Aussies on Tour – The 10 Australians flying the flag at the 2025 Tour de France

Jack Haig, Ben O'Connor and Michael Storer (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Ben O’Connor (Jayco-AlUla)
Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla)
Luke Durbridge (Jayco-AlUla)
Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious)
Robert Stannard (Bahrain-Victorious)
Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Michael Storer (Tudor Cycling)
Harry Sweeny (EF Education-Easypost)
Jarrad Drizners (Lotto)
Callum Scotson (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)

There will be some notable absences among the Australian contingent lining up to take on the men’s Tour de France this year. They range from Michael Matthews (Jayco-AlUla) who needed to step out of competition after showing signs of a pulmonary embolism to the injured Red Bull- Bora-Hansgrohe duo of Sam Welsford and Jai Hindley but even then the 2025 edition is particularly strong on reasons for the nation’s cycling fans to keep their eyes open for the late nights of viewing.

There are ten Australians expected to line up in Lille, according to the preliminary start list, with a wide range of roles and stage styles within their sights. The time-zone and geographically challenged nation – in cycling terms at least – last year had an unusually low tally of starters at six and, equally unusually, missed out on delivering a stage win, but in 2025 is once again punching well above its weight. Only fans from France, Belgium, Netherlands and Italy have more compatriots to cheer on.

The last time a rider from the nation snared a stage win at the French Grand Tour was in 2023, when Hindley won stage 5 and also spent a day in yellow, while the last time an Australian was on the overall podium was in 2020 when Richie Porte came third. This year the spread of riders includes those offering overall, breakaway and time trial potential plus some serious lead-out power and climbing capability.

When Ben O’Connor signed with the Australian team for this year it opened up a new era for the squad, which would now set forth with its own home-grown contender at the biggest Grand Tour on the calendar. Fourth overall on his Tour debut in 2021, the rider from Western Australia once again reminded just how solid his racing credentials are with a powerful run through 2024 which culminated with a second overall at the Vuelta and World Championships road race. His lead-in race this year, the Tour de Suisse, largely put a strong show of building form on display, even though a bad day left him with a solid if unspectacular seventh.

Fresh off a Giro d’Italia which netted Luke Plapp his first Grand Tour stage win, but unfortunately also ended early due to illness, it was not overly surprising when it was announced that the 24-year-old would also be lining up in Lille. The rider is, step-by-step, working toward a position as a Grand Tour GC rider for the Australian team, so settling into a role supporting Ben O’Connor, who has come fourth in France, second at the Vuelta and fourth at the Giro d’Italia is bound to be an excellent learning experience.

The Australian road race champion is a rider you may well see at the front if you are tuning into the Tour de France stage early, with 'Turbo Durbo' offering a powerful combination of strength and experience. The power he can deliver working on the front makes him a valuable support asset for both the overall and stage ambitions of the team, which is also chasing sprint wins with Dylan Groenewegen. Add to that his extensive knowledge of the race and peloton and it's hard to imagine the squad wanting to line up without him, which is probably exactly why this will be his 11th edition in 2025.

Once upon a time Jack Haig was a rider who showed promise as a possible overall podium contender, having come third at the 2021 Vuelta a España. However Haig isn’t a rider indulging in false hope, having put it bluntly that “the sport has moved on”. Now, though, he is an extremely valuable asset for his team, which is rallying behind Colombian Santiago Buitrago at this year’s Tour with the aim of improving on his top ten position in last year’s debut.

Robert Stannard has come back to the peloton after accepting a back-dated doping sanction based on abnormal values on his Athlete Biological Passport – "I had to make a hard choice: accept the ruling and be able to do the sport I love again, or fight to clear my name,” he said in a statement released on his return. Since coming back at the end of last year, he’s been working hard for the team and that effort has earned him a ride at the Tour de France, where he will be making his debut.

In most other squads, Kaden Groves would be a rider with a good chance of getting a shot at the sprint stages, but Alpecin-Deceuninck isn't any other squad. Lining up alongside 2023 green jersey winner and nine-time stage victor Jasper Philipsen makes Groves part of a powerful lead-out team that's going to be tough to beat. That's particularly true given it includes Mathieu van der Poel as an impressive last man, who can also alternate as a breakaway stage option, should the course not be pan-flat.

The winner of nine stages across the Giro and Vuelta as well as the points jersey at the Spanish Grand Tour for the last two years, Groves is likely to one day get his shot at chasing victories in France. But with the strength on show within the squad, 2025 is a year where the wins he'll be helping deliver to his team aren't likely to be his own. The fact that he is on the start line this year, however, is a good step along the way.

Since then, Sweeny hasn't returned but 2025 has finally delivered another opportunity. The team's original GC goals have been foiled by illness, with Richard Carapaz out due to a gastrointestinal illness, but that means the squad is all in to chase stages. "Having worked so hard for the last four years to get back to the Tour, it gives me goosebumps to think about what it could mean to win there, while actually being in the shape that is needed to win a stage," said Sweeny in the EF Education-Easypost team announcement.

Jarrad Drizners first lined up at the Tour de France in 2024, helping pilot Arnaud De Lie in the sprints, where he netted two stage podiums, and he is back in 2025 to play a key lead out role for the young Belgian once again. There are, of course, hopes that this time he'll be ushering De Lie to the top step as both benefit from the experience of having one edition under their belt. It hasn't, however, been the easiest of runs for De Lie since the French Grand Tour last year though the team says "he's back to his old self and ready for three weeks in France". Drizners will also be relied on to 'keep the group together' as the team looks to support Lennert Van Eetvelt in the mountains.

Callum Scotson has spent all of his WorldTour career with Jayco-AlUla up until this season and while he had done a number of Grand Tours with the Australian squad, the Tour de France hasn't been on the radar before. The switch to Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, however, has changed that. The role is one thing that is likely to stay the same, this time working toward the cause of Felix Gall – who won a stage at the 2023 Tour de France and in that year also came eighth overall. Gall will once again be chasing stages and a strong overall for the French squad, with Scotson there for support – a dynamic they have already tested out at the Tour de Suisse where Gall finished fourth overall.

Simone is a degree-qualified journalist that has accumulated decades of wide-ranging experience while working across a variety of leading media organisations. She joined Cyclingnews as a Production Editor at the start of the 2021 season and has now moved into the role of Australia Editor. Previously she worked as a freelance writer, Australian Editor at Ella CyclingTips and as a correspondent for Reuters and Bloomberg. Cycling was initially purely a leisure pursuit for Simone, who started out as a business journalist, but in 2015 her career focus also shifted to the sport.

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Ben O’Connor (Jayco-AlUla)

Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla)

Luke Durbridge (Jayco-AlUla)

Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious)

Robert Stannard (Bahrain-Victorious)

Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

Michael Storer (Tudor Cycling)

Harry Sweeny (EF Education-Easypost)

Jarrad Drizners (Lotto)

Callum Scotson (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)