This Saturday, France 2 is a bit the place to be. In addition to the great return of Fort Boyard, with Robert Pirès (who has beefed up his game, I promise), the public service kicks off the 110th Tour de France. Three very full-bodied weeks for “the most mountainous edition in history” according to Christian Prudhomme. The race director is delighted to see “the favorites of the Tour shoulder to shoulder from the first weekend”, but the race will not be limited to Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar. They too will ignite this month of July.
Fred Wright (3rd participation)
The boy can do everything, and he has the rods. Eighth in the Tour of Flanders in the spring, he had a very strong month of June: eighth at Chambon-sur-Lac, seventh at La Chaise-Dieu, he also took fourth place in the demanding time trial contested in the Loire. Despite the general classification objective for Mikel Landa, or even Pello Bilbao, the brand new British champion – a title he dedicated to his teammate Gino Mäder – should have his card to play in the breakaways on the hilly stages. , like last year, when he finished second at Saint-Etienne. The kind of runners who could very well crucify Thibaut Pinot…
Giulio Ciccone (3rd participation)
He too is in good shape and impressively consistent. Giulio Ciccone has already won three times this season, winning a stage in the Tour de Valence, the Tour de Catalunya and the Dauphiné – resisting the return of Jonas Vingegaard. His team is clearly coming to the Tour to chase stages. The rider from Abruzzo, wearing the yellow jersey in 2019, will therefore be free to go to the front to win his first victory on the Grande Boucle, or even a polka dot jersey, which had escaped him for eleven small points last year. Only downside: the awful harlequin jersey that he will be forced to wear following the arrival of Lidl as sponsor of his training.
Neilson Powless (4th participation)
EF Education-Easypost is overflowing with runners who will take pleasure in playing the scratching hairs. Magnus Cort Nielsen did the show last summer. This time, Neilson Powless could take over. The first Native American to compete in the Tour de France is the type to choose the offensive solution. In 2022, he had touched the yellow jersey during the first week, as well as the stage victory at Wallers-Arenberg and at the top of Alpe d’Huez. This season, he has 16 top 10 finishes, for two victories. “Over the years, I have understood how to slip into the breakaways, those that go to the end, he explained to Outside. I can put myself in these positions, and it’s already half the job. The second half is just having the legs to finish. “Now, you have to put the ball in the bottom.
Clément Champoussin (1st participation)
Arkéa-Samsic has no ambition in the general classification: the Breton team will be aiming for the stages, and only the stages – well, one or two combativeness prizes are also taken. Expect to see Warren Barguil and Clément Champoussin slipping into almost every shot. Accustomed to the Vuelta, where he raised his arms in 2021, the Niçois will discover the Tour. He confirmed this year that he was able to compete with the best on the leg-breaking stages with two top 10 finishes on the Tour of the Basque Country and a fourth place in Salins-les-Bains during the Dauphiné. The 25-year-old climber has the profile to make us dream of success on July 14 – before cracking 4 kilometers from the finish. Go Champoupou!
Jasper Philipsen (4th participation)
Forget the Jasper ‘Disaster’ you saw on Netflix: Philipsen is the hottest sprinter this year with six victories, including two Tirreno-Adriatico stages and the Scheldt Grand Prix. His podium in Paris-Roubaix also proved that he could cause trouble other than as a simple finisher. And he will have to do it if he wants to achieve his goal of the green jersey. Winner of two stages last July, including the most beautiful, on the Champs-Elysées, he will not bear the pressure of his training alone thanks to the presence of Mathieu van der Poel, fiercely ambitious and much in better shape than there is. at twelve months. And then even if he were not to shine, Philipsen will continue to animate the Eurosport advertising pages with the famous: “Why do I use Alpecin? Because I want to keep my hair! »
Michael Woods (4th participation)
Michael Woods and the Tour de France is not yet a rolling story. Victim of several falls in 2021, he had to leave the race a few hours before the finish on the Champs-Elysées in 2022 because of the Covid. His profile as a puncher-climber makes him a natural candidate for victory on quite a few stages, as he has demonstrated over the past two years by finishing third in Grand-Bornand and Foix. The native of Toronto, who offsets his carbon emissions by donating money to associations, has just finished second at Mont Ventoux and won the Route d’Occitanie, so no more excuses: see you soon 37, that’s the moment.
Mikel Landa (6th participation)
The leader of Bahrain-Victorious crossed the Dauphiné like a ghost, too. But he considers himself to be in good condition when approaching his sixth Tour de France. His followers prepare to preach the “Landismo” throughout these three weeks: the race begins at home, in the Basque Country, and the course, stingy in time, offers him a unique opportunity. To get on the podium, why not, after finishing fourth (2017, 2020), sixth (2019) and seventh (2018). And to shake the coconut tree, certainly. Anyway, if he wants to win even a stage, he will have to attack: in a three-way sprint, Landa will always finish fourth. Whoops!