"We have already done it in the past with Romain Bardet and Jean-Christophe Peraud" - AG2R have Tour de France podium hopes through Ben O'Connor

One of the premier French teams, achieving a result at the Tour de France is always a big aim for the AG2R Citroen Team and in Ben O'Connor they believe they have someone who can challenge for the podium.

"It's not necessarily what we have in mind, but we know it's possible. We have already done it in the past with Romain Bardet and Jean-Christophe Peraud, and Ben O'Connor has already finished fourth," Julien Jurdie, the teams assistant sports director tells Cyclism'Actu. "We know it's doable, but we won't set off with this ambition. We won't leave for the Tour saying the podium or nothing, but we will leave to achieve the best general classification possible without setting a quantified objective, knowing that we will also have this objective of winning a stage. You don't have to be 100% focused on the general."

Obviously competition will of course fierce at the Tour de France. As always some of the biggest names in Grand Tour will descend on France to battle it out for the Yellow Jersey. The likes of former Grand Tour winners, Jonas Vingegaard and Jai Hindley will be there as will Tadej Pogacar who has recovered in time after a crash at Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

“Pogacar? There are big questions…” adds Jurdie. “If I were his sporting director, I would be a little worried.”