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The tour de france’s greatest ever sprinters, from pelissier to cavendish, the fast men forever etched into tour de france history.

Mark Cavendish started the Tour de France for the tenth time this year, and with four stage wins reminded everyone of just how good a sprinter he is.

Cavendish was named the Tour’s greatest ever sprinter by L’Equipe in 2012 with no other sprinter winning as many stages of the race as the Manxman – in fact, following his stage six victory in Montauban, the only man with more Tour stage wins than him is the great Eddy Merckx with 34.

Add to that his points classification win in 2011, and the yellow jersey he finally pulled on after stage one of this year’s race, and you can see why L’Equipe afforded Britain’s most successful male professional cyclist such an honour.

But if Cavendish is the greatest ever, how do all the other great sprinters to have raced the Tour de France in its 103 editions compare?

We’ve picked out nine of the greatest fast men ever to take on the Tour. Are there any you would add to the list?

Mark Cavendish (GBR) – 2007 to present

Mark Cavendish made his Tour de France debut in 2007, during which he suffered two crashes and abandoned as the race headed into the mountains. It was an inconspicuous start given what was to follow.

Despite only riding the first 13 stages of the following year’s Tour – due to training for the 2008 Beijing Olympics – Cavendish picked up his first four stage wins in the race before bagging six in 2009 and five apiece in 2010 and 2011.

Riding for the HTC-HighRoad team, he and his lead-out train were simply untouchable at their best as Cavendish bagged the green jersey in 2011, crowning his win with a victory on the Champs-Elysees.

His era of dominance ended thereafter, but – in the jersey of world road race champion – he won three times in his solitary season with Team Sky, twice in his debut year with Omega Pharma-QuickStep and last year went clear into third place on the list of all-time wins thanks to his 26 th career triumph.

And just as he was being written off in some quarters, the Manx Missile  added four more wins to his  palmares in 2016, to go second in that list behind Merckx and pull on the yellow jersey for the first time.

Tour de France stage wins: 30* Tour de France points classification wins: one (2011)

Andre Darrigade (FRA) – 1952 to 1966

Frenchman Andre Darrigade has been dubbed the greatest French sprinter of all time by Raphael Geminiani with his phenomenal speed (and stamina) earning him 22 stage wins in his illustrious career.

Darrigade’s sprinting style meant he could win sprints from far back, often opting to lead out bunch finishes and ‘challenging others to pass him’, according to journalist Rene de Latour.

Darrigade’s sprinting ability didn’t just earn him stage wins either, with him wearing the yellow jersey 16 times in all too – winning the opening stage of the Tour in four consecutive years between 1956 and 1959, and again in 1961.

The Frenchman also twice won the points classification, in 1959 and 1961, and remains one of only six riders to have bagged 20 or more stage wins at the Tour.

Tour de France stage wins: 22 Tour de France points classification wins: two (1959, 1961)

Mario Cipollini (ITA) – 1993 to 1999

Exuberant Italian Mario Cipollini’s sensational sprinting exploits may have been more centred on the Giro d’Italia, but he still found time to win 12 Tour de France stages and spend time in the yellow jersey.

Cipo ’s well-publicised dislike of the mountains meant he never contested the green jersey, and his teams not being invited from 2000 to 2003 – despite him being world champion at the time of the latter race – also didn’t help.

He sits in the Tour record books, however, having won the race’s fastest ever stage in 1999 as part of his post-war record four consecutive stage wins.

But regardless of the bare statistics, few can doubt Cipollini was one of cycling’s greatest ever sprinters, not just at the Tour.

His 42 Giro d’Italia stage wins remain a record, and with his Tour and Vuelta a tally added to that, his career tally stands at 57 Grand Tour stage wins.

Tour de France stage wins: 12 Tour de France points classification wins: none

Erik Zabel (GER) – 1995 to 2008

Where Cipollini opted not to contest the green jersey at the Tour de France, Erik Zabel monopolised the points classification at the turn of the millennium.

The German won the green jersey six years in a row, from 1996 to 2001, and also celebrated 12 wins in all – picking up two on debut in 1995 and collecting his final victory in 2002.

Like Peter Sagan today, Zabel picked up points with a serious of consistent finishes on the sprint stages and could climb better than his fellow sprinters too.

But where Sagan has struggled to win stages, Zabel had no such problems – no German rider has won more stages, despite Andre Greipel and Marcel Kittel closing in fast.

Tour de France stage wins: 12 Tour de France points classification wins: six (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001)

Freddy Maertens (BEL) – 1972 to 1981

With Eddy Merckx and Roger de Vlaeminck dominating the Belgian cycling scene, it was going to take somebody pretty special to steal the limelight.

And while Merckx’s achievements on the road remain unparalleled, Maertens at least gave the Belgian faithful a new hero to celebrate – when he was not feuding with the more popular Cannibal at least.

Maertens was primarily a sprinter, but versatile enough to win the 1977 Vuelta a Espana – where he won 13 stages – and his Tour de France record stacks up well too,

Three times he claimed the green jersey, with his 1976 victory arriving courtesy of a record-equalling eight stage wins – five of which were from sprints and three against the clock.

Tour de France stage wins: 16 Tour de France points classification wins: three (1976, 1978, 1981)

René Le Grevès (FRA) – 1933 to 1939

René Le Grevès’ 16 Tour de France stage wins are all the more remarkable when you consider how short his professional career proved to be.

Journalist Jean-Paul Ollivier has dubbed him the Tour’s greatest sprinter, and he was certainly the greatest of the later interwar years – not least between 1934 and 1936 when he collected 14 of those 16 victories.

He was also crowned French champion in 1936, his annus mirabilis as he won six times at that year’s Tour before his star began to wane a little.

Le Grevès’ final stage win came in 1939 before the Tour was cancelled due to the war. The Parisian-born sprinter survived the war but died in 1946 in a skiing accident.

Tour de France stage wins: 16 Tour de France points classification wins: N/A (not run until 1953)

Robbie McEwen (AUS) – 1997 to 2010

Australian fast man Robbie McEwen was the first of his countrymen to win the points classification – something he achieved three times in his career.

McEwen relied on tactical nous and all-out pace rather than a sprint train as such, but that didn’t stop him clocking 12 Tour de France stage wins in all.

His first arrived on the Champs-Elysees in 1999, while his victory in Paris again in 2002 was enough to see him usurp six-time points back-to-back points classification winner Zabel.

He also wore the yellow jersey for a single day in 2004, before recovering from two bad crashes to win a stage and bag his second green jersey.

McEwen’s final stage win in 2007 was all the more remarkable because he recovered from a late crash to return to the bunch and win the kick to the line – proving not only his resilience but his sprinting speed.

Tour de France stage wins: 12 Tour de France points classification wins: 2002, 2004, 2006

Djamolidine Abdoujaparov (UZB) – 1990 to 1997

Uzbekistani sprinting legend Djamolidine Abdoujaparov did not earn the nickname “The Tashkent Terror” for nothing.

Abdoujaparov’s sprinting style was unorthodox to say the least – at worst, it was erratic and dangerous – but it was also clearly effective as he clocked nine stage wins.

Winner of the points classification three times, in 1991, 1993 and 1994, Abdoujaparov claimed the green jersey on the first of those occasions despite a now infamous, high-speed crash during which he hit the barriers on the Champs-Elysees and had to beat the pain barrier to win the stage unaided.

Not all of Abdoujaparov’s victories came from sprints – in fact his last at the Tour, in 1996, was a breakaway in the mountains – but there was no doubting where is best ability lay until his 1997 retirement.

Tour de France stage wins: nine Tour de France points classification wins: 1991, 1993, 1994

Charles Pelissier (FRA) – 1922 to 1939

Former French ‘cross champion turned sprinting extraordinaire Charles Pelissier reached his zenith in the 1930 Tour de France, one year on from his first Tour stage win.

Now, some 86 years on from that 1930 race, there is still no rider who has bettered his eight stage wins – despite Merckx and Maertens both matching it.

Pelissier’s record is all the more incredible when you consider he also finished second on seven occasions that year – there was no green jersey at the time, but you can guarantee the Frenchman would have won by a country mile had there been.

The following year he ‘only’ won five – wearing the yellow jersey for the second time in consecutive years early in the race.

Pelissier won twice more, at the 1935 Tour de France, before at the age of 36 the war curtailed his professional career.

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Top 10 Sprinters - Tour de France 2023

Pro Cycling Bets

Who's going to take the most number of stages of the sprinters for this year's Tour de France. Are there enough sprint stages that Cavendish will be able to nab one to claim the record over Mercx? As he wants us all to know, and fairly so, that he has the record for the most stage wins at the Tour, it just so happens Mercx got their first. But they're on equal footing he wants us to know 🙃

Suffice to say, according to PCS Cavendish isn't even in the top ten sprinters headed to the Tour, which makes a lot of sense given the abysmal form, lack of sprint train or combination of both he's shown in the early season. The Giro win seems to have cured everyone's mind of that though. Not PCS though, and not us. We're not silly enough to fall prey to recency bias. Said us never. We're human. PCS isn't.

That being said, this ranking has a bias in the fact that PCS will lean to promote riders who have raced more this season. So sprinters like Biniam Girmay who just recently started their comeback (nice 4th @ Brussels Classic Girmay!) after a nasty sprint crash, won't be making this list despite their calibre.

Sprinters should stick around to at least either stage eight or stage twelve depending on how good they are at hill climbing. Stage nine has Puy de Dôme on it, and it's not the toughest climb in the book, but not every sprinter can climb like Pedersen proved remarkably adept at in the Giro. Stage thirteen has Grand Colombier, and if any sprinter wanted to bow out before the classic Tour climb we wouldn't blame them.

After doing all the research for this article we also decided that we should probably also do a top ten best victory poses. Some of these riders can really bust a move on the line. But on with the show! We were told by multiple people to do these backwards now to build up the suspense so let's do just that.

Number 10 - Wout van Aert (28) - Jumbo Visma

Coming in at number ten is good ol' Wout van Aert. Potentially the best all arounder in the peloton today if you count cyclocross as well. But otherwise then Pogačar's got the upper hand on him just like everyone else. Apparently though Pog has done some cyclocross at the start of season, so maybe he'd best Wout van Aert there too? Regardless Wout van Aert's coming at the tour after a strong classics season despite "Woutgate" after gifting a slot to Christophe LaPorte at Gent Wevelgem.

Wout van Aert will likely be targeting the green jersey again, and winning sprints helps in that regard. But if push comes to shove with Vingegaard and he's facing the heat, then WVA will most likely have to place his Jumbo Visma domestique duties above la maillort vert. Not the worst thing, as he could just become a stage hunter at that point and win even more spints.

Number 9 - Bryan Coquard (31) - Cofidis

Cofidis may not have the strongest team, specifically the strongest general classification contender, going to the Tour, but that could prove to be their benefit, allowing them to focus on winning stages with Coquard and Geschke trying to do a repeat of basically winning KOM of the non GC riders.

Coquard has faired rather well this year taking three wins, finishing second twice, and a few top tens. Coquard did the Vuelta last year instead of the Tour, having last completed the nine stages of the sprinters Tour de France, also known as "all the stages the sprinters could do before the hills came".

And we mean, he's French, so that's got to give him a 10% boost to his stats, especially on the first day when the French come out in numbers.

Coquard doesn't necessarily like a lead out, and manages to perform well regardless of whether he gets one or not, managing to slipstream himself through the final bunch.

Number 8 - Jordi Meeus (24) - BORA

Why is BORA bringing two top sprinters to the same tour? Are they going to swap every day who's leading out who? Probably not going to work super well given that being a solid lead out bae like Danny van Poppel isn't the same as being the top sprinter.

We'll see BORA's strategy when the action kicks off, but we're still a little surprised. Through out the entire season BORA has actively tried to ensure the two's (Meeus and Bennett's) program's don't overlap.

The Belgian has performed well though this season, but never quite managed to nag the top slot other than a 1.1 one day race at Circuit de Charleroi Wallonie. Given it's below World Tour and Pro level we're not lending much weight to that. Trying to prove us wrong today at the Brussels Classic 1.Pro he almost snagged 1rst, but lost to a competitor further down the list.

Recently at the end of April he's managed to pick up two third slots at the Tour of Norway (which didn't have the strongest start list however). Earlier in the year he had a couple podium finishes at Volta Algarve, but his two big world tour stage races of Tirreno - Adriatico and Santos Tour Down Under (the latter he DNS to be fair) never performed superbly.

Number 7 - Sam Bennett (32) - BORA

BORA's second hotshot, the Irish sprinter has been performing decently after his little hop back and forth between BORA and Quickstep. This year, Bennet's had one win, the first race he did for the season, a Vuelta San Juan, following it up with a 4th and 3rd directly after, and then a 2nd placed finish on the penultimate stage.

Since then he's started to drag his feet a little - but not by much. Bennett followed up his performance at San Juan with a strong UAE tour, narrowly missing out winning a stage twice. Once again at Paris Nice, he almost secured the first stage and was in the running on the fifth, but never managed to take a win.

Overall though, on the stages where sprinter's could perform, he's almost always ended up on the podium or close there to it.

So we think if BORA can figure out who is riding for who, Bennett could prove to be a hot commodity in those bunch sprints.

Number 6 - Caleb Ewan (28) - Lotto Dstny

Ah, the small yet powerful Caleb! We wonder if he'll be wearing that distinctive black helmet with white dots. Or is it a white helmet with black dots? We can't remember, regardless though it's distinctive and you'll be able to pull Caleb out from the crowd. We bet that Caleb also hopes he can pull himself out from the crowd, specifically the final sprint crowd.

We were concerned with Caleb's performance earlier in the year but he's been coming into supreme form in the later season and could be peaking at just the right time. Maybe it was getting sick from all his kiddos that through him on training plan at the start.

Caleb still started decently with a 2nd at the Tour Down Under and being in contention for a few stages. He also got the short end of the stick, or short end of the bike if we dare say, at the first stage of the UAE Tour where the photo finish was 100% equal with Tim Merlier. We still stand by they should have done a 1km sprint as the UCI rules state for ties.

With decent performances at Tour de Hongrie, and finally a win at Van Merkstejin Fences Classic, followed by a second at Ronde van Limburg we're excited to see if he can translate his recent form to the Tour. At worst he can lead out Cavendish for fun 🙃

Number 5 - Arnaud Démare (31) - Groupama FDJ

Groupama is coming to the Tour with an incredibly promising team with the likes of Pinot, Madouas, Gaudu and Küng. We're really only seeing one domestique of Geniets. But what is he going to do, pull the entire stage? We guess if Küng isn't time trialing to save his contract he'll help out. And if Pinot's not too worried about his pregnant cows and sheep, and not wanting to battle Geschke for King of the Mountain he'll throw in a pull or two for Gaudu.

But we're getting sidetracked. A little bit. Because who's going to lead out Démare? Probably Küng. But we'll see. Should prove to be interesting.

Just as interesting as Démare's recent year, with him slowly building and getting up to speed it looks like, just in time for the Tour. Démare had a weak showing at the tour down in UAE at the start of the year, but has since then been in the running in a few sprints at Pays de la Loire Tour, and had a standout performance at Boucles de lay Mayenne, winning a stage, and being in the top six in all other stage, taking the green jersey to boot.

Demare tends to like to go long in sprints, which may be beneficial for the Tour given the number of quality sprinters headed there. It also may be just the opposite however, allowing the other sprinters to draft off his wheel before punching through for the win at the line.

Today, the day of writing, he managed to secure a win at the Brussel's classic with strong competition and defeated number 7 Jordi Meeus on the line. It was the 98th win of his career. Looking solid for the Tour, especially as a Frenchman.

Number 4 - Fabio Jakobsen (26) - Soudal - Quick Step

Jakobsen, the 26 year old Dutchman from Quick Step has had a strong showing at least once in almost all of the races he's entered this season. Jakobsen achieved a win at his second race of the season in San Juan and the followed that up with a second and fourth later in the stage race.

At Volta Algarve he got a fourth, at Tirreno - Adriatico a win on stage two, and at Tour de Hongri took the win, also on the second stage.

Number 3 - Mads Pedersen (27) - Lidl - Trek

Boy oh boy, has Pedersen been having a season. Not only that, but he's shown he can somewhat climb, surviving until Stage 13 at the Giro this year, the stage they had to modify due to "extreme weather". Really they modified it because the rider's were tired. We're being slightly facetious. There's a lot of gray area that needs to be dealt with respect to the CPA voting process.

And while the Giro didn't have a strong sprint crowd, he did manage to win a stage along with a second, third and two fourth place finishes. Pedersen had a strong showing at each of the spring classics he attended, which cannot be said for everyone else on this list. Pedersen finished 4th at Paris Roubaix, 3rd at RVV, 5th at Dwars door, 5th at Gent Wevelgem, and 6th at Milano San Remo. An impressive palmares already, but to top it off at the Paris Nice stage race took a stage at each spot of the podium respectively (1/2/3).

At his first stage race of the year, Tour du Gard he took a win and second on the first race of his calendar year.

Number 2 - Dylan Groenewegen (29) - Jayco Alula

What can we say about Groenewegen other than this Dutchman is fast when he gets going. Groenewegen has won five Tour de France in his career and we're sure he'd like to take even more as a newly minted 30 year old (his birthday's on the equinox).

Groenewegen took the points jersey, a stage, and a few other top slots at the sprinter's Tour de France, aka the Saudi Tour, aka the echelon Tour, Groenewegen's first stage race of the year.

Groenewegen followed that up with a win at that UAE Tour against strong competition, and almost always being in the running for every other potential sprint stage that followed.

At Tirreno Adriatico he narrowly missed taking stage seven, being just behind the next sprinter on this list. Another strong highlight was finishing fourth at Scheldeprijs. Fourth you say? That's out of the top three. Not even a podium. We wouldn't win anything on our each way bets. Fair enough, but it is colloquially known as the sprinter's World Champs, and fourth isn't too shabby.

Groenewegen most recent performances have looked strong as well, with a 1rst on stage one of Tour de Hongrie, and a win at the Veenendaal classic.

Number 1 - Jasper Philipsen - Alpecin (25) - Deceuninck

The man, the myth, the legend. Not quite. But Philipsen has had an superbly strong season thus far. He may not have completed a whole bunch of races compared to his competitors on this list, but as Matteo Jorgenson said in a recent interview, "being close doesn't matter". And that's true. Especially for our bets. And if you're concerned about your bets then Philipsen is your man.

When it's possible for a sprint, and he's in the running, he has achieved a podium in all but one event, narrowly missing it at Dwars door Vlaanderen and finished fourth.

Otherwise he's had four wins, one being at Scheldeprisj, the World Champs for sprinters. On top of that he's finished 2nd 3 times, with one of those coming at the renowned Paris Roubaix.

And the results have been at high calibre events with high calibre competitors like at Tirreno Adriatico a World Tour stage race.

Oh yah - Mark Cavendish

Yah we'll give a shout out to Cavendish. Mainly to satisfy the English speaking audience who probably only have heard of him and potentially Ewan on this list. Maybe Bennett, but that's more likely to the kerfuffle with Patrick Lefevere in the media the prior years.

At the end of the day though, we hope Cavendish picks up his thirty fifth win and solely takes the record on hit shoulders rather than Mercx. This new era of cycling needs a new champion sprinter in our opinion. Even if he is headed out the door in a few months.

Cavendish has proved remarkably adept at squeaking in to potentially close wins despite the lack of a lead out train. Cees Bol is going, unlike the Giro, and we hope the two of them can finally work their kinks out and that Cav is flying. Or Kwiatkowski can take the reins from G and lead him out on the final day.

Want more analysis of the caveats of professional cycling? Want to learn about cycling race tactics with play by play diagrams? Grab a copy of The Ultimate Guide to Modern Cycling .

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Top 10 Sprinters at 2021 Tour de France

Mathew Mitchell

• Published on June 22, 2021
• in Men's Cycling

Mark Cavendish

Team: Deceuninck-Quick Step 2021 Victories: 5 Tour de France Stage Wins: 30

Table of Contents

Mark Cavendish is back! 2nd only to Merckx in terms of stage wins and 1st when you take out time trials, Cavendish is statistically the best sprinter in the Tour de France ever. His last stage victory came back in 2016 and it’s been a hard road back to form for the British rider. He needs 4 stages to catch Eddy Merckx which feels ambitious, it could be his last chance.

Peter Sagan

Team: Bora-Hansgrohe 2021 Victories: 4 Tour de France Stage Wins: 12

The king of the green jersey was dethroned in 2020 for the first time since a controversial disqualification in 2017. Sagan has won the green jersey 7 times, including 5 straight from 2012 to 2016. Despite reports that he’d lost a yard of pace compared to his rivals, Peter Sagan continues to win races. He took the points jersey at the Giro d’Italia this season and will want to repeat that at the Tour de France.

Team: Lotto Soudal 2021 Victories: 5 Tour de France Stage Wins: 5

Ewan is a tough sprinter to rely on. At times he appears to be the world’s best but then will suddenly go missing in action. He took 2 Giro d’Italia stages earlier in the year before controversially (to some) leaving the race. Caleb Ewan won 2 stages in 2020’s Tour de France but would dearly like to win in Paris again like he did in 2019’s race.

Wout van Aert

Team: Team Jumbo-Visma 2021 Victories: 5 Tour de France Stage Wins: 3

Free Wout! It feels like Van Aert has a great shout to stroll to victory in the green jersey competition. However, he’s been press-ganging into service for Primoz Roglic’s GC ambitions at the Tour de France. The cyclocross world champion took his first Tour de France in 2019, beating the likes of Viviani, Ewan and Sagan in a straight sprint. He got let off the leash to perform a similar job in Stage 5 last season before taking advantage of the absence of sprint specialists to win the lumpy Stage 7. We’ll certainly see brief flashes of what Van Aert can do.

Arnaud Demare

Team: Groupama-FDJ 2021 Victories: 8 Tour de France Stage Wins: 2

Demare is some people’s top tip for the green jersey in this year’s Tour de France. He’s been more successful in the Giro d’Italia previously, with 5 stages in the last two years thereafter eschewing the Tour since 2018. The 2020 Giro d’Italia points jersey winner has been in good form in 2021, taking 8 victories and will take on Sagan in the battle for green. Demare won 3 stages at Boucles de la Mayenne, which also saw him win the GC and points jersey.

Tim Merlier

Team: Alpecin-Fenix 2021 Victories: 6 Tour de France Stage Wins: 0

There’s a bit of a battle for sprint supremacy on the Alpecin-Fenix team. Merlier has been successful with 6 wins this season, although they’re largely in tough Belgian one-day races rather than stage races. He’s got the small matter of Mathieu van der Poel on his team who will want opportunities and also Jasper Philipsen will be knocking on the door too. In an ideal world all 3 would combine into an amazing lead-out train but that feels unlikely.

Sonny Colbrelli

Team: Bahrain-Victorious 2021 Victories: 3 Tour de France Stage Wins: 0

Colbrelli is being seen as a great shout for the green jersey in this year’s Tour de France despite not taking a stage victory in 4 previous editions. His impressive form at the Tour de Romandie and Criterium du Dauphine saw Colbrelli take the points jerseys at both races and a stage victory in each race. His consistency is what people have noted though, with 4 more second places. That used to be the preserve of Peter Sagan at his peak at the Tour, where numerous 2nd places would set up a tilt at the green jersey in Paris.

Mads Pedersen

Team: Trek-Segafredo 2021 Victories: 1 Tour de France Stage Wins: 0

The former World Champion is coming into his own as a similar but better version of Tim Merlier. After winning Gent Wevelgem last season he followed that up by winning Kuurne Brussels Kuurne at the start of 2021. That run of form continued with podiums of 2 stages at Paris Nice and then 2nd at the Bredene Koksijde Classic. Pedersen is a better shout on tough days for the sprinters rather than the flat, drill to the line.

Bryan Coquard

Team: B&B Hotels p/b KTM 2021 Victories: 0 Tour de France Stage Wins: 0

Bryan Coquard is a bit of a budget Peter Sagan. He does a great job in the Coupe de France races but has never taken a grand tour stage victory. His best run was in 2016 where he hardly seemed to be out of the top-10 in the first week and looked to be giving Sagan a run for his money. A switch of teams meant he wasn’t seen at the tour de France until 2020. He returned to his old ways with 6 top-10 finishes.

Nacer Bouhanni

Team: Team Arkea Samsic 2021 Victories: 0 Tour de France Stage Wins: 0

It’s somewhat surprising that Nacer Bouhanni has never won a Tour de France stage. He’s taken 3 stages each at the Giro and Vuelta but circumstances have intervened at the Tour. Bouhanni famously missed the 2016 Tour de France after getting into a hotel altercation that needed an operation. His last Tour was in 2017 as Cofidis favoured other riders. Bouhanni also got into trouble in 2021, getting suspended for 2 months after sticking Jake Stewart in the barriers back in March. He’s only just returned to racing and was 5th behind Cavendish and Merlier in the Belgium Tour.

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Tour de France 2022 sprinters: Analysing the form of the fast-men so far

A closer look at the form of the key sprinters at the 2022 Tour de France

Words: Stephen Puddicombe

There's still a long way to go in the Tour de France 2022, but there could be quite a wait until we see the next full-on bunch finish if the sprint teams can't get it together on stage four. Until week two in fact.

Stages two and three in Denmark gave us two sprint showdowns, with two Dutch winners; Fabio Jakobsen and Dylan Groenewegen. Both looked back to their best, while others languished in chaotic finishes or simply didn't have the strength to match them.

Here we'll analyse the form of the sprinters of the Tour so far, and who looks best set to take the victory the next time the peloton reaches a sprint finish.

Fabio Jakobsen

It’s been a tale of two final corners for Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl in the sprints so far — the first on stage two, when Yves Lampaert and Michael Mørkøv led the peloton to help deliver Fabio Jakobsen to victory; and the second the following day, when the team once again made it to the decisive bend at the front with Florian Sénéchal and Mørkøv, only for Jakobsen to lose their wheel and fall out of contention.

Fabio Jakobsen celebrates victory on stage two of the 2022 Tour de France (Getty Images)

Despite looking so strong to get into these front positions, the famed Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl lead-out hasn’t been firing on all cylinders come the final metres of the sprints by their own very high standards. Usually so aware and attentive, Mørkøv confessed to not realising that Jakobsen wasn’t on his wheel when he proceeded to lead out the sprint on stage three, and even when Jakobsen won the day before he had to come from a few wheels behind to do so.

>>> Tour de France 2022 route: everything you need to know

The way the Dutchman stormed past the riders ahead of him to take his first ever Tour stage win that day regardless suggests he’s in flying form, and you sense that if Quick-Step can perfect the lead-out, then he’ll be very difficult to beat in the future sprints. 

Dylan Groenewegen

When Dylan Groenewegen abandoned the Critérium du Dauphiné last month, having been unceremoniously dropped on all three of the stages he might have hoped to sprint for victory on, the prospects of taking a stage at the Tour de France looked remote. But having struggled so much there, Groenewegen suddenly looked like his old self on stage three, where he produced a lethal acceleration to take his first WorldTour victory since his ban in 2020. 

Dylan Groenewegen sprints to victory on stage three of the 2022 Tour de France  (James Startt)

The flat parcours in Denmark certainly helped his chances, and he’ll have a harder time during the hillier potential sprint stages to come. But BikeExchange-Jayco’s decision to prioritise leading him out for the sprints rather than target the green jersey with Michael Matthews has been justified, and Groenewegen can at last be counted among the world’s elite pure sprinters once again. 

Wout van Aert

Though the rather fanciful notion that all-rounder extraordinaire Wout van Aert could in theory win every stage of the Tour de France has become impossible this year, he is currently on track to finish second-place in every stage. 

Wout van Aert in yellow after stage two of the 2022 Tour de France  (James Startt)

This string of runner-up finishes might be frustrating the Belgian, who dearly wants a stage win to his name, but it does mean he’s well on his way to achieving his target of winning the green jersey. His ability to always be in the mix and position himself every sprint despite the unpredictable rough and tumble of a bunch finish is reminiscent of Peter Sagan during his run of seven victories in that classification, and his grip on the jersey — as well as his chances of a stage win —should be strengthened by the parcours of the more selective sprint stages to come. 

Peter Sagan

Due to the emergence of new stars and his own underwhelming form, Peter Sagan entered this Tour de France with perhaps the least amount of fanfare of any of his nine appearances. But it hasn’t taken him long to be back among the headlines, particularly when he directed an accusatory finger wag towards Wout van Aert after the stage three sprint, followed by his Jose Mourinho-esque ‘I cannot comment” post-race interview.  

Peter Sagan at the start of stage two of the 2022 Tour de France (James Startt)

His form has looked good too, sprinting for sixth in Nyborg and fourth in Sønderborg in the manner in which he used to hoover up points in the points classification. The real test for him will come in the hillier terrain, considering that he was routinely dropped at the recent Tour de Suisse on the kind of climbs he used to relish. If he can, then he’ll be a contender to regain his points classification crown, and a mouth-watering contest between him as the old master against new pretender Van Aert could be on the cards.  

Jasper Philipsen  

Having been selected ahead of Tim Merlier, who won stages in both of his Grand Tour appearances last year, Jasper Philipsen is under pressure to perform for Alpecin-Deceuninck. So far he hasn’t made much of an impression, finishing fifth in Nyborg and third in Sønderborg, but the amount of ground he made up sprinting from far back in the latter suggests the 24-year-old has strong legs. 

He hasn’t been contesting the intermediate sprints, indicating that stage wins are his sole ambition this Tour. If he can position himself better in the future sprints — perhaps with the assistance of the one and only Mathieu van der Poel, whose match was burnt a little early on stage three in a drag race against Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl's lead-out a few kilometres from the finish — that feat is certainly attainable. 

Mads Pedersen

More than anything, Mads Pedersen would have dearly loved to have either taken a stage or wore the yellow jersey while still on his home Danish roads. He seriously threatened to do so on stage two when he opened up the sprint and remained at the front until the very last metres, when Van Aert and then Jakobsen edged him out of victory.

Mads Pedersen finishes third on stage two of the 2022 Tour de France (Getty Images)

But while his primary ambition for this year’s race has been left unfulfilled, his ride that day proves he can mix it up with the very best sprinters in a pure bunch sprint. He’ll still be on the hunt for stage wins, and opportunities await not just in the classics specialist-friendly stages, but also the flat sprinter stages. 

Ewan must have felt he was due a break after his string of misfortune recently, but whichever Gods he has displeased are clearly not yet appeased. On stage two he suffered yet another ill-timed mechanical during the sprint, and was then denied a smooth run to the line the following day when he was boxed into the barrier by Peter Sagan.

Caleb Ewan at the 2022 Tour de France (Getty Images)

Still, this constitutes a better start than either of his last two Grand Tours, in which by this point he had already suffered a bad crash. In truth we still don’t know what kind of form he’s in, but the fact he’s been chasing green jersey points at the intermediate sprints suggests he believes himself to be in good nick, and intends to make it all the way to Paris.  

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10 Tour de France top tips to sprint like a pro

First Published Jul 23, 2023

Going fast is what attracts many people to cycling with the feeling of speed being addictive. Tour de France sprinters are a unique type of rider and they not only possess tremendous speed but are also willing to take some big risks. But, what can you learn from the sprinters at the Tour de France about how to get really fast and how to set up your bike for pure speed?

Pic above: Zac Williams SWpix.com

Sprinters are capable of generating explosive speed over short distances but having the best sprint at the end of a road race is about more than just having the highest peak power. 

Tour de France sprinters must also have the endurance to climb the high mountains and complete every stage if they want to be in with a chance of winning on the Champs-Élysées.  

Your bike setup, positioning and tactics all have a part to play so here are 10 top tips to sprint like a pro and get you the win at that next town sign sprint. 

1. Gears that work properly 

> All the gear? Check out the gearing choices of the pros at the Tour de France

First and foremost, to be able to unleash the best sprint you can you're going to need to trust your drivetrain. A drivetrain that's in good working order should shift seamlessly with silky-smooth pedalling. 

However, this isn't always the case because your chainrings, cassette and chain can all wear which leads to poor shifting and lost efficiency. If you find your chain skipping a gear this could also be because your gears aren't indexed properly. 

You need to be able to trust your drivetrain fully so that when you decide to put the power down, you can 100% go for it. 

Even the pros sometimes have problems. On Stage 7 of this year's Tour de France, Mark Cavendish reported that he had a problem with his gears while sprinting, eventually finishing second to Jasper Philipsen.

2. Choose the right gear for the job

> Should you run a 1x set-up on your road bike?

After ensuring your gears are working properly, you're going to want to choose the right gear for the job. When you're coming into the final few hundred metres of a road race you'll often hear people changing down their gears which is a good indication they could be about to launch something. 

Sometimes it's better to choose a gear sooner rather than later so that you have time to react and can start putting the power down as soon as possible. The gear you choose should have enough resistance in the drivetrain to allow for the burst but you will likely have to shift down the cassette once you get on top of the gear. 

Many recreational riders will have a 50x11 or 52x11 as their largest gear ratio, (it'll depend on the brand of groupset used as well as the individual's preference) but the pros these days normally ride with a 54-tooth outer chainring with the sprinters often going for something even larger.

3. Decide where the wind is coming from 

> Beat the wind on your bike: 7 route planning hacks to increase average speed and make windy rides more enjoyable

Wind conditions can significantly affect sprinting performance, and adapting accordingly is vital. Sprinters at the Tour de France will employ strategies to navigate windy conditions during sprints and are fortunate in that they often have a team around them who they can draft. 

If, like most of us, you don't have a team around you, you'll need to decide where the wind is coming from before you start your sprint. If there's a headwind you should leave your sprint late and if there's a tailwind you can risk going earlier.  

4. Get yourself a Van der Poel 

> Canyon unveils Mathieu van der Poel edition Aeroad CFR

Jasper Philipsen has been powering to stage victories at this year's Tour de France, but this wouldn't have been possible without his lead-out man Mathieu van der Poel. 

Speaking of lead-outs, getting yourself a sprint train is a great way to go faster. Rope in a few friends and set them to the task. They might not be too keen at first, but you can usually bribe them with cake.

Doing some lead-outs with friends is great fun with each person’s turn getting shorter and faster until you finish it off with a glorious dash to a random sign on the edge of town.

5. Deep wheels 

> Are expensive carbon wheels worth it? Testing deep carbon rims vs classic aluminium

Switching to deeper wheels isn't always necessary but Tour de France sprints happen at speeds of over 60km/h so aerodynamics are exponentially more important and the margins of victory are small. 

If you take a look at a photo finish image from a sprint stage, you’re unlikely to see any wheels under 40mm deep in the top 10.

Using deeper wheels can be more aero, making it easier to hold onto speed. Deep wheels can also be far stiffer than shallower-section wheels, and that comes in handy when bikes are getting thrown around in a sprint finish.

6. Get low at the front

The easiest way to make yourself faster and bring up your speed is to get more of yourself out of the wind. The most aero bike on the planet isn't going to help a great deal if your body – which is responsible for the vast majority of drag – is acting like a giant sail to hold you back.

Sprinters often have long and low front-end setups that allow them to get head low when going for the line. Mark Cavendish (who has crashed out of the Tour this year) has a lower peak power than some of his sprint rivals, but he is able to tuck himself down very low to reduce resistance.

Be careful with going low. You might be far faster for 100m, but throwing your back out just to reach the drops won't do you any good. If you are moving your position, take things slowly with incremental changes.

7. Tighten up your shoes 

> Check out the best road cycling shoes 2023 

Many riders have rituals and something you see many sprinters doing is turning the dials on their shoes a few clicks before a big sprint. 

This isn't necessarily the most comfortable for a full day in the saddle, but a more secure shoe is favoured at higher power outputs.

8. Grippy bar tape

> Check out the best bar tapes for cycling 2023 

Grippy bar tape provides a secure and firm hold on the handlebars, improving the control and handling of the bike which is essential for Tour de France sprinters when they're manoeuvring through non-existent gaps at high speeds. 

A stable grip on the handlebars also facilitates efficient power transfer and so grippy bar tape allows you to exert force without worrying about your hands slipping. 

9. Specific training

> Can you get fit by cramming all of your riding into the weekend?

You can also do efforts on and off the bike to increase your peak power. On the bike, work can consist of a mix of high-speed sprints with a fast cadence and standing starts where you power a big gear up from almost stationary to top speed. Throw in a few sprints for town signs and you've got yourself a basic training session.

Off the bike, you can head to the gym to pump some iron. You can walk past all the big boys doing bicep curls and head straight for the squat rack and leg press machines.

Seeing as most of us are rather useless at lifting weights, you'll want to work on technique first to avoid injury before building the weight slowly.

10. Momentum is your friend 

A sprint can come down to millimetres so it might seem crazy to hear that leaving a gap between you and the rider in front could be exactly what you need to win a sprint. 

Whilst there's a time and a place for sitting tight on the wheel in front to hide from the wind, there are also times when it's good to leave a gap, often referred to as 'rushing the gap' or 'a slingshot'. 

A gap between you and the person in front gives you the opportunity to launch your sprint while still in their draft and by the time you need to come out of the wind to go past them, you will have reached a far greater speed and likely be moving too fast to be caught. 

Which tips will you be using to help you win your next town sign sprint? Let us know in the comments section below... 

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Without doubt, the best way to make my bike go faster in a sprint is to get someone else to ride it.

This also applies to climbing and, indeed, any other type of cycling or terrain.

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Tour de France

Tour de france: best sprinters, favorites for green – sean kelly has the answers, 'ewan has to take something out of this tour, otherwise it’s starting to look like a really disastrous season for him,' says former green jersey king..

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Even though both Mark Cavendish and Sam Bennett will watch this year’s Tour de France from the comfort of their respective sofas, there’s still an incredible depth of talent when it comes to the sprinters and the favorites for the green jersey in this year’s race.

From Fabio Jakobsen and Caleb Ewan to Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert , the startline is packed with options for the flat stages and the race for the green.

A number of the sprinters will not have designs on the green jersey, and the smart money will be on van Aert taking green to Paris if his knee remains pain free.

That said, who better to analyze the fastmen and points chasers than five time stage winner and four time green jersey holder Sean Kelly .

• How to watch the Tour de France: Online, streaming, and on television
• Tour de France route map
• Tour de France essential race preview: Who will win the yellow jersey?

“Jakobsen for me is going to be the best sprinter at the Tour,” Kelly told VeloNews on the eve of the Tour de France. “Then you have Jasper Philipsen for consideration as well. What gives Jakobsen the edge is that he has by far the best lead out in the race. Sometimes though, in the Tour, you can be looking good in the build up and then all of a sudden another rider gets incredible form at the right time.”

The Eurosport commentator acknowledges that Jakobsen had never raced the Tour de France, and that the pressure in July is altogether something different to that of the Vuelta, where the Dutch rider has been successful in the past. Not to mention the fact that Quick-Step’s roster has gone all-in on Jakobsen with no GC rider or back-up sprinter. For Kelly, that’s both a positive and a negative.

“For Jakobsen, the team is entirely for him. Like I said, he has the best lead out by far. There’s no GC card at QuickStep, so it’s all for the Dutch rider. He’s the boy to beat, and if you beat Jakobsen you’ve probably won. I do think that Philipsen will push him close though. It’s always about getting it perfectly right in the sprints and Philipsen is capable of that.”

On the subject of pressure, Kelly highlighted Caleb Ewan as a person of interest. The Australian has struggled for major wins this year and left the Giro d’Italia empty-handed back in May. Coupled with the fact that Lotto-Soudal are struggling for the WorldTour existence and that Ewan will head to the race with a make-shift leadout train, Kelly believes that the 27-year-old will need to prove a point and turn his campaign around at the Tour.

“For Ewan, I think that he could be under a lot of pressure,” Kelly told VeloNews .

“Especially after the Giro that he had. He has to take something out of this Tour, otherwise it’s starting to look like a really disastrous season for him. He needs the best leadout possible and I’m not sure that we can actually call it that. I think the plan will be to drop him off at a certain point and then let him follow the other trains. I don’t think Lotto can do that.”

Kelly also tipped two under-the-radar sprinters for possible success with Dylan Groenewegan, making his first Tour start since 2019, and Alberto Dainese, who won his maiden grand tour stage at the Giro earlier this year.

“For me, Groenewegen is one rider who could come good,” Kelly said. “He’s been doing good races, difficult races, and that might give him a good run of form at the right time. We just need to see if he can reach that top, top level again. Dainise can come out of the pack and take a stage maybe but to be consistent everyday you have to get through the mountains and the guys like him who raced the Giro might really suffer in the second half of the Tour.”

According to Kelly, while there are number of world class sprinters on the startline, none of them should trouble van Aert for the green jersey.

Despite a nagging knee injury on the eve of the Tour de France the Belgian is the red hot favorite to win the green jersey. He can sprint, he can attack from the bunch, and he can climb with the best, as he showed during a dramatic Ventoux stage win in last year’s race.

Van Aert may not have the pure speed of some of the sprinters, Kelly told VeloNews , but his all-round consistency is second to none.

“Then you have van Aert who is going for a lot of the sprints too. When you look at the team, and the guys around him who can give him a good turn and put him into position, he’s a guy who can be dropped off in the last kilometer and he can even win against the fastest guys. Especially if the sprint is slightly uphill,” said Kelly.

“Van Aert has to be the favorite for the green jersey. We saw that he’s capable of it in 2021 when he was in the breaks and racing for the sprints. He’s not like the pure sprinters who sit back and wait, he can pick up points in the big mountain stages. He’s an all-rounder so unless he’s put at the complete services of Roglic, he’s the rider to beat. I think he’ll get a free-hand for his own race. I think that van Aert will dominate, a bit like Sagan did. I think that after two weeks the green jersey will be over for everyone else.”

On paper Mathieu van der Poel might have pushed van Aert for the green jersey but the fact that the Dutch rider already raced the Giro and that Philipsen will lead Alpecin-Fenix in the sprints effectively neutralizes one of van Aert’s potential rivals.

“For van der Poel, as we saw at the Giro, he didn’t get too involved in the bunch sprints. Instead he waited and he picked his days and went in breaks. He’s the one who just gets bored easily and then goes in the break and blows up the race. He’ll have to race more conservatively if he’s thinking of green but for any sprint that’s slightly uphill, he has a good chance. On the real pure sprint stages I can’t see him up there fighting for the win.”

And on Peter Sagan, the rider who has set the record for green jersey wins with seven, Kelly believes that the 32-year-old is unlikely to take a stage or compete properly for green due to recent health issues and a decline in his power over the last few years.

“No, no, no. I don’t think so. He will be there with fourth and fifth, but if he can win against these guys then it would be a huge surprise to me. It would be a major turnaround and I don’t think he has that sprint anymore. And for green, I think that he’ll struggle on the flatter stages, and then on the stages where he would have once picked up points in the medium mountains, I don’t think that he’ll be there,” Kelly said.

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\"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/gravel\/gravel-gear\/new-bike-bags-at-this-years-sea-otter\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"time to plan your next trip: 5 companies with new bike bags at sea otter\"}}\u0027>\n time to plan your next trip: 5 companies with new bike bags at sea otter\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"over 114,000 acres of maine wilderness are now open to gravel biking","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/gravel\/maine-promotes-gravel-cycling\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/gravel\/maine-promotes-gravel-cycling\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"over 114,000 acres of maine wilderness are now open to gravel biking\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/gravel\/maine-promotes-gravel-cycling\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", 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cargo of all kinds\"}}\u0027>\n sea otter randoms: the one about carrying cargo of all kinds\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"7 new bikes we found at sea otter","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/7-new-bikes-we-found-at-sea-otter\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/7-new-bikes-we-found-at-sea-otter\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"7 new bikes we found at sea otter\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/7-new-bikes-we-found-at-sea-otter\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"7 new bikes we found at sea otter\"}}\u0027>\n 7 new bikes we found at sea otter\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"tadej poga\u010dar seizes li\u00e8ge-bastogne-li\u00e8ge with dominant solo display","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/tadej-pogacar-seizes-liege-bastogne-liege-with-dominant-solo-display\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/tadej-pogacar-seizes-liege-bastogne-liege-with-dominant-solo-display\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"tadej poga\u010dar seizes li\u00e8ge-bastogne-li\u00e8ge with dominant solo display\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/tadej-pogacar-seizes-liege-bastogne-liege-with-dominant-solo-display\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"tadej poga\u010dar seizes li\u00e8ge-bastogne-li\u00e8ge with dominant solo display\"}}\u0027>\n tadej poga\u010dar seizes li\u00e8ge-bastogne-li\u00e8ge with dominant solo display\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"tom pidcock leaves li\u00e8ge in frustration: \u2018i was setting all-time power numbers\u2019","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/tom-pidcock-leaves-liege-in-frustration-i-was-setting-all-time-power-numbers\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/tom-pidcock-leaves-liege-in-frustration-i-was-setting-all-time-power-numbers\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"tom pidcock leaves li\u00e8ge in frustration: \u2018i was setting all-time power numbers\u2019\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/tom-pidcock-leaves-liege-in-frustration-i-was-setting-all-time-power-numbers\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"tom pidcock leaves li\u00e8ge in frustration: \u2018i was setting all-time power numbers\u2019\"}}\u0027>\n tom pidcock leaves li\u00e8ge in frustration: \u2018i was setting all-time power numbers\u2019\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"\u2018cycling sucks sometimes\u2019: what poga\u010dar, van der poel and pidcock said before li\u00e8ge-bastogne-li\u00e8ge","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/cycling-sucks-sometimes-what-pogacar-van-der-poel-and-pidcock-said-before-liege-bastogne-liege\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/cycling-sucks-sometimes-what-pogacar-van-der-poel-and-pidcock-said-before-liege-bastogne-liege\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"\u2018cycling sucks sometimes\u2019: what poga\u010dar, van der poel and pidcock said before li\u00e8ge-bastogne-li\u00e8ge\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/cycling-sucks-sometimes-what-pogacar-van-der-poel-and-pidcock-said-before-liege-bastogne-liege\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"\u2018cycling sucks sometimes\u2019: what poga\u010dar, van der poel and pidcock said before li\u00e8ge-bastogne-li\u00e8ge\"}}\u0027>\n \u2018cycling sucks sometimes\u2019: what poga\u010dar, van der poel and pidcock said before li\u00e8ge-bastogne-li\u00e8ge\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"gallery: 16 attention grabbing bikes from the sea otter classic","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/16-attention-grabbing-bikes-sea-otter-classic\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/16-attention-grabbing-bikes-sea-otter-classic\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"gallery: 16 attention grabbing bikes from the sea otter classic\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/16-attention-grabbing-bikes-sea-otter-classic\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"gallery: 16 attention grabbing bikes from the sea otter classic\"}}\u0027>\n gallery: 16 attention grabbing bikes from the sea otter classic\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"can ineos grenadiers take it to tadej poga\u010dar at the giro d\u2019italia \u2018our plan is to be aggressive\u2019","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/can-geraint-thomas-stop-tadej-pogacar-at-the-giro-ditalia-our-plan-is-to-be-aggressive\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/can-geraint-thomas-stop-tadej-pogacar-at-the-giro-ditalia-our-plan-is-to-be-aggressive\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"can ineos grenadiers take it to tadej poga\u010dar at the giro d\u2019italia \u2018our plan is to be aggressive\u2019\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/can-geraint-thomas-stop-tadej-pogacar-at-the-giro-ditalia-our-plan-is-to-be-aggressive\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"can ineos grenadiers take it to tadej poga\u010dar at the giro d\u2019italia \u2018our plan is to be aggressive\u2019\"}}\u0027>\n can ineos grenadiers take it to tadej poga\u010dar at the giro d\u2019italia \u2018our plan is to be aggressive\u2019\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"carapaz roars to stage win in tour de romandie as race leader ayuso blows","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/richard-carapaz-roars-to-stage-win-in-tour-de-romandie-as-race-leader-juan-ayuso-blows\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/richard-carapaz-roars-to-stage-win-in-tour-de-romandie-as-race-leader-juan-ayuso-blows\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"carapaz roars to stage win in tour de romandie as race leader ayuso blows\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/richard-carapaz-roars-to-stage-win-in-tour-de-romandie-as-race-leader-juan-ayuso-blows\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"carapaz roars to stage win in tour de romandie as race leader ayuso blows\"}}\u0027>\n carapaz roars to stage win in tour de romandie as race leader ayuso blows\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"sea otter randoms: riser handlebars, nifty racks, and tubes aren\u2019t dead","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/news\/sea-otter-randoms-riser-handlebars-nifty-racks-and-tubes-arent-dead\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/news\/sea-otter-randoms-riser-handlebars-nifty-racks-and-tubes-arent-dead\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"sea otter randoms: riser handlebars, nifty racks, and tubes aren\u2019t dead\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/news\/sea-otter-randoms-riser-handlebars-nifty-racks-and-tubes-arent-dead\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"sea otter randoms: riser handlebars, nifty racks, and tubes aren\u2019t dead\"}}\u0027>\n sea otter randoms: riser handlebars, nifty racks, and tubes aren\u2019t dead\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"mathieu van der poel realistic about quest for monument sweep: \u2018even with roubaix legs i cannot follow poga\u010dar\u2019","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/mathieu-van-der-poel-realistic-about-quest-for-fourth-monument-even-with-roubaix-legs-i-cannot-follow-pogacar-here\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/mathieu-van-der-poel-realistic-about-quest-for-fourth-monument-even-with-roubaix-legs-i-cannot-follow-pogacar-here\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"mathieu van der poel realistic about quest for monument sweep: \u2018even with roubaix legs i cannot follow poga\u010dar\u2019\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/mathieu-van-der-poel-realistic-about-quest-for-fourth-monument-even-with-roubaix-legs-i-cannot-follow-pogacar-here\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"mathieu van der poel realistic about quest for monument sweep: \u2018even with roubaix legs i cannot follow poga\u010dar\u2019\"}}\u0027>\n mathieu van der poel realistic about quest for monument sweep: \u2018even with roubaix legs i cannot follow poga\u010dar\u2019\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"xpedo\u2019s new power meter pedals are ready for the spotlight","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/xpedo-new-power-sonik-omni-and-thrust-omni-meter-pedals-sea-otter-classic\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/xpedo-new-power-sonik-omni-and-thrust-omni-meter-pedals-sea-otter-classic\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"xpedo\u2019s new power meter pedals are ready for the spotlight\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/xpedo-new-power-sonik-omni-and-thrust-omni-meter-pedals-sea-otter-classic\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"xpedo\u2019s new power meter pedals are ready for the spotlight\"}}\u0027>\n xpedo\u2019s new power meter pedals are ready for the spotlight\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"8 new shoes from giro, q36.5, shimano, fizik, lake, and crankbrothers","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/8-new-shoes-from-giro-q36-5-shimano-fizik-lake-and-crankbrothers\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/8-new-shoes-from-giro-q36-5-shimano-fizik-lake-and-crankbrothers\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"8 new shoes from giro, q36.5, shimano, fizik, lake, and crankbrothers\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/8-new-shoes-from-giro-q36-5-shimano-fizik-lake-and-crankbrothers\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"8 new shoes from giro, q36.5, shimano, fizik, lake, and crankbrothers\"}}\u0027>\n 8 new shoes from giro, q36.5, shimano, fizik, lake, and crankbrothers\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"highbar wants to revolutionize your helmet straps","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/news\/highbar-wants-to-revolutionize-your-helmet-straps\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/news\/highbar-wants-to-revolutionize-your-helmet-straps\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"highbar wants to revolutionize your helmet straps\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/news\/highbar-wants-to-revolutionize-your-helmet-straps\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"highbar wants to revolutionize your helmet straps\"}}\u0027>\n highbar wants to revolutionize your helmet straps\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"the ritchey montebello brings steel goodness to all-road","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/ritchey-montebello-brings-steel-goodness-to-all-road\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/ritchey-montebello-brings-steel-goodness-to-all-road\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"the ritchey montebello brings steel goodness to all-road\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/ritchey-montebello-brings-steel-goodness-to-all-road\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"the ritchey montebello brings steel goodness to all-road\"}}\u0027>\n the ritchey montebello brings steel goodness to all-road\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"the cadex race integrated bar is as light as it is good looking","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/cadex-race-integrated-bar-first-look\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/cadex-race-integrated-bar-first-look\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"the cadex race integrated bar is as light as it is good looking\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/cadex-race-integrated-bar-first-look\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"the cadex race integrated bar is as light as it is good looking\"}}\u0027>\n the cadex race integrated bar is as light as it is good looking\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"there are three marquee off-road races in the us this weekend. who\u2019s going where and why","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/gravel\/gravel-racing\/best-off-road-races-north-america\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/gravel\/gravel-racing\/best-off-road-races-north-america\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"there are three marquee off-road races in the us this weekend. who\u2019s going where and why\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/gravel\/gravel-racing\/best-off-road-races-north-america\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"there are three marquee off-road races in the us this weekend. who\u2019s going where and why\"}}\u0027>\n there are three marquee off-road races in the us this weekend. who\u2019s going where and why\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"the thesis n1 wants to be your sole drop bar bike for everything","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/gravel\/gravel-gear\/thesis-n1-do-everything-drop-bar-bike\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/gravel\/gravel-gear\/thesis-n1-do-everything-drop-bar-bike\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"the thesis n1 wants to be your sole drop bar bike for everything\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/gravel\/gravel-gear\/thesis-n1-do-everything-drop-bar-bike\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"the thesis n1 wants to be your sole drop bar bike for everything\"}}\u0027>\n the thesis n1 wants to be your sole drop bar bike for everything\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "}]' > >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>advertise >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>privacy policy >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>contact >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>careers >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>terms of use >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>site map >", "name": "footer-menu", "type": "link"}}'>my newsletters manage cookie preferences privacy request healthy living.

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Preview: Tour de France. World's best climbers and sprinters go head to head in a seasonal climax

From the 1st to the 24th of July the peloton will be in the roads of France, Denmark and Switzerland for the 109th edition of the Tour de France . The most iconic, popular and one of the most important races for most of the riders and teams, who will be fighting for meaningful wins over the course of three weeks.

Over the course of the three weeks there will be several classifications that the riders will be fighting for. The General Classification will see the race's best stage-racers go head to head on every single stage as they attempt to take time on each other - specially in the mountains, as will the Youth Classification contenders. In the Points Classification, the sprinters will go head to head in the bunch sprints, aswell as the intermediate sprints spread throughout the 19 road stages. As for the King of the Mountain Classification, it will be decided in the race's highest mountains, toughest Alpine and Pyrenean passes between those who go over them first.

You can check the profile and details of every stage here , the updated startlist with all the names expected to be in the race here , and the prize money that will be distributed between all teams here .

General Classification battle

The preliminary startlist will see general classification contenders as follows: Ben O'Connor, Rigoberto Urán, Damiano Caruso, Jack Haig, Jakob Fuglsang, Michael Woods, Giulio Ciccone, Louis Meintjes, Daniel Martínez, Adam Yates, Geraint Thomas, Aleksandr Vlasov, Alexey Lutsenko, Primoz Roglic , Jonas Vingegaard , Tadej Pogacar , David Gaudu, Guillaume Martin, Enric Mas and Nairo Quintana.

Important Stages

The fifth stage is a highly antecipated day. A short stage with only 153 kilometers on the menu, however 19.4 of those will take place over cobbled roads. 11 sectors to be exact, all of which in the second half of the stage. It will be an important day for the overall classification, as the tension will rise to an all-time high and crucial losses can be had if something goes wrong.

Stage seven will have the riders race into the Vosges. As is traditional the Planche des Belles Filles (7Km; 8.7%) will be the first real summit finish of the race. It will be the first opportunity for the climbers to make differences in their terrain, and will be a good gauge to measure who will be capable of fighting for the win and podium in the end.

Stage 11 will see the first big high-mountain stage. The menu isn’t complicated, with the Lacets de Montvernier (3.4Km; 8.2%), Col du Telegraphe (11.9Km; 7.1%) and Col du Galibier (17.7Km; 6.9%) taking the riders through high altitude. It will be a brutal day, as the riders will descend into Briançon and climb the Col du Granon (11.3Km; 9.2%) for the highest stage finish in the race.

Stage 12 will be the final in the Alps, as a hattrick of ascents will mark the day. The riders will early on climb the Col du Galibier (23Km; 5.1%) via the opposite direction, followed by the Col de la Croix the Fer (29Km; 5.2%), and the return of the Alpe d’Huez (13.8Km; 7.9%) for the stage finish.

Stage 17 will have a pan-flat first half, and a very hard second half. A very short stage with only 129 kilometers on the menu, however featuring the Col d’Aspin (12Km; 6.5%), the Hourquette d’Ancizan (8.2Km; 5%) and the Col de Val Louron-Azet (10.7Km; 7.7%) before the final climb. That will be into Peyragudes (8Km; 7.2%), where more gaps will be established, with the finale in the brutal ramps of the local airfield.

The final mountain day comes right after. The formula is exactly the same as the day before, with a flat first half, short distances and a combination of similar climbs in the second half with a summit finish. Here however they will be longer, with the Col de Aubisque (16.4Km; 7.1%) opening things up for the day, the Col de Spandelles (10.3Km; 8.3%) dealing further damage and then the summit finish at Hautacam (13.6Km; 7.8%) being the last ascent where the climbers can do real differences.

The final time-trial of the race will come on it’s penultimate day. The 40.7-kilometer individual challenge will be ridden between Lacapelle-Marival and Rocamadour, a rolling time-trial which is far from ideal for the specialists, with a hilly finale. Rocamadour is no stranger to high-level pro races, and the final hilltop is a familiar sight, albeit with added importance on this day.

Cycling UpToDate prediction:

**** Tadej Pogacar

*** Primoz Roglic, Jonas Vingegaard

** Daniel Martínez, Aleksandr Vlasov, Enric Mas

* Jack Haig, Geraint Thomas, Jakob Fuglsang, Adam Yates

Points Classification battle

As for the sprinters who will be hunting stages and the green jersey: Magnus Cort Nielsen, Mads Pedersen, Jasper Philipsen, Alexander Kristoff, Caleb Ewan, Wout van Aert , Fabio Jakobsen , Bryan Coquard, Dylan Groenewegen, Michael Matthews and Peter Sagan.

The two first bunch sprints will come in Denmark, after the initial time-trial. The cities of Nyborg and Sønderborg will host the finales, although tension will be sky-high and the second stage is particularly vulnerable to crosswinds.

In the fourth day of racing the peloton returns to familiar French roads. This will be a day for the sprintes, however it includes quite a few hilltops throughout the day that may spark some surprises in northwestern France.

Stage 13 will have the peloton travel from the Alps into the Massif Central. A day for the sprinters, likely, however a lot can happen and besides the possibility of a breakaway succeeding, the several rolling hills will provide platforms for attacks to surge.

The final day of the second week will see the riders travel south, from Rodez into Carcassonne. It is another day designed for the sprinters however with plenty obstacles that may see a surprise pop out.

Stage 19 will be a transition day, as the riders head north for a flat stage. It is a day on paper for the sprinters, however this late into the race it will always be more complicated to chase down breakaways.

And as traditional, the final day will feature soft distances and the classic final circuit inside of Paris, where the riders will finish the race off within the Champs-Élysées.

CyclingUpToDate prediction:

**** Wout van Aert

*** Fabio Jakobsen, Mads Pedersen

** Jasper Philipsen, Michael Matthews, Peter Sagan

* Caleb Ewan, Alexander Kristoff, Bryan Coquard, Dylan Groenewegen

Tour de France 2022 Stage Analysis | Profiles Tour de France 2022

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Tour de France 2022: 10 best riders as Jonas Vingegaard misses out on top spot - Blazin’ Saddles

Updated 26/07/2022 at 12:42 GMT

Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard was a fitting winner of a Tour de France that started in Copenhagen – but was the 25-year-old even the best rider in the race? With the dust now settled on the Champs-Elysees, Felix Lowe takes a look back at an intense three weeks and picks out the best riders of a pulsating 109th edition of the world’s biggest bike race.

‘Wow’ – Vingegaard allows Pogacar to catch up after crash in ‘incredible’ gesture

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3 hours ago

10. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma)

‘Attack, attack, attack!’ – Jumbo-Visma try to crack Pogacar in thriller

9. Simon Geschke (Cofidis)

‘Sobbing Geschke sums it up’ – Heartbreak of Cofidis rider crystallises what Tour means

8. Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) and Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar)

'We were all on our knees' - Wright gets emotional after being told he 'animated' the Tour

7. Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma)

‘Phenomenal!’ - Laporte ends French drought with shock Stage 19 win

6. Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers)

‘I dunno’ – Thomas coy on future as GC rider at Grand Tours

5. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

Philipsen destroys field to win Stage 21 in Paris, Vingegaard crowned champion

4. Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost)

‘Brilliant to see’ – Cort delights Danish crowd in polka dots

3. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)

Pogacar ‘already thinking about next year’ – Wiggins

2. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)

Vingegaard wins Stage 18 in Pyrenees as Pogacar finishes distant second

1. Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)

So then... can Wout van Aert win yellow?

Giro d'Italia 2024: Stage routes and start times, TV and live stream schedule

'don’t want to go and just get another tracksuit' - thomas aiming for third olympic medal.

Yesterday at 11:02

Van Aert 'happy to be back training outside' just four weeks after horror crash

23/04/2024 at 18:59

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Tour de France, Sprinter-Ranking: McEwen analysiert Cavendish, Ewan, Jakobsen, Groenewegen, Pedersen, Philipsen

Update 03/07/2023 um 15:02 GMT+2 Uhr

Topsprinter im Großpack sind bei der Tour de France 2023 am Start - doch wer ist der beste aus dem Kreis der schnellen Männer? Eurosport-Experte Robbie McEwen hat die Stars der Szene für sein Ranking analysiert - der Australier gewann selbst jeweils zwölf Etappen bei Tour de France und Giro d'Italia sowie drei Mal das Grüne Trikot der Frankreich-Rundfahrt und insgesamt über 100 Rennen.

Cavendish im Fokus: Experten-Analyse zu seinen Siegchancen

Sprintstar Philipsen: "Bin ein schlechter Verlierer"

Triumph auf Königsetappe: Van den Broek übernimmt Gesamtführung

Update 26/04/2024 um 17:43 Uhr

Crash von Ewan und Philipsen vorm Sprint auf der 2. Etappe

• Die Tour de France im LIvestream und auf Abruf bei discovery+

Tour-Strecke, 4. Etappe: Sprintchance am Fuß der Pyrenäen

Erster Sieg im neuen Dress: Jakobsen jubelt zum Auftakt

Update 21/04/2024 um 14:04 Uhr

Auftaktsieg in Antalya: Jakobsen sticht Konkurrenz aus

Startliste: van der poel im fokus - herzog gibt debüt.

Update 07/04/2024 um 12:05 Uhr

Tour de France: Team-by-team ratings

Our comprehensive analysis of every squad's Tour de France performance

Tour de France team ranking

After the 2020 Tour de France drew to a close in Paris on Sunday, we've all had enough time to digest the events of the past three weeks, the ins and outs, ups and down of Le Grand Boucle.

We've pored through 21 days of action to find the most memorable moments of the race, we've analysed the top 10 GC riders, checked out the prize money rankings , and we've pulled apart the peloton to find the winners and losers of the Tour.

But what about the teams themselves? With 21 stages and four jerseys up for grabs, it would've been a big ask for all 22 squads to leave France with a concrete prize. And so it proved – a select few rose to the top, others disappointed, while bad luck or a simple lack of resources saw some teams come away with very little to show for 3,484km of hard work.

8 memorable moments from the 2020 Tour de France Rating the Tour de France top 10 Philippa York's Tour de France winners and losers Pogačar, UAE Team Emirates top Tour de France prize earners

It's our final piece of analysis of this strange, delayed edition of the Tour de France. After all, the races are coming thick and fast with the Road World Championships coming up and the Classics and Giro d'Italia on the horizon, too.

Read on for our 2020 Tour de France team ratings.

AG2R La Mondiale – ★★★☆☆

Best GC: Mickaël Cherel – 26th at 1:40:51

Top results: Nans Peters – winner on stage 8

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Summary: With team leader Romain Bardet going into the race – his last Tour before leaving for Sunweb – proclaiming a goal of targeting stage wins, coming away from the race with one in the bag looks a good result for AG2R.

Bardet wasn't responsible for it though; instead it was teammate Nans Peters celebrating as he prevailed from the break on a hard day to Loudenvielle, adding to his stage win at last year's Giro.

While supposed co-leader Pierree Latour was anonymous before leaving the race injured, Bardet looked a real GC threat before his own withdrawal due to concussion after stage 13. He lay fourth overall heading into that stage, and who knows what might have been later on. Another highlight was Benoît Cosnefroy's two-week stint in the polka dot jersey, even if he couldn't sustain the challenge through the final week as stronger climbers came to the fore. (DO)

Arkéa-Samsic – ★½☆☆☆

Best GC: Warren Barguil – 14th at 31:04

Top results: Nairo Quintana – fourth on stage 4

Summary: Simply put, a Tour team built around their star addition for 2020, Nairo Quintana, had nothing to offer when the Colombian's GC bid collapsed after he was injured in a crash on stage 13. He had looked good up to that point, scoring a fourth place on Orcières-Merlettee early on, but it's another case of 'what might have been'.

Warren Barguil quietly (almost silently) rode to 14th overall, half an hour ahead of Quintana. The Frenchman scored the team's only other top 10 placing with sixth on stage 16.

We have to mention the scandal that has erupted around the team since the end of the Tour, with details emerging of a stage 17 police raid and subsequent investigation. Those involved are innocent until proven guilty, of course, but the news only adds to what ended up a very disappointing campaign. (DO)

Astana Pro Team – ★★★★☆

Best GC: Miguel Ángel López – sixth at 6:47

Top results: Alexey Lutsenko – winner on stage 6 ; Miguel Ángel López – winner on stage 17

Summary: On the face of it, Miguel Ángel López's sixth place looks a decent result for the Tour debutant – and it is – but falling from third to sixth on La Planche des Belles Filles was not how he or Astana will have wanted to end what was a very good Tour for the Kazakhstani outfit. 

Alexey Lutsenko grabbed a stage win from the break on Mont Aigoual to ensure the race was a success no matter where López ended up, and the Colombian only looked to get stronger as the race went on, too.

His highlight came on the Col de la Loze, storming to victory on the toughest climb of the Tour as a battle for yellow played out behind him. In the end, a third Grand Tour podium wasn't to be for him, but nevertheless Astana can be very happy with their three week's work. (DO)

B&B Hotels-Vital Concept – ★½☆☆☆

Best GC: Pierre Rolland – 18th at 1:08:26

Top results: Pierre Rolland – second on stage 12

Summary: Three years after their creation, Jérôme Pineau's team made their debut at the Tour de France, and gave a good account of themselves. They were unable to come away with a dream stage win, but Bryan Coquard came close with third on the crosswind stage to Lavaur, a day that apparently gave a lot of confidence to the team as a whole.

From then on, they mucked in with chasing down breaks on the sprint days and animated many of the other days. 'Attaque de Pierre Rolland' is a catchphrase formed over years of commentators’ bingo, and the Frenchman was true to his aggressive, scattergun approach at this Tour, and looked on the verge of mounting a KOM challenge in the Alps.

Kévin Reza also played a leading role in the peloton's anti-racism demonstration on the final day. Next year's Tour starts in the team's native Brittany and they'll be confident they’ve done enough to be invited back. (PF)

Bahrain McLaren – ★★★½☆

Best GC: Mikel Landa – fourth at 5:58; Damiano Caruso – tenth at 14:03

Top results: Mikel Landa – fifth on stage 9

Summary: Like 2019 when Vincenzo Nibali won the race's penultimate stage, Bahrain McLaren's Tour was salvaged late on as new Grand Tour leader Mikel Landa ascended the ranks of the top 10 to finish fourth overall in Paris.

The Spaniard, who led the new-look team and matched his previous best result , looked iffy on some stages and best of the rest behind the Slovenians on others, and ultimately jumped up to fourth in the most unexpected way – a time trial.

Elsewhere, it was a quieter campaign for the team, with Wout Poels breaking a rib on day one and Pello Bilbao making the break on a couple of occasions. Damiano Caruso's tenth place – his best at a Tour de France after a very strong final week – was the icing on the cake of what can be considered a successful race for the team. (DO)

Bora-Hansgrohe – ★★★☆☆

Best GC: Lennard Kämna – 33rd at 2:15:39

Top results: Lennard Kämna – winner on stage 16

Summary: Lennard Kämna's stage victory at Villard-de-Lans saved what would otherwise had been a disappointing Tour for the German team, winning from the break after overpowering Richard Carapaz 20km from the line.

It was still a good race in the grand scheme of things, though, in the build-up, Bora-Hansgrohe would have been aiming for the green jersey with Peter Sagan as well as a GC bid with Emanuel Buchmann.

Buchmann, injured in a crash at the Critérium Dauphiné, never reached his best form, while Sagan wasn't close to top form either, his best finish third place on two stages, and ultimately he was easily bested by Sam Bennett in the battle for green. The team did well to battle for stage wins too, with Kämna's breakaway victory meaning they at least salvaged something from the race. (DO)

CCC Team – ★★☆☆☆

Best GC: Simon Geschke – 48th at 2:44:27

Top results: Greg Van Avermaet – third on stage 6

Summary: If this was the team's final Tour de France, it was a slightly limp way to bow out. Matteo Trentin was active in the green jersey battle but was never really a threat for it. When it came to stage wins, Greg Van Avermaet and Ilnur Zakarin came close, the latter let down by his descending skills , while the team was active in numerous breakaways, too.

Van Avermaet and Trentin were both in the decisive move on stage 19 but questions over communication – first raised when Trentin signed over the winter – resurfaced as they came away empty-handed, with Van Avermaet apparently unaware of the tactic of Trentin attacking, which ultimately served only to lay Søren Kragh Andersen's path to victory.

A collective highlight was their joining forces with Bora-Hansgrohe on stage 14 to distance the sprinters but with Van Avermaet and Trentin in your team, you expect a better return. (PF)

Cofidis – ★★½☆☆

Best GC: Guillaume Martin – 11th at 16:58

Top results: Jesús Herrada – second on stage 6

Summary: A mixed bag for Cofidis, who will surely come away from the Tour with a sense of disappointment. Back as a WorldTour outfit, Elia Viviani was signed at some expense to help end their 12-year run without a stage win at the race. Fourth at Île de Ré was his best result, however, while Jesús Herrada came closest to victory on Mont Aigoual.

Instead, the team's leading light was Guillaume Martin, who backed up a great Dauphiné with a statement of his GC credentials. He was third overall up until stage 13, when he plummeted to 12th . He ended up 11th, continuing his line of progression in the Tour (23rd, 21st, 12th, 11th), but left a slightly disappointing taste as the ambition would have been a top 10, if not before the race then certainly after the first week.

Still, Martin was widely talked about in the early phases of the race, and finished it as the top Frenchman, giving plenty of exposure to the French team and a good deal of optimism for the future. (PF)

Deceuninck-QuickStep – ★★★★½

Best GC: Julian Alaphilippe – 36th at 2:19:11

Top results: Sam Bennett – green jersey, won stages 10 and 21 ; Julian Alaphilippe – winner on stage 2 , three days in yellow

Summary: Another good Tour for the Belgian team, with three stage wins, the green jersey , and a spell in yellow. They put a lot of resources behind Sam Bennett's green jersey bid, and they were rewarded, ending their old foe Peter Sagan's long run as the winner of the points classification.

Bennett's curious inferiority complex was maybe not entirely lifted but he proved himself worthy of what is still comfortably the best sprint set-up in the peloton, with Michael Mørkøv once again underlining his credentials as the best lead-out man in the world.

Julian Alaphilippe won a scintillating stage in Nice and pulled on the yellow jersey once again, and from that early point, his race automatically qualified as a success. However, after last year, the Frenchman is judged by different standards to everyone else, and the rest of his Tour was a slight disappointment.

Firstly, he lost yellow in a sloppy fashion, with an illegal feed , and after that, he infiltrated almost every breakaway going but came up short every time. He maybe could have picked his battles a little better but it was clear this wasn't the sparkling Alaphilippe of 2019, and he appeared human again by the final week. (PF)

EF Pro Cycling – ★★★★☆

Best GC: Rigoberto Urán – eighth at 8:02

Top results: Daniel Martínez – winner on stage 13

Summary: The American squad headed to the Tour with three Colombians ready to do battle in the mountains, but that triple threat never really came into being. Rigoberto Urán was – somewhat surprisingly – one of only two Colombians to make the top 10 in Paris, his eighth a nice result after his career-threatening injury sustained at the Vuelta a España a year ago

It was a very quiet eighth though, even if he battled to podium contention heading into the final week. A struggle on the Col de la Loze and a less-than-ideal time trial meant that didn't come to pass, however.

Daniel Martínez added some flair to EF's Tour with a wonderful stage win on the Puy Mary. The Dauphiné winner boosted his stock further as he outfoxed Bora-Hansgrohe duo Max Schachmann and Lennard Kämna to take the team's first Tour win since 2017. Ultimately, a successful race for EF. (DO)

Groupama-FDJ – ★½☆☆☆

Best GC: Sébastien Reichenbach – 24th at 1:39:27

Top results: Sébastien Reichenbach – third on stage 16

Summary: A Tour to forget for the French team, with their mercurial leader Thibaut Pinot left with another soul-searching task and another year wondering if the stars will ever align . Pinot finished the race, and only dropped out of GC contention on the first day in the Pyrenees, but his Tour was effectively over on the first day, when he crashed in Nice and someone rode into his back.

It was a similar story for the promising David Gaudu, who was unable to make an impact in his leader's absence and had to abandon on stage 16.

Valentin Madouas was a spritely presence, Stefan Küng took his opportunity for breakaways, and Sébastien Reichenbach was third on stage 16, but the mood will have been subdued in Paris. It can be attributed to simple bad luck, but there may be a touch of regret at leaving out the in-form Arnaud Démare in order to go all-in for Pinot. (PF)

Ineos Grenadiers – ★★★☆☆

Best GC: Richard Carapaz – 13th at 25:53

Top results: Michał Kwiatkowski – winner on stage 18

Summary: The 2020 Tour de France was a bruising experience and something of a wake-up call for the British team. Given the astronomical standards they've set themselves with seven victories in the eight previous Tours, anything less is automatically deemed a huge disappointment , if not outright failure.

Egan Bernal came into the race with doubts over his back, and his capitulation on stage 15 had already been signposted. It led to a tide of questioning, from team selection to training methods. Even before that, Ineos, after dominating the Tour for so long, were largely relegated from the front of the bunch as Jumbo-Visma stamped their newfound authority.

On a collective level, they now have competition, and also on an individual, with the rise of Tadej Pogačar sure to be a concern to the team who thought they possessed the rider of the next decade.

After Bernal's abandon, the team did re-set and managed to salvage something from the race. Richard Carapaz lit up the Alps with his incessant attacks but it was Michał Kwiatkowski whose name was put to a stage win, crossing the line arm-in-arm with Carapaz in one of the most enduring images of the Tour.

It was a great moment for the rider who has sacrificed so much of his own potential for those previous yellow jerseys, and a show of team pride, but it will do little to deflect from the reality that Dave Brailsford will have to go back to the drawing board. (PF)

Israel Start-Up Nation – ★☆☆☆☆

Best GC: Dan Martin – 41st at 2:30:25

Top results: Hugo Hofstetter – fourth on stage 5

Summary: The Tour de France debutants had a tough time in France, despite turning up with a pretty solid squad in Nice. Dan Martin was the team's biggest signing for 2020, but was unlucky to fracture his sacrum at the Dauphiné and couldn't add to his two stage victories – as was the aim, rather than a GC bid, this year.

They were active in breaks with Krists Neilands, Ben Hermans and Guy Niv, but with only so many stages up for grabs it was always going to be tough going to get that bit of luck and prevail.

Sprinters André Greipel and Hugo Hofstetter grabbed a handful of top 10 finishes between them, with the Frenchman coming off better. The race would've been a good learning experience for the team, and they'll be back next year with more big names – Froome, Woods, Impey – and greater expectations. (DO)

Jumbo-Visma – ★★★★½

Best GC: Primož Roglič – second at 0:59; Tom Dumoulin – seventh at 7:48

Top results: Primož Roglič – winner on stage 4 , 11 days in yellow; Wout van Aert – winner on stages 5 and 7

Summary: The Dutch squad enjoyed a near-perfect Tour, only for it to fall apart on the penultimate day of the race as an incredible ride from Tadej Pogačar shockingly dispatched of Primož Roglič with ease.

The image of Tom Dumoulin and Wout van Aert staring at the big screen on La Planches des Belles Filles in shock at what was unfolding will be one of the enduring images of the Tour, but there were plenty of positives beyond the GC loss.

Roglič – impervious in the race lead for half the race – took a stage win on day four, while Wout van Aert, who looks the best all-rounder in the sport and probably the top rider of 2020, sprinted to two wins while also serving as a domestique deep into the mountains.

Tom Dumoulin's improving form is a plus, too. The Dutchman looked close to his best at times after almost a year of injury and illness , and his seventh-place – despite putting himself to work for Roglič – will be a reason for additional cheer. (DO)

Lotto Soudal – ★★★½☆

Best GC: Thomas De Gendt – 52nd at 2:51:56

Top results: Caleb Ewan – winner of stages 3 and 11

Summary: Two stage wins, courtesy of Caleb Ewan , represents a decent enough return, but it was a tough Tour for the Belgian team. The race started out in disastrous fashion, as they lost Philippe Gilbert and John Degenkolb on a crash-ridden opening day in Nice.

That not only hampered their sprint lead-out but left them looking very much one-dimensional, as Gilbert would have been eyeing up a number of breakaway opportunities on the hilly route. Thomas De Gendt wasn't his usual self, and in the second half of the race the team was largely reduced to a cluster of riders shepherding Ewan through the mountains.

With the Giro d'Italia starting in less than two weeks, it was a huge effort to make just to arrive boxed-in on the Champs-Élysées, and that might have left a slightly sour taste. Ewan's two stage wins – the first a sensational weaving sprint – were a drop from his three last year, but none of his rivals won more. (PF)

Mitchelton-Scott – ★★½☆☆

Best GC: Adam Yates – ninth at 9:25

Top results: Adam Yates – four days in yellow; Luka Mezgec – second on stages 14 and 19

Summary: A quieter than usual presence at the Tour, Mitchelton-Scott's race was all about Adam Yates, and to a lesser extent sprinter Luka Mezgec. The Briton spent four days in yellow in the first week, but didn't look like a genuine GC challenger, eventually falling to ninth after the time trial.

Yates talked of stage wins before the race, but after his time in yellow seemed determined to stay in the top 10 fight rather than letting go and trying for a win. His third place on stage 2 was the closest he came to that. 

Mezgec, meanwhile, mixed it up in the sprints but wasn't at the level of the stage contenders. Two second-place finishes came when he proved quickest from reduced groups behind Søren Kragh Andersen. The rest of the squad were less active – a far cry from the comparative feast of four stage wins in 2019. (DO)

Movistar – ★★★½☆

Best GC: Enric Mas – fifth at 6:07

Top results: Team classification; Carlos Verona – third on stage 8

Summary: Technically, Movistar were, once again, the best team in the Tour de France, but we all know that's not true. Their targeting of the teams classification – at times at the expense of other ideas – has become a source of amusement, but they stayed true to themselves and all took to the podium in Paris for the fifth time in six years.

With Enric Mas finishing fifth overall, it wasn't actually a bad Tour for the Spanish team, their first of the post-Landa-Quintana-Carapaz era. You'd be forgiven for thinking Mas had only arrived in France in the final week – he didn't have a good start to the race and was 12th overall after the first week, but went on to place fifth on the Grand Colombier, sixth on the Col de la Loze, and fifth from the GC group in La Roche-sur-Foron. Finally, a strong time trial took him into the final top five.

Beyond Mas, Movistar had a quiet race, with Marc Soler infiltrating a few breakaways and Alejandro Valverde staying in and around the GC picture to finish 12th. Mas' final-week resurgence saved Movistar's Tour and altered their perspective. There must have been worries at the halfway mark, but Mas, who had three pairs of shoes to fill and a burden of expectation as 'the next big thing in Spain', does appear to offer a solid future for the team. (PF)

NTT Pro Cycling – ★☆☆☆☆

Best GC: Michael Valgren – 73rd at 3:41:45

Top results: Edvald Boasson Hagen – second on stage 7

Summary: Yes, NTT really were at the Tour de France this year. European champion Giacomo Nizzolo was their main man after looking rejuvenated so far in 2020, but was forced out of the race in the Pyrenees with a knee injury.

The Italian's best result was a rather distant third place behind Caleb Ewan's magical sprint in Sisteron, while teammate Edvald Boasson Hagen went one better in the crosswinds of stage 7, though he wasn't close to Wout van Aert at the finish in Lavaur. That second might elevate themselves above the other 'one-starers' but NTT brought so little else to the race.

The second half of the race saw Michael Gogl make the break of the day twice and Walscheid once, but the fact that we had to scour race reports to confirm this should tell you how well those went. NTT ended the race with five riders in Paris; you have to wonder if things would have turned out much differently had they started with that many. (DO)

Team Sunweb – ★★★★★

Best GC: Marc Hirschi – 54th at 2:54:34

Top results: Marc Hirschi – winner on stage 12 , combativity prize; Søren Kragh Andersen – winner on stages 14 and 19

Summary: If you told me before the Tour that I'd be writing this, there's no way I'd have believed you, but Sunweb were arguably the best team at the 2020 Tour de France. They may not have won the most stages or done anything on GC, but in terms of racing as one collective unit, they were outstanding.

Søren Kragh Andersen won two stages and Marc Hirschi one, and on each occasion they played the numbers game to great effect. Hischi was sensational on his debut Tour and could have had more, but Sunweb's successes were largely down to timing and tactics. Perhaps they stand out because so many had written them off. They'd lost Tom Dumoulin last winter and left Wilco Kelderman and Sam Oomen for the Giro, leaving no GC leader.

Even then, they declined to bring their top stage hunter and former green jersey, Michael Matthews, who is being sent to the Giro and so will also miss the Classics before leaving for Mitchelton-Scott. The ethos at Sunweb very much prizes the collective over the individual. It's a somewhat polarising approach, with Dumoulin and Matthews the latest in a long and alarming list of riders breaking their contracts, but at the Tour de France we saw its merits. (PF)

Total Direct Énergie – ★☆☆☆☆

Best GC: Romain Sicard – 31st at 2:13:02

Top results: Anthony Turgis – ninth on stage 1; Fabien Grellier – one day in polka dots

Summary: The final squad among the one-star crew. Total Direct Énergie had one of the weakest squads at the Tour and it was therefore no surprise to see them struggle. They'll have been looking towards Niccolò Bonifazio and Lilian Calmejane for a result, but the Italian's tenth place on stage 3 was the best either could manage.

Instead, the team were visible in breakaways, and, after stage 1, in the polka dot jersey for a day courtesy of Fabien Grellier's efforts in Nice. The likes of Mathieu Burgaudeau, Jérôme Cousin and Romain Sicard were in numerous breaks through the rest of the race.

They put up a good fight and got their name out there, which, sometimes, is the best you can say about the minnows at cycling's biggest race. (DO)

Trek-Segafredo – ★★★★½

Best GC: Richie Porte – third at 3:30

Top results: Mads Pedersen – second on stages 1 and 21; Toms Skujinš – second on stage 8

Summary: Richie Porte said his third place finish felt like a victory , and that'll be the case for the team as a whole, who would have ripped your arm off for a spot on the Paris podium ahead of the race.

It was a blow to lose Bauke Mollema through a crash on stage 13, but Porte picked up the mantle and got stronger and stronger, culminating in a brilliant penultimate-day time trial. The team made a big blunder in the crosswinds on stage 7, with Porte and Mollema both losing time, but thereafter they shepherded Porte well, with strong protection coming from none other than the world champion Mads Pedersen.

The Dane sprinted to second place on the first and last day, underlining his ability but also raising question marks over whether it was worth rotating the sprint leadership between him, Jasper Stuyven and Edward Theuns. (PF)

UAE Team Emirates – ★★★★★

Best GC: Tadej Pogačar – winner at 87:20:05

Top results: Tadej Pogačar – yellow, polka dot, white jerseys, winner of stages 9 , 15 and 20 ; Alexander Kristoff – winner on stage 1

Summary: When funding from UAE's second largest Emirate, Abu Dhabi, came in to take on the former Lampre-Merida team in 2017, the aim was to become one of the very top teams, and now they have their first Tour de France victory.

Tadej Pogačar was simply extraordinary in winning three stages, three jerseys, becoming the second youngest Tour winner of all time and one of only eight debutant champions. After Alexander Kristoff's stage win in Nice, the team had the yellow jersey on the first day and the last day, and the champagne will have flowed.

However, it must be said Pogačar's victory was more a display of individual brilliance than a collective effort. Fabio Aru abandoned early amid a tirade of unnecessary criticism from his management, and Davide Formolo left with a broken collarbone.

David De la Cruz had an impressive ride on the Col de la Loze, where his turn exploded the yellow jersey group, but Pogačar didn't have anything like the support Roglič had at Jumbo-Visma, underlined by his losses in the stage 7 crosswinds. Pogačar showed he didn't really need a team , but they'll surely be looking to strengthen around a rider who could dominate this generation. (PF)

★★★ ★★ – Team Sunweb, UAE Team Emirates

★★★ ★½ – Deceuninck-QuickStep, Jumbo-Visma, Trek-Segafredo

★★★ ★☆ – Astana Pro Team, EF Pro Cycling

★★★½☆ – Bahrain McLaren, Lotto Soudal, Movistar

★★★ ☆☆ – AG2R La Mondiale, Bora-Hansgrohe, Ineos Grenadiers

★★½☆☆ – Cofidis, Mitchelton-Scott

★★☆☆☆ – CCC Team

★½☆☆☆ – Arkéa-Samsic, B&B Hotels-Vital Concept, Groupama-FDJ 

★☆☆☆☆ – Israel Start-Up Nation, NTT Pro Cycling, Total Direct Énergie

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Patrick is an NCTJ-trained journalist, and former deputy editor of Cyclingnews, who has seven years’ experience covering professional cycling. He has a modern languages degree from Durham University and has been able to put it to some use in what is a multi-lingual sport, with a particular focus on French and Spanish-speaking riders. Away from cycling, Patrick spends most of his time playing or watching other forms of sport - football, tennis, trail running, darts, to name a few, but he draws the line at rugby.

One year on from Tour of the Gila victory, Killips aiming for record on Arizona Trail

Giro d'Italia 2024 – the comprehensive team guide

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Race information

• Date: 24 July 2022
• Start time: 16:45
• Avg. speed winner: 38.85 km/h
• Race category: ME - Men Elite
• Distance: 115.6 km
• Points scale: GT.A.Stage
• UCI scale: UCI.WR.GT.A.Stage - TM2022
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• ProfileScore: 13
• Vert. meters: 748
• Departure: Paris La Défense
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More Exciting Than Yellow? These Are the Green Jersey Contenders to Watch in the 2023 Tour de France

The defending champ isn’t chasing a repeat win, a super star wants to break the record, and a crop of sprinters are all in contention...the green jersey competition may be even more exciting than the overall victory this year.

Awarded each day to the leader of the Tour’s Points Classification (for which riders score points at mid-stage intermediate sprints and again at stage finishes), the maillot vert (“green jersey”) was created in 1953 to honor the 50th anniversary of the Tour de France.

Originally taking its color from La Belle Jardinière, a chain of clothing stores that sponsored the jersey during its early years, we’ve grown accustomed to the jersey’s bright green hue. But this year’s jersey will be darker, with mint green accents on the sleeves and Skoda as its presenting sponsor.

The battle to win the green jersey at the 2023 Tour de France will be wide open, with a defending champion who’s said he’s not concerned with retaining his title and a mountainous course that will make it hard for pure sprinters to win lots of stages and run away with the competition.

So here’s a rundown of this year’s green jersey contenders–and the other sprinters hoping to take a victory or two away from this year’s Tour.

The Defending Champion

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)

Belgium’s Wout Van Aert dominated last year’s green jersey competition, winning three stages and finishing on the podium in five others–all while helping Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard take home the yellow jersey . By the end of the Tour, the Belgian had amassed a whopping 480 points–194 more than the next-closest rider. But he’s not planning to defend his title this year, as he hopes to be at his best for August’s world road race championships in Glasgow, Scotland. Instead he’ll target stage wins while helping Vingegaard defend his own title.

The Challengers

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

Last year’s runner-up in the green jersey competition, Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen looks ready to win it all this year. This year’s Tour is a tough one, with lots of early mountains and few chances for pure field sprinters, so a rider like a Philipsen–who’s strong enough to hold his own on harder stage finishes–will score points when others might not.

Better still, his team isn’t going for the yellow jersey, so he’ll have lots of support–including a wingman named Mathieu van der Poel . One of the strongest riders in the sport, van der Poel would be a green jersey contender himself were the Dutchman not preparing himself for a head-to-head battle with van Aert in Glasgow.

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)

Philippsen’s toughest competition should come from Denmark’s Mads Pedersen , another hybrid sprinter who excels in tough races like the spring Classics. A stage winner in all three grand tours, Pedersen won the Points Classification in last year’s Vuelta a España , proving he has what it takes to consistently score points in a mountainous grand tour in which a green jersey contender needs to be strategic with when and how he earns them.

Like Philippsen, Pedersen rides for a squad with no yellow jersey ambitions and will have the full support of his team on days that suit his talents. And he’s unafraid to go on the attack: he won his first Tour de France stage in last year’s race after a long breakaway into Massif Centrale, outsprinting his companions at the line. He took a similar breakaway stage win to complete his grand tour hat-trick at May’s Giro d’Italia.

Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty)

Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay is riding his first Tour de France this summer–and only the second grand tour of his still-young career. But the 23-year-old has the chops to hang with his more veteran colleagues. As a WorldTour rookie last season he won Ghent-Wevelgem and a stage at the Giro, victories that proved he’s capable of winning sprints on the world’s biggest stage.

He’s also a solid Classics rider , which means we can expect to see him score points on tougher finishes–and form a breakaway every now and then. And with a team searching for little more than stage wins, he’ll have the freedom and the support he needs to pull it off. Peter Sagan is the last rider to win the green jersey in his debut Tour de France, and that’s not a bad comparison for a rider like Grimay.

Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-Quick Step)

The Netherlands’ Fabio Jakobsen raced his first Tour last year after Quick-Step went with the young Dutchman instead of Great Britain’s Mark Cavendish, a controversial move that was somewhat justified when Jakobsen won Stage 2 in Nyborg.

But the then-25-year-old struggled as the race progressed, with a fifth-place finish on Stage 3 his best result throughout the remainder of the Tour. This year he comes to the Tour fresh off two stage wins at the Baloise Belgium Tour and hoping to score multiple stage wins. He’s unlikely to figure in the battle to win the green jersey though, this year’s course is too mountainous for that kind of goal.

Caleb Ewan (Lotto Destny)

Australia’s Caleb Ewan hasn’t won a stage at the Tour de France since taking two stages in 2020, but he remains the team’s best option when it comes to winning one this year. He’s inconsistent and prone to slumps, but he’s adept when it comes to making it over late-race climbs on days when other sprinters get dropped.

This makes him a favorite for Stages 3 and 4, both of which have climbs inside the final hour of racing. And his team is committed to helping him end his Tour winless streak, so they’re sending a strong group of lead-out riders to support him.

Dylan Groenewegen (Team Jayco AlUla)

Dylan Groenewegen returned to the Tour de France last year and promptly won Stage 3 , which was a bit of a coincidence considering the fact that the Dutchman served a 9-month suspension in 2021 for nearly killing Fabio Jakobsen in a field sprint during the 2020 Tour of Poland–and Jakobsen won Stage 2 the day before.

While not a contender for the green jersey overall, Groenewegen is at the center of his team’s sprint plans for 2023, and looks to be coming to the Tour in good form after winning two stages at the recent Tour of Slovenia. His biggest challenge will be making it through the Tour’s difficult opening weekend–and then the early trip through the Pyrenees–but if he does, he’s a good bet to win a stage or two.

Mark Cavendish (Astana)

Great Britain’s Mark Cavendish last raced the Tour for Quick Step in 2021, scoring four stage wins (tying him with Belgium’s Eddy Merckx for the most in Tour history) and the second green jersey of his storied career. But in one of the more head-scratching roster moves heading into last year’s Tour, Cav was left-off the team’s roster.

So he signed with Astana this past off-season, mainly because the team promised him a spot at the Tour and a chance to take the one win he needs to make the record his own. We weren’t feeling too good about Cav’s chances after watching him come up short during the first two weeks of May’s Giro d’Italia (during which he also announced that this season would be his last). But then the 38-year-old won the Giro’s final stage , proving that he still has enough left in the tank to make history. His quest to do so will be one of the most exciting storylines in this year’s Tour.

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