EF Education-EasyPost is gearing up for an exciting challenge at the 2024 Tour de France with a strong team and high ambitions for stage wins. With team leader Richard Carapaz recovering from illness following a crash at the Tour de Suisse, the team is placing its focus on aiming for stage victories.
The team's lineup also includes Alberto Bettiol, Stefan Bissegger, Rui Costa, Ben Healy, Neilson Powless, Sean Quinn and Marijn van den Berg.
His build-up to the 2024 Tour de France looked promising, with a stage win at the Tour de Romandie at the end of April, but he ran into more bad luck in the Tour de Suisse with a crash on stage 4 left him with a cut on his face that required stitches. He dropped out the next day.
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"After my crash at Suisse, I got sick," said Carapaz in the team's press release. "My form will arrive late, but I will give my best for this Tour de France."
The American team invested heavily in Carapaz as their Grand Tour contender when they signed him in 2023, but he injured his knee in a crash on stage 1 and was forced out of the race.
While the team might not have a rider who can compete against Tour de France favourite Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and rivals Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) or Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep), Carapaz has confidence they can make an impression on the individual stages as they did in 2023.
"Last year was tough. I had to go home. This year, we're going for it again. Everyone around me knows how much I've prepared for this. We have a strong, versatile team. We can win on all sorts of terrain.
"The first week will be very hard, but I will try to get through it as best as possible. Winning a stage is super important. In the last editions, I was very close, so winning one would be very important for me, but also to the team and everyone who prepared for that moment."
The 2024 Tour de France starts in Florence, Italy, rather than in France as Paris prepares to host the Olympic Games. The Grand Départ happens to be taking place in Bettiol's hometown and will be his first race in the Italian champion's jersey, giving him extra motivation to try for the first race leader's jersey.
"It's going to be very, very special," Bettiol said in the team's announcement. "I know the roads really well. I want to win a stage at the Tour. I've been close before and know I can do it.
"This year is really important for me," he added. "I'm not super young anymore. I don't have too many years in front of me. Winning the Italian championship was a goal and another goal is to win a stage in the Tour de France. To win in this jersey would mean a lot to me.
"You have to be ready and you always have to fight, because winning in the Tour is not like winning in any other races. It's doubly hard to win a stage at the Tour, especially for an all-rounder like me. I think the team is making a smart choice to go for stages. It is going to be fun and really exciting."
Healy will make his Tour de France debut after having a successful Giro d'Italia in 2023 with a stage win. The first stage, with a much tougher than normal elevation profile, is on his radar.
"I'd love to try and win a stage," Healy said. "I need a pretty hard day out with a hard finish. Stage 1 looks really good for me, but there are a few towards the end of the second week as well.
"Since the Ardennes, I've knuckled down and done the altitude camps and some good races. The preparation has gone well for me. I'm excited that we're going to get to go for our own opportunities."
Powless was close to winning a stage in the Tour de France in 2022 and came within four seconds of taking the maillot jaune. This year, he's struggled with a knee injury that kept him out of competition for two months.
"I think this was probably the hardest year I've had yet with injuries and illnesses, so I'm just excited that I was able to overcome that and still race the Tour de France," he said. "Winning a stage is my first and foremost goal, and I think I've got the fitness to do it. It's just about getting it right on the day, just following the right moves and using my energy wisely.
"I think everyone on the team is eager to take their shot. Every one of us has something to prove. We haven't had the smoothest spring as a team and everyone is chomping at the bit to make up for that."
After his victory in the Portuguese championships, Costa is also aiming to win a stage after a tough spring. He crashed in February at the Volta ao Algarve and suffered a concussion along with a broken collarbone and scapula.
"I went through a lot after my crash this spring. I worked very hard to get fit for the Tour and to get selected for it. In the end, it worked out and I'm super grateful for the selection and that the team believes in me," Costa said. "I will do my best to fight for a stage, fight as a team and get wins for the team. I believe we will win. We will get a big one this year."
EF Education-EasyPost for the 2024 Tour de France
- Alberto Bettiol
- Stefan Bissegger
- Richard Carapaz
- Rui Costa
- Ben Healy
- Neilson Powless
- Sean Quinn
- Marijn van den Berg
