Cavendish, Carlos Rodriguez, Carapaz, Enric Mas, Philipsen... the teams announce their lineups for the Tour

Just a few days before the start of the Tour de France, the different teams are beginning to confirm their line-ups. In most cases, with the best of their squads, in their best form of the year to face the most important race in the world.

Almost all participants confirmed for the Tour de France

Many teams have kept their cards close to their chest until the last minute regarding their line-ups for the Tour de France. However, we are just a few days away from the start of the French round, which will kick off in Florence on Saturday, June 29th, so most have already revealed who will be the 8 riders defending their colors.

These announcements add to the recent announcement of the 8 riders for Visma-Lease a Bike, with Jonas Vingegaard leading the team and Sepp Kuss and Matteo Jorgenson as backup. UAE-Team Emirates also revealed a team of luxury with Tadej Pogacar as the undisputed leader, and the figures of Juan Ayuso and an in-form Adam Yates as alternatives, along with Joao Almeida who also showed great form during the Tour de Suisse.

INEOS Grenadiers also presents a great line-up with Carlos Rodriguez as the leader, and both Tom Pidcock, who showed this weekend in the XCO race in Crans Montana that he is in ideal condition, and Egan Bernal, getting stronger every day after his great performance in the Tour de Suisse, will have the back of the Andalusian cyclist. The return of Geraint Thomas to the Tour de France after not competing since 2022 is noteworthy, and he will surely also be a great support in the mountain stages.

Movistar also announced its line-up, which will obviously include the top finishers in the recent Spanish Championship: winner Alex Aranburu and runner-up and reigning champion Oier Lazkano. Once again, leadership will fall on Enric Mas, whose form raises serious doubts after passing almost unnoticed throughout the season. Perhaps that's why Movistar has put together a team that can fight in breakaways, with the two mentioned riders joined by men like Nelson Oliveira, Davide Formolo, or Javier Romo, and the option of Fernando Gaviria to try to win a sprint finish.

Last-minute important absence in Lidl-Trek, as leader Tao Geoghegan-Hart will not be able to participate due to not fully recovering from the illness he was carrying during the Critérium du Dauphiné and the fall he suffered during that race. In any case, they will count on the figure of Mads Pedersen to surely fish for a victory in the finishes, and riders like Ciccone and Verona will now have full freedom to play their cards in breakaways.

Speaking of sprint finishes, the Dane will have his toughest rival in Jasper Philipsen, who, like last year, will have a luxury lead-out man in the legs of Mathieu van der Poel, who comes to the Tour de France looking to fine-tune his form for the Olympics in a plan that worked perfectly for him last year at the World Championships in Glasgow.

Also attracting attention in the mass sprints will be the presence of Mark Cavendish in the lineup of a lackluster Astana throughout the year. The British rider will try to finish his career by surpassing Eddy Merckx's record of victories in the Tour de France, although realistically, it is very unlikely in a season where his only victories are a stage in the Tour of Colombia and another in the Tour of Hungary, both not against the top specialists in this type of finishes.

Others who also confirmed their line-up were EF Education-EasyPost, where the surprise is the absence of Rigoberto Urán in what was supposed to be his farewell to the Tour de France. The team's leader, Richard Carapaz, arrives weakened at the French round after being, like Tao, sick during the Tour de Suisse, where he was also affected by a hard fall. That's why their main hope for a victory lies in the legs of Ben Healy.

And, although not officially confirmed, we must mention Bora-Hansgrohe, which will now wear the Red Bull colors in the Tour, where Primoz Roglic aims to win with the support of Jai Hindley and Alexandr Vlasov.