Tour de France 2025 – The comprehensive team-by-team guide
Cyclingnews takes you through the riders and objectives of all 23 teams lining up in Lille this Satuday

- Alpecin-Deceuninck
- Arkéa-B&B Hotels
- Bahrain Victorious
- Cofidis
- Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
- EF Education-EasyPost
- Groupama-FDJ
- Ineos Grenadiers
- Intermarché-Wanty
- Israel-Premier Tech
- Lidl-Trek
- Lotto
- Movistar
- Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
- Soudal-QuickStep
- Jayco-AlUla
- Picnic-PostNL
- TotalEnergies
- Visma-Lease a Bike
- Tudor Pro Cycling
- UAE Team Emirates-XRG
- Uno-X Mobility
- XDS-Astana
With under than a week to go until the Grand Départ of the 2025 Tour de France in Lille, teams are putting the final touches on their preparations and confirming their eight-man selections for the biggest race of the year.
The Tour peloton will be comprised of 184 riders across 23 teams, with each outfit approaching the race with different goals and ambitions. For some teams, anything less than the maillot jaune in Paris will be considered a disappointment, while others would be satisfied with a single stage win. WorldTour survival and new sponsors are top of the wishlist for others.
All 18 WorldTour teams will be in attendance at this year’s race. Lotto and Israel-Premier Tech join as the two best-ranked UCI ProTeams, whilst Uno-X Mobility, TotalEnergies and Tudor Pro Cycling have all been handed wildcard entries by race organiser ASO.
There's no need for you to pore over the start lists and statistics sites to figure out who you should be looking for at this year's race, however. From Alpecin-Deceuninck to XDS-Astana, we've got you covered with the most comprehensive team guide around. Read on for our expert insight on each team at this year's Tour de France, including their leaders, riders to watch, and race ambitions.
Alpecin-Deceuninck
- Team leaders: Jasper Philipsen, Mathieu van der Poel
- Objectives: Stage wins, green jersey
- Rider to watch: Kaden Groves
- Full team: Mathieu van der Poel, Jasper Philipsen, Kaden Groves, Jonas Rickaert, Emiel Verstrynge, Xandro Meurisse, Silvan Dillier, Gianni Vermeersch
Belgian squad Alpecin-Deceuninck unveiled their full team on Tuesday, with 2023 green jersey and nine-time stage winner, superstar sprinter Jasper Philipsen looking for more of the same this July, starting on day one and a bid for yellow in Lille.
His recent stage win at the Baloise Belgium Tour and podium at the Belgian Nationals speak to his good form, though it is his only victory of the season to date. He's found himself bested by countryman Tim Merlier on several occasions, including on stage 2 in Belgium, and the pair's sprint battles figure to be one of the highlights of the race.
Philipsen is in good form, and so too is his teammate, lead-out man extraordinaire Mathieu van der Poel. The Dutchman's attacking display at the Critérium du Dauphiné showed that he'll be in full flight after fracturing his wrist in late May. It will be a surprise if the pairing doesn't bring home at least one stage win.
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Van der Poel will also be free to attack for a stage of his own on the numerous hilly, Classics-style days throughout the race. The first week of the Tour offers a smorgasbord of such days, interlaced with sprint opportunities, and the former world champion will no doubt have his eyes on stage 7 and the Mûr-de-Bretagne, where he won four years ago.
Australian sprinter Kaden Groves – himself a nine-time Grand Tour stage winner – will form another part of what will surely be the most impressive lead-out train at the race. Should any mishap befall Philipsen on the sprint days, he'll be ready to step up and take over. (DO)
Arkéa-B&B Hotels
- Team leader: Kévin Vauquelin
- Objectives: Stage win, new sponsorship
- Riders to watch: Arnaud Démare, Cristián Rodríguez
- Full team: Kévin Vauquelin, Amaury Capiot, Ewen Costiou, Arnaud Démare, Raúl García Pierna, Mathis Le Berre, Cristián Rodríguez, Clément Venturini
French team Arkéa-B&B Hotels head into the Tour fighting for survival on several fronts. On one hand, they lie just over 3,000 points adrift of 18th place in the race for UCI WorldTour status for the next three seasons, and on the other, they'll be looking to do what they can to attract new title sponsors after both Arkéa and B&B Hotels announced their departure at the end of 2025.
Kévin Vauquelin is the stand-out name in their selection. The 24-year-old is a star of French cycling, having won from the break on stage 2 in Bologna last year. This year, he's been the team's best rider, winning the Etoile de Bessèges and Région Pays de la Loire Tour as well as finishing on the podium at La Flèche Wallonne and the Tour de Suisse.
Vauquelin represents their best shot at a win this time around, with the punchy and hilly stages dotted throughout the Tour perfectly suited to his abilities.
Veteran sprinter Arnaud Démare will be hoping to break a winning drought stretching back to last September. He has two Tour stage wins on his palmarès, though the most recent of them came seven years ago. Clément Venturini will be on lead-out duties.
Elsewhere, Cristián Rodríguez, second at the Andorra MoraBanc Clàssica and 11th at the Tour de Romandie, is an outside shout for the break on mountainous days, with the rest of the squad, including fellow Spaniard Raúl García Pierna, also likely to target the breaks. (DO)
Bahrain Victorious
- Team leader: Santiago Buitrago
- Objectives: GC top five, stage wins
- Riders to watch: Lenny Martinez, Matej Mohorič, Fred Wright
- Full team: Santiago Buitrago, Phil Bauhaus, Kamil Gradek, Jack Haig, Lenny Martinez, Matej Mohorič, Robert Stannard, Fred Wright
Colombian climber Santiago Buitrago heads up the Bahrain Victorious selection following a top-10 finish on his debut last year. The 25-year-old, who has two Giro stages on his palmarès, has said he's aiming even higher this year, with his sights set on "the top five, or even on the podium."
Jack Haig comes along as road captain on the mountainous days, while new signing Lenny Martinez, France's great young hope, also makes the selection. The 21-year-old has won stages at Paris-Nice, the Tour de Romandie, and Critérium du Dauphiné, and he'll be one to watch in the mountains again here, though the team hasn't mentioned a GC bid for him this month.
German sprinter Phil Bauhaus has four stage podium places Tour to his name and will be the team's sprint option again here. The versatile Fred Wright will be helping in the lead-out as well as battling in the breakaways in search of his debut WorldTour victory following a series of near-misses over the years.
Canny Slovenian racer Matej Mohorič will be another option for the breaks. The three-time Tour stage winner should find several of the hilly days to his liking, though he hasn't shown much form in the lead-up to this year's race. (DO)
Cofidis
- Team leader: Emanuel Buchmann
- Objectives: Stage win, GC top 10
- Riders to watch: Alex Aranburu, Ion Izagirre
- Full team: Alex Aranburu, Emanuel Buchmann, Bryan Coquard, Ion Izagirre, Alexis Renard, Benjamin Thomas, Damien Touzé, Dylan Teuns
Like fellow French squad Arkéa-B&B Hotels, Cofidis are another team desperately seeking UCI points this month. They find themselves in a less dire position heading into the Tour, lying just a couple of hundred points off the final WorldTour spot in the rankings.
Racing their 29th Tour this year, they bring a versatile squad to the Tour with stage wins as the goal. Their versatile selection features riders for all terrains, even if none are among the absolute elite in their respective fields.
German climber Emanuel Buchmann leads the team's GC charge. He finished fourth in the 2019 Tour, but a repeat of that result would be a shock. Instead, a result on the fringes of the top 10 (he finished 11th at the Critétium du Dauphiné) would represent success.
Basque duo Alex Aranburu and Ion Izagirre should lead the battle for the breakaways along with puncheur Dylan Teuns. The Belgian, like Izagirre, has won two Tour stages in the past, but neither rider has shone so far in 2025.
Itzulia Basque Country stage winner Aranburu has raked in the second-most UCI points at the team this season, having also scored top fives at the GP Indurain and Brabantse Pijl. He'll have the hilly days which prove too tough for the pure sprinters circled on his calendar.
Finally, the team will be looking to Bryan Coquard and Alexis Renard for the sprint stages. Coquard has eight stage podiums at the Tour without a victory over the years, and, frankly, that doesn't look like changing this July. Renard is the form man, meanwhile, having picked up podium spots at the recent Brussels Cycling Classic and Copenhagen Sprint. (DO)
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
- Team leader: Felix Gall
- Objectives: GC top 10, stage wins
- Riders to watch: Bruno Armirail, Bastien Tronchon
- Full team: Bruno Armirail, Stefan Bissegger, Clément Berthet, Felix Gall, Oliver Naesen, Aurélien Paret-Peintre, Callum Scotson, Bastien Tronchon
Having enjoyed another fairly successful campaign so far this season, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale will be looking to add more Grand Tour success to their results sheet after Nicolas Prodhomme’s triumph on stage 19 of the Giro d’Italia. Despite his impressive showing to take eighth overall at the Critérium du Dauphiné, Paul Seixas has not been selected for the Tour de France, as the team will instead focus their GC ambitions around Felix Gall.
The Austrian rider has performed well in recent editions of the Tour de France, winning the queen stage to Courchevel and finishing eighth overall in 2023 to announce himself as a GC contender for future seasons. Coming into this year’s race, Gall has shown himself to be in good form, as he finished fourth overall at the Tour de Suisse with a strong performance in the mountain time trial on the final stage.
Meanwhile, the team around him seems geared towards stage hunting, as the French outfit will look to hedge their bets across as many riders as possible during the race. Another rider in good form this season is Bruno Armirail, as strong stage racing performances have seen him win the mountains classifications at both Itzulia Basque Country and the Critérium du Dauphiné, before going on to win the time trial at the French National Championships.
Bastien Tronchon is another rider to watch, as the 23-year-old Frenchman has come into some decent form in recent months. After finishing runner-up at the Tour du Finistère in May, he went on to win Tro Bro Léon a couple of days later, marking his first victory in nearly three years. He then finished in the top 10 on two stages of the Dauphiné and has now earned himself a call-up for the Tour de France. (JL)
EF Education-EasyPost
- Team leaders: Neilson Powless, Ben Healy
- Objectives: Stage wins, mountains classification
- Rider to watch: Harry Sweeny
- Full team: Harry Sweeny, Neilson Powless, Ben Healy, Kasper Asgreen, Marijn van den Berg, Alex Baudin, Michael Valgren, Vincenzo Albanese
After the news that Richard Carapaz would be unable to start the Tour de France due to a gastrointestinal infection, EF Education-EasyPost have had to reshape their objectives going into the race, moving from a more GC-centred strategy to a sole focus on stage hunting wherever opportunities present themselves. Neilson Powless and Ben Healy will likely lead the team, as they have both shown strong form throughout the season, particularly in the Spring Classics.
Yet to take a Grand Tour stage win so far in his career, Powless will be keen to rectify that at the Tour de France. He has come close on a couple of occasions, with two fourth-place finishes to his name, and he has also led the mountains classification in the past, wearing the maillot à pois for 13 stages in 2023.
Ben Healy has tasted Grand Tour success in the past, winning stage 8 of the Giro d’Italia in 2023. Last year’s Tour de France was his first participation at the race, with a fifth place finish on stage 9 as his best result. He currently has one win to his name this season, which came on stage 5 of Itzulia Basque Country in April. His other standout result was undoubtedly his podium finish at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, whilst on the final stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné, he showed some strong climbing form on the final climb of the Col du Mont-Cenis.
Another rider from the US-based outfit to watch for is Harry Sweeny, who put in a brilliant performance on the final stage of the Tour de Suisse to finish fifth in the mountain time trial. (JL)
Groupama-FDJ
- Team leaders: Romain Grégoire, Guillaume Martin
- Objectives: Stage wins, GC top 15
- Riders to watch: Lewis Askey, Paul Penhoët
- Full team: Lewis Askey, Cyril Barthe, Romain Grégoire, Valentin Madouas, Guillaume Martin, Quentin Pacher, Paul Penhoët, Clément Russo
The traditional home team, Groupama-FDJ, bring a strong contingent of French riders to the race, with only one non-French rider in their entire lineup. With no obvious GC contender within their ranks, the team will likely target stage wins with the possibility of challenging for the top 15 overall, depending on the situation in the general classification going into the final week.
Romain Grégoire is the standout name on their eight-man roster, as his punchy and aggressive style should suit the hillier stages in the opening week. The 22-year-old’s solo move to win the opening stage of the Tour de Suisse saw him take the overall lead until the race reached its first summit finish. At the French National Championships, he just missed the title to Dorian Godon in the sprint.
The team’s GC ambitions will rest mainly on the shoulders of Guillaume Martin. The Frenchman has finished inside the top 15 in each of the last nine Grand Tours he has finished, with his highest placing being eighth at the Tour de France in 2021. Tenth overall at the recent Critérium du Dauphiné shows that he is coming into some good form just ahead of the Tour, and with plenty of opportunities for success throughout the race, do not count him out for a stage victory when the race enters more hilly terrain.
On the flat, look out for fast men Lewis Askey and Paul Penhoët, who should also get involved in the sprints. (JL)
Ineos Grenadiers
- Team leader: Carlos Rodríguez
- Objectives: GC top five, stage wins
- Rider to watch: Filippo Ganna
- Full team: TBA
A new approach to racing has certainly yielded results for Ineos Grenadiers in 2025, with 11 victories (excluding national championship titles) to their name so far this season, six of which have come at WorldTour level. However, it will be interesting to see if they will continue to race in the same aggressive fashion at the Tour de France, a race that the team once dominated for several years.
In terms of GC ambitions, Carlos Rodríguez will be the team’s protected leader, having finished fifth and seventh overall in the last two editions of the Tour. In fact, the Spaniard has never finished outside the top 10 overall in each of the four Grand Tours that he has ridden in his career. The 24-year-old recently finished ninth overall at the Critérium du Dauphiné and only seemed to get better as the race went on, which could be a sign that his form is peaking just in time for this race.
Stage wins will also be a strong priority for the team, with Filippo Ganna among their ranks as a strong contender for the flat time trial around Caen on stage 5. Though he looked slightly off the boil in the race against the clock at the Baloise Belgium Tour, he was still able to claim his fourth consecutive national time trial title and will be keen to take his first Tour de France stage win in the tricolore colours.
Geraint Thomas will also be riding in his final Tour de France, as the former winner of the maillot jaune will be retiring at the end of the season. It is currently unclear what to expect from the Welshman, as there has been no indication so far this season that he has any intention to compete for the general classification. His recent crash at the Tour de Suisse has also affected his preparation, as he was forced to abandon the race as a precaution and then opted to skip his final National Championships in Wales. (JL)
Intermarché-Wanty
- Team leader: Biniam Girmay
- Objectives: Stage wins
- Riders to watch: Georg Zimmermann, Louis Barré
- Full team: Biniam Girmay, Hugo Page, Laurenz Rex, Georg Zimmermann, Louis Barré, Vito Braet, Jonas Rutsch, Roel van Sintmaartensdijk
Winners of three stages and the green jersey with Biniam Girmay in 2024, Intermarché-Wanty are back at the Tour hoping for largely more of the same, to back up what was a historic run of victories for the Eritrean sprinter last year.
They've said they're focused squarely on stage wins – defending green is less important – and Girmay will naturally spearhead that aim, with the team heavily built around his lead-out. After the high of 2024, the 25-year-old is actually yet to win this season, partly because he missed some key stage races, but he's been up there regularly and clearly has the ability to win a Tour de France stage.
His lead-out is strong, with Hugo Page and Laurenz Rex part of his wins last year, whilst Roel van Sintmaartensdijk and Vito Braet are decent reinforcements. Though sprint stage wins seem the most likely outcome for Intermarché, they will also have half an eye on breakaways and opportunities – don't be surprised to see them represented in the break, even on flat stages, where Jonas Rutsch could be a good option.
And for the mountains, they have some interesting options in new German champ Georg Zimmermann, and 2025 break-out star Louis Barré, who also impressed in the French nationals. In the right mountain moves, either of these two could be in with the chance of a top stage result. (MP)
Israel-Premier Tech
- Team leaders: Michael Woods, Jake Stewart
- Objectives: Stage wins
- Rider to watch: Joseph Blackmore
- Full team: Pascal Ackermann, Joseph Blackmore, Michael Woods, Alexey Lutsenko, Jake Stewart, Guillaume Boivin, Matis Louvel, Krists Neilands
Without their eminent GC rider Derek Gee, who opted for the Giro d'Italia this year, Israel-Premier Tech will be going for stage wins at this year's Tour. Whilst they may not have a top 10 GC contender, they do have a varied roster of stage hunters, and should be able to target stages in every week of the race.
Sprint duties will be shared between Pascal Ackermann and Jake Stewart. Ackermann is perhaps the designated top dog, but it's Stewart who just took a stage win at the Critérium du Dauphiné, so the team should also give him some opportunities in the flat finishes.
For the tougher parts of the race, Michael Woods is returning from illness to try and win a second Tour de France stage, and if he can get in the right break, his climbing skills are good enough to deliver him to a win if he's feeling well. Look out for Tour de l'Avenir winner Joseph Blackmore, who is making his Grand Tour debut, and should be motivated to get stuck in. (MP)
Lidl-Trek
- Team leaders: Jonathan Milan, Mattias Skjelmose
- Objectives: Stage wins, green jersey
- Rider to watch: Thibau Nys
- Full team: Edward Theuns, Thibau Nys, Jasper Stuyven, Simone Consonni, Jonathan Milan, Mattias Skjelmose, Toms Skujiņš, Quinn Simmons
Lidl-Trek are heading to this Tour mainly targeting sprint wins for Jonathan Milan, with maybe a sprinkling of a GC ambition for Mattias Skjelmose, but they've not lined up a huge amount of support for the Dane. Instead, the team is very lead-out heavy, with Milan bringing his most trusted pilots to his maiden Tour de France in Simone Consonni and Edward Theuns.
Anything less than a sprint win (or likely more than one) would be a great disappointment for this Lidl team, who are putting all their eggs in Milan's basket – admittedly, a very fast one, with seven wins to his name already.
The other riders in the team are fairly versatile, in that they'll contribute to the sprint effort but can also be pretty handy on tougher stages, too, with Jasper Stuyven and Toms Skujiņš strong Classics riders. American Quinn Simmons will also be back for his third Tour and will be thinking about trying to win a stage.
The Lidl-Trek rider to watch, and a name you need to know if you don't already, is Thibau Nys, the prodigious young Belgian who has wasted no time making a mark on the pro peloton, and is already eyeing some stages where he wants to fight for the win.
As for the GC, the absence of Tao Geoghegan Hart means Skjelmose is in a party of one when it comes to the climbers. The Amstel Gold Race winner has struggled with illness and injury for the last couple of months, but did demonstrate his form with a win at the Andorra MoraBanc Classic a week and a half ago. He might still be thinking about a top 10, but with so little climbing support, that may be a tough ask. (MP)
Lotto
- Team leader: Arnaud De Lie
- Objectives: Stage wins, breakaways
- Rider to watch: Lennert Van Eetvelt
- Full team: Arnaud De Lie, Brent Van Moer, Jarrad Drizners, Eduardo Sepúlveda, Lennert Van Eetvelt, Jenno Berckmoes, Jasper De Buyst, Sébastien Grignard
For Lotto, Arnaud De Lie will be the key sprinter, but given his turbulent struggle with form this year, expectations may not be high. He'll still be their main hope for stage wins, as theoretically a top-level sprinter, though he has struggled to deliver on that promise in recent months.
Outside of De Lie, Lotto, one of the automatically invited ProTeams, don't have any huge names in their roster, but they have a handful of talented riders they can select for the Tour. For a rider to keep an eye on, Lennert Van Eetvelt is an exciting young climber who could excel in the harder stages, whilst Jenno Berckmoes has also put in some eye-catching performance.
They can rely on some older rider like Jasper De Buyst for experience, whilst some of their riders who are out of contract, like Jarrad Drizners, might put in some extra effort or attacks to try and attract some attention and a new deal. (MP)
Movistar
- Team leader: Enric Mas
- Objectives: GC top 5
- Rider to watch: Iván Romeo
- Full team: Enric Mas, Pablo Castrillo, Nelson Oliveira, Einer Rubio, Iván Romeo, Gregor Mühlberger, Will Barta, Iván García Cortina
Movistar head to this Tour with the same goal they've had for the last few years: a top GC finish for Enric Mas. The Spaniard is incredibly consistent as he's ridden 13 Grand Tours in his career. He only finished outside of the top six on three occasions, though the Tour has often been his weakest, with 19th, DNF, DNF, 5th and 22nd his record in France, compared to four Vuelta podiums.
However, the team assembled around Mas for this year looks stronger than it's ever been, with basically the whole team committed to his aim, so this could be a big benefit for him as he looks for another top five.
The biggest addition for Mas is Pablo Castrillo, his talented 24-year-old compatriot who has impressed in stage races this season. Einer Rubio was also hugely strong at the Giro, finishing eighth overall.
The rider who should make the biggest impact on the non-GC race, though, is probably Iván Romeo, the newly crowned Spanish national champion who also won a stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné last month. The under-23 time trial World Champion is a big talent and will be keen to make a mark on his Grand Tour debut. (MP)
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
- Team leaders: Primož Roglič, Jordi Meeus
- Objectives: Good GC, sprint wins
- Rider to watch: Florian Lipowitz
- Full team: Primož Roglič, Florian Lipowitz, Aleksandr Vlasov, Laurence Pithie, Mick van Dijke, Gianni Moscon, Danny van Poppel, Jordi Meeus
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe are, ostensibly, going to the Tour in search of some French redemption for Primož Roglič, who has had terrible luck at this race. He comes off the back of a failed attempt at the Giro GC, where he started as favourite but crashed out.
However, it's intriguing that Red Bull have very much not put all their eggs in the Roglič basket – they're definitely seriously targeting sprint wins with Jordi Meeus, and even have a back-up GC option in Florian Lipowitz.
Roglič will certainly start as number one, but Lipowitz just finished third at the Critérium du Dauphiné and has really been proving his credentials as a GC rider this year. This is his first Tour, so the expectations won't be massive, but if something goes wrong for Roglič, which, as history suggests, is possible, then the German could absolutely step into a bigger role at Red Bull.
It's definitely not all about GC at Red Bull, though, with a team made up of as many puncheurs and sprinters as climbers. Meeus has got sprint leadership over Sam Welsford, who is being left at home, and he'll be supported by the inimitable Danny van Poppel, whilst the likes of Laurence Pithie and Mick van Dijke will be useful in the tougher, Classics-style stages of the first half of the race. (MP)
Soudal-QuickStep
- Team leaders: Remco Evenepoel, Tim Merlier
- Objectives: GC podium, stage wins
- Riders to watch: Valentin Paret-Peintre, Max Schachmann
- Full team: Remco Evenepoel, Mattia Cattaneo, Pascal Eenkhoorn, Tim Merlier, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Max Schachmann, Bert Van Lerberghe, Ilan Van Wilder
Soudal-QuickStep have changed from the cobbled-crushing Wolfpack of yesteryear, and today is best described in two words: Remco Evenepoel.
The Belgian rider is the emphatic focal point of the team, which has had to battle hard to retain his talent throughout round after round of transfer speculation from predatory teams. No surprise, then, that the team for the 2025 Tour de France is very much built in support of his ambitions to beat his third-place finish at last year's Tour.
The Belgian's preparation has been far from perfect, with a disappointing performance at the Dauphiné, but his team has boasted of strong form since then, and the hopes of Belgium rest on his shoulders.
Following his crash at the Giro d'Italia, Evenepoel's strongest super domestique, Mikel Landa, was ruled out of the Tour. In his place, Ilan Van Wilder, racing his second Tour, will be Evenepoel's key lieutenant, supported by Mattia Cattaneo, Pascal Eenkhoorn and Max Schachmann.
Beyond the GC battle for Remco Evenepoel, Soudal-QuickStep have a strong sprint hope in Tim Merlier, who enters the race as a strong contender to former teammate Jasper Philipsen and Trek-Lidl's Tour debutante Jonathan Milan. Merlier has shown promising form in recent months, having won the Brussels Cycling Classic and two stages at the Baloise Belgium Tour in June. (PS)
Jayco-AlUla
- Team leader: Ben O’Connor
- Objectives: Top five overall, stage wins
- Riders to watch: Dylan Groenewegen, Luke Plapp
- Full team: Eddie Dunbar, Luke Durbridge, Dylan Groenewegen, Luka Mezgec, Ben O’Connor, Luke Plapp, Elmar Reinders, Mauro Schmid
For the first time, Australian team Jayco-AlUla will be lining up at the French Grand Tour with a rider from their home nation as a serious overall contender.
Ben O’Connor, who has a knack of managing to get away in just the right move, has clearly proven that his fourth place in 2021 was no fluke through the intervening years – now having won stages and taken top four slots across all the Grand Tours including second overall at Vuelta a España – but in the pressure cooker of a French team at their all important home race did not return to the same heights delivered on debut.
After having a break from the event for a year and also opting for a change in team environment, the motivation is clearly refreshed with a top-five the aim in the stacked field. A promisingly aggressive start at the Tour de Suisse may have fallen by the wayside a little after a bad day on stage 5, but seventh overall wasn’t exactly a terrible build for O'Connor toward the Tour de France.
As far as the riders on hand to support O’Connor on the climbs, it will be interesting to see how a new dynamic fares with Tour debutants Eddie Dunbar and Luke Plapp, key climbers on the squad.
The team, which yielded Giro d’Italia stage wins with both Plapp and Chris Harper, will also be looking for more break opportunities and again lining up with six-time stage winner Dylan Groenewegen for the sprints, making them a squad with many options but that will be looking to use its firepower judiciously given the split objectives. (PS)
Picnic-PostNL
- Team leader: Oscar Onley
- Objectives: Stage wins, GC top 10
- Riders to watch: Tobias Lund Andresen, Warren Barguil
- Full team: Tobias Lund Andresen, Warren Barguil, Pavel Bittner, Frank van den Broek, Sean Flynn, Niklas Märkl, Tim Naberman, Oscar Onley
When it comes to the Tour de France, Picnic-PostNL has been almost synonymous with Romain Bardet since 2021. With the French rider retiring after the Critérium du Dauphiné, however, Picnic-PostNL's post-Bardet world is set to be led by young British rider Oscar Onley. He will be in pursuit of a high GC placement, fresh from his third place in the general classification at the Tour de Suisse.
Away from the general classification, though, Picnic-PostNL have a capable sprinter in Tobias Lund Andresen, who steps in the absence of Fabio Jakobsen. While Andresen may not challenge the fast men like Merlier or Philipsen, he'll be a serious threat on tougher stages where a some late hills could reduce the field of sprinters.
Warren Barguil hasn't shown the form that took him to two stage victories in the 2017 Tour de France for a few seasons, but he has the climbing talent to fare well on a breakaway day if luck is in his favour.
We suspect that beyond a conspicuous place near the top 10 of the general classification, Picnic-PostNL will be free agents to pursue breakaway glory throughout the race. (PS)
TotalEnergies
- Team leader: Anthony Turgis
- Objectives: Stages, stages and more stages
- Riders to watch: Mattéo Vercher, Steff Cras
- Full team: Anthony Turgis, Mathieu Burgaudeau, Steff Cras, Alexandre Delettre, Thomas Gachignard Jordan Jegat, Emilien Jeannière, Mattéo Vercher
It's harsh but true that French ProTeam TotalEnergies have been more famous recently for their possible fusion with Ineos Grenadiers (not happening) and the appearance of the company logo on the Ineos jersey from the Tour de France onwards (definitely happening) than they have been for results.
But dig a little deeper and the team has a well-rounded series of breakaway candidates, and they also put their collective feet to the metal last year, securing an impressive win on one of the most coveted stages of all at Troyes over the gravel roads of northern France, with Anthony Turgis.
Turgis is back again, but he's far from being the only breakaway specialist in the Tour squad with the most markedly French feel to its lineup, given Belgian climber Steff Cras is the one foreigner. Alexandre Delettre was recently just one step off the podium in the recent Nationals road race, and Mathieu Burgaudeau was repeatedly on the attack in the Dauphiné. Mattéo Vercher, responsible for one of their six wins this season at the GP Doubs, also snaffled a second place in a transition stage of the Tour last year behind Victor Campenaerts.
Keep an eye out, too, for Emilien Jeannière, a regular top-five finisher in all manner of different bunch sprints this year. The Frenchman has taken a runner-up spot in Paris-Nice and third in the rugged hills of Spain in the Clásica Almeria this spring, and most recently third in the newest WorldTour race, the Copenhagen Sprint, this June against a very deep field of rivals.
If he can follow Turgis' wheeltracks and pick up TotalEnergies' first WorldTour win of 2025 in the Tour de France, then just like the Troyes stage victory in 2024, it could well make the team's entire season. (AF)
Visma-Lease a Bike
- Team leader: Jonas Vingegaard
- Objectives: Overall victory, stage wins
- Riders to watch: Wout van Aert, Sepp Kuss, Matteo Jorgenson, Simon Yates
- Full team: Jonas Vingegaard, Edoardo Affini, Tiesj Benoot, Victor Campenaerts, Matteo Jorgenson, Sepp Kuss, Wout van Aert, Simon Yates
There can be little doubt what the overriding goal for Visma-Lease a Bike is in this year's Tour de France. With Jonas Vingegaard in their ranks, they have the key candidate who can challenge Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), and although Matteo Jorgenson may enjoy some degree of protected rider status, it's Vingegaard on whom the team are pinning almost all their main hopes.
Two Tour de France wins and two runner-up spots in the last four years cannot be argued with, after all, particularly as last July's second place has to be taken in the context of a lengthy recovery from a life-threatening crash in April in Itzulia Basque Country. That mass pile-up shaped the entire year for multiple GC contenders, but arguably none more than Vingegaard and after a stinging defeat at the hands of Pogačar in 2024, he'll be gunning for a very different result in 2025.
So high are the stakes that even climbers as talented as Simon Yates, the recent Giro d'Italia winner and Sepp Kuss, the Vuelta a España champion of less than two years ago, will be working for Vingegaard. Jorgenson may have a mixture of roles, from GC candidate to one of Vingegaard's key high mountains supporters, while Edoardo Affini, Tiesj Benoot and Victor Campenaerts will likely be doing a lot of the teamwork on the flat.
Then there's Wout van Aert: the ultra-versatile Belgian has won everything from mountain stages (including one over the Ventoux) to bunch sprints to time trials, and he's also regularly called on as a team worker. It remains to be seen if a late illness that left him out of the Belgian Nationals has any further effects. If not, expect Van Aert to be a potential factor in almost any stage, right from day one in Lille. (AF)
Tudor Pro Cycling
- Team leaders: Julian Alaphilippe, Alberto Dainese
- Objectives: Stage wins, minor classifications
- Riders to watch: Matteo Trentin, Marc Hirschi, Michael Storer
- Full team: Julian Alaphilippe, Marc Hirschi, Alberto Dainese, Matteo Trentin, Marco Haller, Michael Storer, Fabian Lienhard, Marius Mayrhofer
For Tudor Pro Cycling, the 2025 Tour de France is seismic. Only rebranded as Tudor and backed by Fabian Cancellara in 2022, the team stepped up to ProTeam level in 2023. It has been a meteoric rise from those UCI Continental team roots to seeing the squad race the Giro d'Italia. The wildcard slot for the Tour de France this year, though, has truly transformed the team's status.
The team's leader, Julian Alaphilippe, no doubt helped the team secure a wildcard slot in his home-nation race, and will be the core focus of the Tour de France campaign. We won't expect to see Alaphilippe challenging for the GC, but the former World Champion will be a major contender for stage wins on the more punchy stages of this year's race.
Supporting him will be all-rounders Matteo Trentin and Marc Hirschi, both of whom will also be riders to watch for breakaway stage victory. Key sprinter Alberto Dainese will also be a focus for the team, though he has proved to be a little anonymous so far this season.
Australian climber Michael Storer won the Tour of the Alps this spring, and kept a surprising grip on the top 10 in the general classification at the Giro d'Italia, so he may be a rider to watch in the mountains and the lower-stakes GC spots. (PS)
UAE Team Emirates-XRG
- Team leader: Tadej Pogačar
- Objectives: Overall victory
- Rider to watch: João Almeida
- Full team: João Almeida, Jhonatan Narváez, Nils Politt, Tadej Pogačar, Pavel Sivakov, Marc Soler, Tim Wellens, Adam Yates
Let's be honest - if Jonas Vingegaard doesn't win the Tour de France this July but, say, notably narrows Tadej Pogačar's overall advantage compared to 2024, then even if the Dane and his team will be disappointed, after last year's massive defeat, it will still represent a big step back in the right direction.
On the other hand, after 18 months in which almost everything Pogačar has touched in the cycling world has turned to gold, including the Tour de France, for the Slovenian, only one result can count in 2025 and that's the same as last year.
Six stage wins in 2025 – the most in the mountains since Gino Bartali in 1948 – and the overall victory by the biggest winning margin of all three of his Tours conquered so far is an almost ridiculously high bar for Pogačar to have set. Normal logic would dictate that Vingegaard, having more ground to make up since his 2024 crash, will be able to close the gap. But normal logic long since stopped applying to Pogačar's sporting achievements.
The UAE Team Emirates-XRG team itself is virtually identical to 2024, with only the exit of Juan Ayuso and his replacement by Ecuadorian all-rounder Jhonatan Narváez the one change. Beyond that, Nils Politt and Belgian champion Tim Wellens will have their fair share of flatland duties, Sivakov and Narváez will be on patrol in the hilly stages, and Adam Yates, Marc Soler and João Almeida will be the key figures supporting Pogačar in the mountains.
It will be interesting to see if Almeida has any kind of protected rider status following his spectacular run of weeklong World victories - Itzulia, Romandie, Suisse - this year. But just as it has been since 2021, this year's Tour for UAE is all about Pogačar. (AF)
Uno-X Mobility
- Team leader: Magnus Cort
- Objectives: Stage wins
- Rider to watch: Andreas Leknessund
- Full team: Jonas Abrahamsen; Magnus Cort; Stian Fredheim; Markus Hoelgaard; Andreas Leknessund; Anders Halland Johannessen; Tobias Halland Johannessen; Søren Wærenskjold.
For the third year running, Uno-X Mobility are back at the Tour de France, and the global objective will once again be stage wins, with side orders of spells in any of the secondary classifications on the team's prospective menu.
Lacking their talismanic sprinter veteran leader, Alexandre Kristoff, one of the key names to watch is undoubtedly Magnus Cort. An ultra-fast breakaway specialist with two Tour de France and six Vuelta a España stage wins to his name, Cort did not produce any victories in the 2024 Tour. But as his sixth place in Strade Bianche, sixth place in Milano-San Remo and overall victory in the hilly O Gran Camiño testify the 32-year-old Dane cannot be ruled out in any sort of scenario.
Søren Wærenskjold already provided the team with one of its biggest successes to date, in the bunch sprint that concluded an otherwise very lacklustre edition of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. He could well be a factor in the grittier first stages of northern and western France. Andreas Leknessund, meanwhile, has just added the Norwegian road title to his national time trial golds from a few years back and is likewise very much an excellent all-rounder.
Incidentally, whatever Jonas Abrahamsen can achieve will be worthy of note. The leader of the mountain classification for nine stages last year, he broke his collarbone during the Baloise Belgium Tour, but just nine days later he was confirmed as ready to take part in the race. (AF)
XDS-Astana
- Team leader: No clear leader
- Objectives: Stage wins
- Rider to watch: Mike Teunissen
- Full team: Davide Ballerini, Cees Bol, Clément Champoussin, Yevgeniy Fedorov, Sergio Higuita, Harold Tejada, Mike Teunissen
It feels like much less than 12 months since XDS-Astana were fully geared around getting Mark Cavendish a record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage win. While the Briton is long since retired, the Chinese-Kazakh team are back in the ring again in cycling's biggest bike race and with exactly the same goal.
Much as the team raced in the Giro d'Italia, the 2025 Tour de France is raced with a string of stage hunters and no standout leader. Some like sprinters Cees Bol and Davide Ballerini, as well as Kazakh time trialling giant and former U23 champion Yevgeniy Fedorov, are 'veterans' from the Cavendish Tour. Others like former Tour de France leader Mike Teunissen, former Vuelta a España summit finish winner Clément Champoussin and week-long specialist Sergio Higuita are all new to the much overhauled XDS-Astana this year.
But all of them will have the same goal of a single win on any given day, much like Cavendish last year, just one victory would more or less make the team's Tour.
The interesting change compared to 2024, apart from the lack of Cavendish, is that XDS-Astana are currently racking in the wins, with 21 this season so far compared to 12 for the whole of 2025. The comparative lack of pressure and lowered expectations could make for a far less fraught Tour than in 2024 – but by no means necessarily a worse one. (AF)
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Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, she had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur. She writes and edits at Cyclingnews as well as running newsletter, social media, and how to watch campaigns.
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