Misfiring stars, long-term injuries and a forgotten victory - Four riders starting Tour Auvergne Rhône-Alpes flying under the radar ahead of Tour de France

The Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes starts on Sunday June 7th, officially kicking off the build-up to the 2026 Tour de France as fans look forward to the premier Grand Tour's latest edition. After Jonas Vingegaard's Giro d'Italia victory, speculation is rising that he could be set to duel with Tadej Pogacar once again in France - but there's a new kid on the block.

It's no secret to cycling fans that Paul Seixas is the future of the sport. At just 19-years-old, he returns to the traditional warm-up race - formerly know as the Criterium du Dauphine - with lofty ambitions backed by incredible victories and performances in spring. However, the Decathlon CMA CGM star declared that the future is now this week: he wants to win the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

Dominating the build-up to the race as he prepares to battle fellow GC contenders Isaac Del Toro and Juan Ayuso among others, it's easy for fans to forget some stars who are arriving in the south-east of France with their own ambitious goals.

Flying under the radar, there's a number of riders with a point to prove over the next week. Away from the headlines, recovering from injuries, classics disappointment or determined to remind fans of a headline victory, we've taken a look at four stars who fans should watch closely at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

Since his 2025 Tour de France heroics and yellow jersey stint, Ben Healy has endured quite the time of it. His impressive form rolled into September as he impressively rode to a third place at the World Championships. But his good fortune almost stopped there.

His 2026 season showed promise at Tirreno Adriatico as he battled to an 8th place overall finish, with focus shifting to his bread and butter - the Ardennes Classic. The EF Education-Easypost rider would never get to any of those underlined classics, thanks to a crash in Itzulia Basque Country recon.

Interestingly though, he did ride the stage race and was a fixture in the breakaway on all three final stages, seemingly sizzling nicely for Belgium's upcoming classics. But injuries from that crash flared up shortly after and he was found to have a fractured sacrum.

With almost two months now out of racing, Healy has been quietly preparing and surely stirring in determination to ride himself back into last summer's form. Alex Baudin is also set to be an important figure in his team, and he's certainly one to watch.

Speaking of injuries, it wasn't a memorable spring for Matteo Jorgenson either. The American crashed hard at Amstel Gold Race and suffered a fractured collarbone - pulling the breaks on what had been a promising season.

Cast your mind back to earlier in the season, the American was the only to follow Paul Seixas initially during his Faun-Ardèche Classic attack that kicked off his seismic rise, and was among the strongest at Strade Bianche and Tirreno Adriatico.

Team Visma | Lease a Bike have tried the versatile star across many different terrains, and it seemed like he was finding his place amongst the top one-day and stage race contenders before his crash.

A lot of eyes will be on Wout Van Aert's return to racing, but it's worth looking at Matteo Jorgenson, particularly due to his already demonstrated climbing level earlier in the season.

One rider who will be determined to set a record straight is Brady Gilmore. The Australian versatile sprinter burst onto the WorldTour scene this season after joining NSN Cycling Team.

Fans will remember the name after his remarkable win at the final day of the Volta a Catalunya, hanging with the big contenders up and down a punchy Barcelona circuit to sprint for an emphatic win.

Demonstrating that he had what it takes to not only sprint in a reduced group, but cling on in a selective attack-filled finale, Gilmore is a name that could pop up over the next week in France.

Although not confirmed to be targeting the Tour de France, a performance like that in Catalunya could be hard to ignore, with potentially three stages suiting his strengths.

Quinn Simmons put the fear into Tadej Pogacar at Il Lombardia last season, with his seismic breakaway performance unfortunately not enough to keep the all-conquering Slovenian at bay, but earning an impressive fourth place after over 230 kilometers in the breakaway.

The American rider hasn't quite been able to replicate those heroics in 2026, finding himself away from the front of races this season - with some dissapointing results in the likes of Strade Bianche and not finishing Itzulia Basque Country.

The Durango native has been away from racing for around six weeks, and is surely raring to go in France once again, hoping to re-find his breakaway form that saw him light up multiple stages of last year's Tour de France.