ANALYSIS | Rating Tour de France 2023 teams

Friday, 30 June 2023 at 09:15

The 2023 Tour de France will take place from the 1st to the 23rd of July 2023 and will be the 110th edition of the Grand Boucle. A race starting the Basque Country in Spain, it will see another set of masterful performances and show across the three weeks in what many term as the climax of the cycling season! We analyze each lineup in the race.

Note: The rating is not regarding the quality of the team, but more specifically a subjective rating of how well I think the team is balanced and built taking into consideration it's ambitions in the race, and how I feel those ambitions fit.

AG2R Citroën Team
Lineup: Nans Peters, Oliver Naesen, Benoît Cosnefroy, Ben O'Connor, Aurélien Paret-Peintre, Felix Gall, Clément Berthet and Stan Dewulf.
Rating: 6/10

This is a team focused on the GC, that is clear, the team trusts Ben O'Connor and wants to support him fight for the podium. It is clear because of the absence of both Dorian Godon and Greg van Avermaet, who have achieved good results over the past few months. The team is not putting it's resources as much in stage wins but has instead put them into climbers. After a fatiguing Giro, Aurélien Paret-Peintre is present in this lineup, whilst the presence of Clément Berthet also indicates this focus on the climbs.

O'Connor finished on the podium of the Dauphiné and looked terrific, so it is not a big surprise. Felix Gall looked equally as good in Suisse and if he goes for stage hunting one could well fall for him. Benoît Cosnefroy was a certain whilst Nans Peters... I would have Godon. But it's not my decision. Lastly the team is completed by Oliver Naesen and Stan Dewulf who will clearly have the role of protecting O'Connor on the flat days, not chase wins. A team that has put more effort than expected in the GC, let's see if it pays off or backfires.

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Alpecin-Deceuninck
Lineup: Mathieu van der Poel, Jasper Philipsen, Jonas Rickaert, Silvan Dillier, Ramon Sinkeldam, Quinten Hermans, Soren Kragh Andersen and Michael Gogl.
Rating: 10/10

Honestly the pieces all fit together. Alpecin couldn't have made a better lineup. Well, maybe they could by adding Dries de Bondt or Gianni Vermeersch, but I think they are better off in the shorter races, and if they came in they'd be taking the spot of either Michael Gogl or Quinten Hermans most likely. Silvan Dillier will work the long kilometers at the head of the peloton in the flat days and neither of the other 4 riders would probably be happy with that.

Jasper Philipsen will have in Jonas Rickaert and Ramon Sinkeldam a very strong leadout and Mathieu van der Poel will also help for sure, making for a brilliant lineup for the sprints. 0 climbers, van der Poel will then target wins on the hilly days, as will Quinten Hermans and Soren Kragh Andersen but through breakaways mostly.

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Astana Qazaqstan Team
Lineup: Harold Tejada, Gianni Moscon, Alexey Lutsenko, Yevgeniy Fedorov, Mark Cavendish, Cees Bol, David de la Cruz and Luis León Sánchez.
Rating: 3/10

I really do not want to sound like I have an issue with Astana, but I feel compelled to state the clear. Where is Cavendish's leadout? But that's not the only thing I see wrong with this lineup. Let's start with something that is not directly visible, Luis León Sánchez is THE rider who has raced the most this year, 60 race days and just off a Giro d'Italia. He was absent from the action there too, I'm not sure what his role will be here, Then there is Gianni Moscon, as well off an absent Giro d'Italia. Their presence could be understood if only it didn't mean removing Cavendish's leadout.

At the Giro he had no-one to help him in the knife edge of the sprints, but there I assumed maybe it was purposeful for him not to have pressure. It was expected that provisionally he would have his leadout men. Cees Bol and Yevgeniy Fedorov are here, but no Martin Laas, no Gleb Syritsa, no Davide Martinelli. I honestly don't understand the decision. I won't debate whether the climbers would be replaceable but it gives the sense Astana want to fight for a high GC with Alexey Lutsenko. Whilst at his best - which will be hard to see - he could go for a Top10, I would much more argue that both David de la Cruz and Harold Tejada could be saved for the Vuelta where they'd have much better chances of netting a stage win. Again, a lineup which just doesn't click, much like scattered pieces of a puzzle.

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Bahrain - Victorious
Lineup: Mikel Landa, Jack Haig, Pello Bilbao, Matej Mohoric, Fred Wright, Phil Bauhaus, Nikias Arndt and Wout Poels.
Rating: 9/10

Bahrain brings an incredibly strong team. This is at the level of the best, the only thing is that they lack THE leader. The Pogacar, the Vingegaard, the Roglic, the Evenepoel... But that's the problem of all but 3 teams in the peloton. Bahrain have a team with 7 riders capable of winning here with no surprise. One block is for the GC, Mikel Landa rode superbly early in the year, with a perfect route and home start, he will surely be a rider to look at in the fight for the podium, although his Dauphiné was far from a positive experience. However Bahrain have all cases ticked.

Pello Bilbao comes in with similar expectations for GC, but stage hunting could prove very successful. Wout Poels and Jack Haig to ride in support and also chase stage wins surely. Haig's presence is why I don't give it a 10, after riding the Alps, Giro and Suisse I feel it'll be too much for him to be at his best level. Replacing him with Buitrago or Caruso who could do the same work, or maybe a full-focus Hermann Pernsteiner would be safer options.

Then we have the sprints, Phil Bauhaus will contest the sprints and in Nikias Arndt he has his own leadout man. Fred Wright will also surely help in the sprints, whilst going for his own in a couple of sprint stages which feature climbing - whilst also going for breakaways on the hilly days. An on those the team has Matej Mohoric as the strongest card for a stage win, coming in with good form after Slovenia, he'll be the rider to take into considera

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BORA - hansgrohe
Lineup: Marco Haller, Patrick Konrad, Bob Jungels, Jordi Meeus, Danny van Poppel, Emanuel Buchmann, Jai Hindley and Nils Politt.
Rating: 3/10

BORA's lack of a Sam Bennett here is disastrous. What the reason is for his absence I do not know, but what I do know is that it unbalances the whole purpose of this lineup. BORA signed Sam Bennett as a premier sprinter and Danny van Poppel as in my opinion the best leadout in the current peloton. It was agreed that Bennett and Hindley would co-lead the Tour team and split 3 domestiques for each. Come the reveal day and Bennett, who hadn't looked bad over June, is out. Jordi Meeus comes in, a quality sprinter no doubt, but now all of a sudden the team is still left with Bennett's leadout whilst Meeus was also not ready for this change. There will be essentially a feeling of "let's just pretend this was planned all along and make it work". Maybe it will, Meeus has the quality to prove me wrong. Haller and Politt's role will become more of a domestique for Hindley and breakaway hunting however.

But things go south not only there. Patrick Konrad and Bob Jungels have both raced the Giro and have not specifically prepared for the Tour neither have shown great results in the nationals. Out of both Grand Tours are Matteo Fabbro, Ben Zwiehoff and an in-form Max Schachmann. Not to mention, although these I understand, Sergio Higuita's absence due to lack of form and Aleksandr Vlasov's absence as he prefers riding the Vuelta at this point. Jai Hindley and Emanuel Buchmann will likely click, but I get the feeling that with this form Hindley deserved more focus than what he'll be getting.

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Cofidis
Lineup: Alexis Renard, Simon Geschke, Axel Zingle, Anthony Perez, Victor Lafay, Bryan Coquard, Ion Izagirre and Guillaume Martin.
Rating: 4/10

There is one piece that does not fit here. Simon Geschke is quite popular but has not shown the best legs this year. I would understand Jesús Herrada's absence as it seems he wants to focus on the Vuelta, but the team has also left out Benjamin Thomas and Max Walscheid. It is one rider I don't quite understand in this lineup. Elsewhere it looks alright, Bryan Coquard aims for the sprints with Alexis Renard as his leadout. No-one else in the team really rides the flat terrain however, leaving a vulnerable Guillaume Martin pretty much alone, whereas someone like Walscheid could be very valuable.

The team is hunting stages, Martin likely won't need support in the mountains, the rest of the lineup makes sense with Victor Lafay, Ion Izagirre, Axel Zingle and Anthony Perez probably being the four riders with best chances of taking a race-changing victory.

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EF Education-EasyPost
Lineup: Alberto Bettiol, Andrey Amador, Esteban Chaves, Richard Carapaz, James Shaw, Magnus Cort Nielsen, Rigoberto Urán and Neilson Powless.
Rating: 8/10

Always an open team with EF. The thing about this one is many see it as a GC team, I see it as the opposite. Like a pre-2021 UAE which is full of riders who can climb but they are not a block united with a leader, instead stage hunters clearly. Carapaz won Mercan'Tour but was very below his level in the mountains of the Dauphiné, combining that with Vaughters' statements early in the year which indicated he could hunt stages at the Tour... I very much feel like that will ultimately happen. Chaves, Urán and Powless, they'll certainly be given freedom to go for their own results.

Magnus Cort Nielsen always has that, whilst Alberto Bettiol will too if he has form. If he doesn't he'll likely play a supporting role in the flat stages alongside Andrey Amador, whilst James Shaw can help in the mountains if Carapaz does find his good legs back. It's a good stage hunting team, but you must see it that way.

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Groupama - FDJ
Lineup: Thibaut Pinot, Lars van den Berg, Olivier le Gac, Quentin Pacher, Stefan Küng, Kevin Geniets, David Gaudu and Valentin Madouas.
Rating: 3/10

The rating is low for a clear reason. No other team has likely had such an difficult internal battle for the Tour de France selection, as it would seem David Gaudu wanted neither Thibaut Pinot and Arnaud Démare in the team. Why? Because they are team leaders too and would chase their own results, and Démare's presence would take some focus away from the GC goal. It is a valid situation, however taking into consideration that Gaudu was very far from great form at the Dauphiné and the fact that the replacement looks rather meaningful in the lineup, it was a pre-Tour disaster for Groupama who now have Démare certain to leave and on very bad terms.

Démare, who has not been at his best this year but did win the Brussels Cycling Classic recently and looked decently good at the Tour de Suisse, was replaced by Lars van den Berg who ultimately will not make a meaningful difference in any of the team's plans. It is, sporting wise, a terrible decision, which sees them unable to contest around a third of the Tour's stages. Groupama does not have a team to work in the mountains against Jumbo and UAE and they already covered all bases for support. Van den Berg, although a quality rider, will be helping mostly in the flat days alongide Olivier Le Gac and the engine Stefan Küng.

Valentin Madouas, Kevin Geniets and Quentin Pacher will be helping in the mountains, but it's still a modest support crew for Gaudu - in the not certain chance that he does find his best legs. Thibaut Pinot will surely help at some point too but Gaudu was vocal that he did not want him in the team, and he will certainly prioritize stage wins in his final Tour. The team overall is good, but the amount of tension and internal battles is destructive and I take that into consideration in the rating.

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INEOS Grenadiers
Lineup: Egan Bernal, Ben Turner, Omar Fraile, Daniel Martínez, Tom Pidcock, Michal Kwiatkowski, Carlos Rodríguez and Jonathan Castroviejo.
Rating: 4/10

This the team whose feelings are the most mixed. I want to start by saying this, INEOS having a modest lineup here is not a criticism point for me, they devoted a lot of resources to the Giro which was in my opinion a smart move. They had better chances of success there and raced well and in control with in form riders, Thomas also won the race whilst Hart could have done the same too. Hence, I expected a more modest INEOS here, with Egan Bernal keen on testing himself, Carlos Rodríguez taking the next step in his evolution, and Daniel Martínez not fitting in the Giro block. Neither of the three give guarantees, you can't expect a premium INEOS here but one where stage wins and a Top10 will be the goal.

However... There is something that particularly caught my attention. We have Tom Pidcock to hunt stages of course, whilst Michal Kwiatkowski and Jonathan Castroviejo are obvious choices as they come in with form and are Tour veterans. Omar Fraile also proved himself very valuable this year. But it's Ben Turner. I had to look twice to make sure I was seeing right, not because he's not a quality rider - he's got extraordinary potential - but because he has been riddled with crashes all year long. Broken elbow at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, forearm fracture in Flanders, and as he prepared for the Tour he crashed out again of the Dauphiné, and this weekend did not race the nationals as expected.

I can't imagine he comes in with good form honestly and should have been told to focus on recovery and building back form and head to the Vuelta. Jhonatan Narváez or Ben Tulett for example would've been almost exactly identical replacements but with better form, but the team lacks one rider specifically for the flat roads such as Luke Rowe, or Connor Swift who could do it well. But then knowing Pavel Sivakov was very keen on racing the Tour and was left out too, after crashing out of the Giro but showing great form in the spring is confusing and the Frenchman is certain to leave the team at this point. I think Turner doesn't make sense in this lineup, and because of form in all it's leaders the team's goals will also be unclear.

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Intermarché - Circus - Wanty
Lineup: Lilian Calmejane, Rui Costa, Biniam Girmay, Louis Meintjes, Adrien Petit, Dion Smith, Mike Teunissen and Georg Zimmermann.
Rating: 10/10

I rate Intermarché high, I think there wouldn't be anything I'd change. Van der Hoorn was injured whilst Gerben Thijssen and his leadout will take on the Vuelta. Here they bring Biniam Girmay who will provide exposure and opportunities in the sprints, Louis Meintjes to fight for the GC, who won't have support but in all reality he always does his own race. The team has Mike Teunissen, Adrien Petit and Dion Smith who will provide quite a strong leadout whilst the rest of the team is made of riders in good form and well suited to the stages that will be going for breakaways.

Rui Costa, Georg Zimmermann and Lilian Calmejane have all shown good legs over the past few weeks, they are all puncheurs and it will be in the hilly days that the most breakaways will be succeeding.

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Jumbo-Visma
Lineup: Wilco Kelderman, Christophe Laporte, Tiesj Benoot, Wout van Aert, Dylan van Baarle, Nathan van Hooydonck, Sepp Kuss and Jonas Vingegaard.
Rating: 10/10

On Jumbo-Visma I could just not write anything honestly. They had 9 riders in the shortlist, Steven Kruijswijk was injured and he was exactly the rider most similar to first reserve Wilco Kelderman. The team is set to race the Tour with the block it intended, and I give perfect rating because they clearly know what they're doing. Vingegaard has in Kelderman and Sepp Kuss a very strong block for the mountains, matching UAE.

I would argue that perhaps the presence of all Benoot, van Aert, Laporte, van Baarle and van Hooydonck wasn't necessary, maybe Benoot or van Hooydonck could be replaced by Jan Tratnik or Tobias Foss to provide more support in the mountains, but honestly Benoot will likely ride decently well, whilst van Aert and van Baarle can certainly go very deep into the race in the days they put their all. The other part is that it seems neither van Aert and Laporte want to give it their all into the sprints or green jersey. Not necessarily a problem, but with so much support on the flat, perhaps Laporte will be given a bit of a green flag to at least try, since van Aert will not. I think these are all dillemas and not problems, because of a certain excess of quality.

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Movistar Team
Lineup: Antonio Pedrero, Gregor Mühlberger, Alex Aranburu, Gorka Izagirre, Matteo Jorgenson, Nelson Oliveira, Ruben Guerreiro and Enric Mas.
Rating: 8/10

I don't have any serious complaint over Movistar's lineuo. The only thing I would change would be either Gregor Mühlberger or Gorka Izagirre and put in either Jorge Arcas or Albert Torres. Alex Aranburu will eye some sprints and Enric Mas the GC, the team only has 1 road captain and rider to ride on the flat which is Nelson Oliveira, it could surely do with another one.

The team understood that this is a mountainous race, every rider present can climb, and the absences also make sense as the team will naturally put a lot of focus in the Vuelta. It is a team that a bit similar to EF, is to hunt stage wins. Mas hasn't looked too bright since February and unless something changes he will be a contender for a Top10 or somewhere in the Top10. If he improves the team have the numbers to support him, but I expect Matteo Jorgenson, Ruben Guerreiro and Antonio Pedrero to start the race with freedom to chase breakaways in the many mountainous days.

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Soudal - Quick-Step
Lineup: Julian Alaphilippe, Fabio Jakobsen, Kasper Asgreen, Tim Declercq, Yves Lampaert, Florian Sénéchal, Dries Devenyns and Michael Morkov.
Rating: 10/10

Soudal - Quick-Step come with the leaders it expected and the right support riders for all, whilst having a perfect balance to hunt stage wins. I very much see Quick-Step as Alpecin used to be a few years ago, whilst Alpecin does perfectly what Quick-Step used to do. However I dare to say Quick-Step have good chances of doing good things here. Fabio Jakobsen hasn't looked too dialed in with his leadout this year but comes in with the best anyhow, and after a great display of form at the Baloise Belgium Tour I'd say a stage win is rather safe.

Julian Alaphilippe won a stage and looked quite good at the Criterium du Dauphiné, there Rémi Cavagna also showed good form in the time-trial, and Kasper Asgreen recently won a hotly contested Danish time-trial nationals. All three are perfect stage hunters for breakaways depending on the day and I'd say the chances of one of them netting a win are also high. Alaphilippe also has his right-hand man Devenyns present which will be a boost of confidence, whilst Tim Declercq is back on the road and will be the captain throughout the three weeks.

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Team Arkéa Samsic
Lineup: Laurent Pichon, Simon Gugliemi, Jenthe Biermans, Warren Barguil, Luca Mozzato, Clément Champoussin, Anthony Delaplace and Matis Louvel.
Rating: 8/10

I will rate Arkéa decently but honestly the expectations aren't high. After Quintana's departure the team didn't reinforce itself despite entry to the World Tour. Hugo Hofstetter and Nacer Bouhanni remain far from their best level and aren't part of the lineup. Warren Barguil wasn't bad towards the end of the Giro but it'll be a tough ask to see him win here.

Luca Mozzato has not been in good form recently, the hopes of the team mostly lie with Clément Champoussin who has recently ridden strongly in recent weeks. It is a team that will look for breakaways and exposure, whilst likely hopeing for Barguil and Champoussin to get into lucky breakaways. Jenthe Biermans and Matis Louvel are quality riders but I don't think it's in a three-week race that they can show it.

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Team Jayco AlUla
Lineup: Simon Yates, Dylan Groenewegen, Luka Mezgec, Elmar Reinders, Lawson Craddock, Luke Durbridge, Chris Harper and Christopher Juul-Jensen.
Rating: 6/10

Simon Yates leads the team in the fight for the GC, he's looked quite good early in the year and to be honest this is his best and likely last chance to finish on the Tour de France podium. He's not a fan of the race but the route is perfect for the Briton. I understand Jayco would not be working in the mountains, but I have to say I was quite surprised seeing the lineup. For two reasons, one of them being the lack of support in the mountains. The only climber besides Yates on the lineup is Chris Harper, he will quickly be isolated from most of the team in the hard stages, and Harper himself won't survive long alongside other teams' domestiques.

The other is the absence of Matteo Sobrero which I honestly don't understand. Perfect for the hilly breakaway days, showing good form recently and the calendar looked to be building towards it. The absence of Michael Matthews I agree with, but there is too much focus on Dylan Groenewegen. Of course, stage wins can justify it but it will be a lot of pressure and not an easy task. Luka Mezgec will be great support, but then he's joined by Elmar Reinders, Luke Durbridge, Chris Juul-Jensen and Lawson Craddock. I feel Sobrero or even Tour of Slovenia breakthrough Jesús David Peña would make more difference in the lineup - except for Craddock, his presence would always be certain to me.

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Team DSM - Firmenich
Lineup: Nils Eekhoff, Matthew Dinham, John Degenkolb, Kevin Vermaerke, Alex Edmonson, Sam Welsford, Chris Hamilton and Romain Bardet.
Rating: 8/10

I have very mixed feelings over DSM. I will be completely honest, I look at this lineup and it does not click, Neither of it's leaders will be perfectly supported and outside of them there aren't really options to net a stage win. But looking through the team and how they evolve their young riders, I can't really see how they would choose differently somehow. Romain Bardet wants to go for the GC but honestly it's best if he focuses on getting a stage win, perhaps the KOM classification, as in the high mountains he will perhaps be the leader that'll be isolated the quickest.

Sam Welsford has the speed, I honestly thought he wouldn't be selected somehow, but it was the right choice. Alex Edmonson, John Degenkolb, Nils Eekhoff, it feels like they can set a good leadout but in the final kilometer none will have the power to place him in the holeshot in any sprint. If they win a stage I'll consider the race a success, I think they will be realistic about their ambitions.

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Lidl - Trek
Lineup: Tony Gallopin, Giulio Ciccone, Quinn Simmons, Mattias Skjelmose, Juan Pedro López, Alex Kirsch, Jasper Stuyven and Mads Pedersen.
Rating: 10/10

Trek looks perfect to me. A perfect mix of ambitions and possible breakthroughs. The team initially had a clear plan. Mads Pedersen provides safety and a clear leader for the sprints and also green jersey, he comes in with a simple but clean and effective leadout in Alex Kirsch and Jasper Stuyven. Then on the other side you've got Giulio Ciccone coming to hunt stage wins in the mountains, whilst Quinn Simmons targets hilly days, Tony Gallopin acts as road captain and chaser on flat days, and Juan Pedro López is the newcomer with the perfectly suited route.

But then the team has last-minute added another ambition which is the "is it possible that Mattias Skjelmose can fight for GC?" It'll be a discovery journey, he likely was to come with total freedom to hunt stages, but certainly the freedom will be used for a GC tilt as the team already have all other bases covered. It'll be a very interesting team to follow, I don't quite know how to phrase it but it's a team that has it's own identity.

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UAE Team Emirates
Lineup: Felix Grossschartner, Vegard Stake Laengen, Mikkel Bjerg, Matteo Trentin, Tadej Pogacar, Adam Yates, Marc Soler and Rafal Majka.
Rating: 9/10

Tadej Pogacar coming in to lead the team, one that is all built around him. Vegard Stake Laengen will help in the flat days and do some chasing, whilst Mikkel Bjerg and Matteo Trentin will work on positioning towards finales and climbs. The team has Adam Yates who finished second at the Dauphiné and Rafal Majka around the Slovenian, two riders who should likely fit perfectly in their role - as long as the team makes it clear the goal is victory, not UCI points with Yates going for a minor GC result.

When it comes to secondary support in the mountains I'd make a change. Ideally Tim Wellens would be in the lineup but he's not been able to recover form quick enough, and Domen Novak who was also expected to be here didn't find his best legs. Felix Grosschartner and Marc Soler remain, two climbers who don't frequently ride in domestique role. Honestly I would put in Brandon McNulty in the lineup over one of them, he's good for the role and last year he proved absolutely key - besides UAE putting many resources outside the Tour so his presence elsewhere wouldn't be crucial.

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Lotto Dstny
Lineup: Victor Campenaerts, Jasper De Buyst, Pascal Eenkhoorn, Frederik Frison, Jacopo Guarnieri, Florian Vermeersch, Caleb Ewan and Maxim van Gils.
Rating: 6/10

Arnaud De Lie is going through a gradual evolution, Thomas de Gendt is still out of form and so is Andreas Kron - or so he said, days after the lineup revealed he finished on the podium of the nationals, which makes me wonder why the team decided to rush the announcement. Three leaders are missing but they are understandable, although I can't help it but to look at this lineup and wonder where is Brent van Moer, who would have chance in some breakaways. Nevertheless Lotto Dstny are playing the cards they have.

Florian Vermeersch, Victor Campenaerts and Maxim van Gils will have chances of winning a stage, whilst the team will equally focus in the sprints. Caleb Ewan leads the team, he will have a tough task the Tour has some of the best leadouts in the world and he struggles in these, but he does come in with a strong leadout. Jasper de Buyst and Jacopo Guarnieri will have the hard but crucial task of making sure he doesn't enter the sprints away from the front.

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TotalEnergies
Lineup: Mathieu Burgaudeau, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Steff Cras, Valentin Ferron, Pierre Latour, Daniel Oss, Peter Sagan and Anthony Turgis.
Rating: 8/10

The team has quality riders in Jason Tesson and Sandy Dujardin, but I think it makes sense to save them, instead of using them as slight leadout for Sagan here. This is Sagan's race, although the absence of Maciej Bodnar is surprising to me. The only surprise, but I must say there isn't a particular figure in the lineup I would remove.

Oss and Boasson Hagen will help in the leadouts, Cras and Latour head to the mountains, Ferron and Burgeaudau to the hilly stages, Anthony Turgis will likely cover breakaways and may fight for some wins if he finds his best legs.

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Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
Lineup: Torstein Traeen, Soren Waerenskjold, Anthon Charmig, Jonas Gregaard, Jonas Abrahamsen, Alexander Kristoff, Rasmus Tiller and Tobias Johannessen.
Rating: 9/10

Uno-X are a very smart team, and this lineup is the combination of intelligence and good luck when it comes to lack of injuries and illnesses. Kristoffer Halvorsen is the rider who could be present, but he isn't an experienced leadout for Alexander Kristoff it wouldn't make sense. Newly crowned Norwegian champion Fredrik Dversnes could better fit in I think. It's a team whose best riders somehow fit perfectly into a Tour de France lineup, and their deubt could be very successful. Kristoff has Soren Waerenskjold are a very strong leadout, whilst Rasmus Tiller and Jonas Abrahamsen will be very helpful in the leadouts. Gregaard and Abrahamsen go towards breakaways on flat days, Tiller for the hilly days.

Tobias Johannessen seems to finally be coming to form and could chase stage wins, but if he reaches his best he could fight for the GC, as is the case with Torstein Traeen. Most likely both, alongside Anthon Charmig will look for wins in the mountains.

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Israel - Premier Tech
Lineup: Guillaume Boivin, Krists Neilands, Simon Clarke, Dylan Teuns, Michael Woods, Hugo Houle, Corbin Strong and Nick Schultz.
Rating: 10/10

Israel, lastly, is another team I would not touch. They could have a sprinter such as Nizzolo or Einhorn however realistically they would not win a sprint. They could have Chris Froome but let's be real it would only be for exposure currently, last year he did surprise (taking into consideration his form of recent years) but I didn't see that happening this year. A last-minute change, I think all riders present have better chances of winning a stage than Froome would have, and he wouldn't be necessary for GC support.

Michael Woods may target GC as there are virtually no ITT kilometers, but a Top10 result is probably not better than the possibility of a stage win, and with the form he brings to the Tour he certainly can. A 100% stage hunting team for multiple terrains as Woods heads to the mountains. The 7 remaining riders are all quality puncheurs and rouleurs. Every single one at their best is capable of winning a stage at the Tour de France, special attention into Dylan Teuns whose shown good form at the Tour de Suisse, a great sign.

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