here to dominate the race. I'm not convinced at all they will dominate from early on. The TTT lineups for Tinkoff with Sivakov and Polar with TGH, look massive. Admittedly I have no clue how much of a headstart that will give them, but if it's a minute, PHL and Evonik really need to make the racing super difficult on the first two mountain stages to see him grab yellow there. If not, it feels like it will take until very late week 2/early week 3 for PHL to get into yellow.
I will mostly be an enthustiastic spectator, it feels like, where whatever result we might get will be a positive surprise. I'm looking forward to be entertained, both by stage win fights, but also the GC battles for the podium places and other stories that develop during the race
PHL and Evonik clearly are here to dominate the race. I'm not convinced at all they will dominate from early on. The TTT lineups for Tinkoff with Sivakov and Polar with TGH, look massive. Admittedly I have no clue how much of a headstart that will give them, but if it's a minute, PHL and Evonik really need to make the racing super difficult on the first two mountain stages to see him grab yellow there. If not, it feels like it will take until very late week 2/early week 3 for PHL to get into yellow.
Yeah, this might not be as dominant in terms of scoring as the big favourite status suggest. Day 9 is best case yellow but far from a guarantee. Also gotta say that i hate to see basically every other gc team fielding 4 non-climbers - in some cases even utter trash climbers. I fear that this might help mountain breaks a bit too much. Hopefully my very strong support can counter that but we'll see.
Very worried about this one. We came with one primary goal in mind—Skjelmose for white. Adding that to his l'Avenir win would make him quite accomplished in youth categories indeed. And looking at the route and startlist, he should have a very good chance of doing not only that, but sneaking into the top 15 or even the top 10 as well with some luck and consistency.
However, my biggest fear is that I've not constructed the roster in a way that the AI will like. Rodenberg here is especially worrying because Skjelmose has already foregone GC's to drop back for him and AKA several times this year, and if it happens here, that will be catastrophic. That's also exacerbated by Gregaard's presence. I thought he was too good of a breakaway threat to leave home, but it turns out he's a better climber than Skjelmose in this version, so he may take priority over him despite the massive TT difference.
We can't do anything but hope for the best at this stage. In terms of favorites, Evonik getting their Tour victory seems like it has to happen here. Startlist and route are built for it, and only crazy AI should take it away.
Thanks for the awesome preview Heine!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
This should be super interesting. I'm rooting for PHL here and specifically hoping knockout has a better time controlling the race than we did in the Giro. The start list seems a little soft, so Godoy may be in with a shot at a decent GC placing, though I have no idea how the AI will treat him in a grand tour. Thanks for the preview Heine and Imladrik for the race!
Obviously big hope for Aniolkowski here. He has had a great season so far and this is the perfect opportunity to go for the green jersey.
A big question mark on Formolo. He had a so-so season so far. Some of the usual performances, but a lot of stinkers too. Hopefully with only 78 mountain he will still go for the KoM jersey though the hilly stages at the beginning also look like good scoring opportunities for him.
Tour de France 
And looking at the route and startlist, he should have a very good chance of doing not only that, but sneaking into the top 15 or even the top 10 as well with some luck and consistency.
