POLL: How will Carlos Rodríguez' GC challenge go at 2024 Tour de France?

Carlos Rodríguez was on the verge of leaving INEOS Grenadiers last year but his performance at the Tour de France saw the team put in an extra effort to renew with him. Now, the Spaniard returns to the Tour as the main leader out of a strong lineup in pursuit of the podium.

Second at the 2021 Tour de l'Avenir, it was clear that the Spaniard was built for the Grand Tours and it didn't take him too much time to deliver. In his debut at the 2022 Vuelta a España he rode to a sixth place in the GC and in 2023 he tested himself at the Tour. It was an immediate success, finishing fifth in the GC and winning stage 14 after Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard played games with each other on the climb to the Col de Joux-Plane.

He also won the queen stage of the Tour of Britain, but this year he's taking it up another notch. He won the final mountain stage of Itzulia Basque Country and Criterium du Dauphiné, finishing second and fourth respectively in those races whilst winning the overall classification at the Tour de Romandie. At only 23 the Spaniard has already proven himself to be a worthy leader, capable of ruling over the INEOS train.

INEOS' lineup for the race is already virtually known with six riders; whilst the likes of Jonathan Castroviejo, Ben Turner and Omar Fraile are set to fill in the remaining two positions. Egan Bernal and Tom Pidcock also come into the race with GC aspirations, however the Briton is having his own aspirations in the race. Laurens de Plus and Geraint Thomas are also part of the lineup and whilst they could also have their own ambitions in the race, likely they will be in domestique roles.