The buzz grows for the race’s 107th edition... The Tour de France is just around the corner.
Everyone’s ready to set off from Nice on 29 August and finish under the Arc de Triomphe on 20 September. Nineteen WorldTour teams will battle it out for the UCI’s biggest event of the year. As always, the start list is a roll call of absolute legends. The Campagnolo teams are lining up their best athletes, to add some big trophies to their shelves.
LOTTO SOUDAL TEAM
Their hopes will be placed in Caleb Ewan for the sprints, thanks to his three victories in 2019 and his triumph on the Champs-Élysées. Philippe Gilbert will be on the hunt for victory, in spite of his age, and great things are expected of the newly acquired John Degenkolb. Sadly, Tim Wellens will not race in the Tour de France, having suffered a very nasty accident in training.
Team manager John Lelangue had this to say: "This year there are fewer opportunities for sprinters, but the fast wheels may do some great stages. We’re confident about Caleb, who’s one of the fastest riders in the world. We’ve also got John Degenkolb, who’s an equally important ace up our sleeve, and above all we’ve made clear agreements within the team.”
The Belgian team have Ridley Noah Fast Disc and Ridley Helium SLX Disc bikes at their disposal, equipped with Campagnolo Super Record EPS 12 Speed electronic groupset and Campagnolo Bora 35 Disc Brake and Campagnolo Bora 50 Disc Brake wheels.
Lotto-Soudal team riders at the Tour de France:
- Jasper De Buyst
- Steff Cras
- John Degenkolb
- Caleb Ewan
- Thomas De Gendt
- Philippe Gilbert
- Roger Kluge
- Frederik Frison
UAE TEAM EMIRATES
With 18 season victories already under their belt, the Emirates team plan to keep that winning streak going thanks to Fabio Aru’s experience as co-leader of Tadej Pogačar, the Slovenian who’s ready to make his Tour de France debut. Aru will ride into the French race on a wave of success, while Pogačar recently made his mark at the Vuelta a España in 2019, winning in three stages and coming third in the general classification. The two champions are joined by three top climbers, Davide Formolo, Jan Polanc and David De La Cruz. Kristoff will try to seize the opportunities the sprint arrivals present, while the Italian Marco Marcato and the Norwegian Vegard Stake Laengen will be essential to their team in the flat stages. On their Colnago V3Rs bikes, equipped with 12 Speed Super Record EPS electronic groupset and aerodynamic Campagnolo Bora WTO 45, Campagnolo Bora WTO 60 and Campagnolo Bora WTO 33 wheels, UAE Team Emirates will be aiming to dominate in the Grand Tour.
The riders in UAE Team Emirates at the Tour de France:
- Fabio Aru
- David De La Cruz
- Davide Formolo
- Alexander Kristoff
- Vegard Stake Laengen
- Marco Marcato
- Tadej Pogačar
- Jan Polanc
TEAM COFIDIS
The French team will do the Tour with a WorldTour licence for the first time. The two leading men will be Guillaume Martin, who has bolstered his leading position in the general classification by coming third at the 2020 Dauphiné, and Elia Viviani, captain for the sprints. The Frenchman will surely be able to count on support from Nicolas Edet and Jesus Herrada, while the Venetian, the reigning European champion, will have Christophe Laporte as his last man, who has placed in the Tour de France quite a few times in the course of his career. The Cofidis team’s riders will do the Tour de France on De Rosa Meraks equipped with Campagnolo Super Record EPS 12 Speed Disc Brake electronic groupsets.
The riders in Team Cofidis at the Tour de France:
- Elia Viviani
- Simone Consonni
- Nicolas Edet
- Jesus Herrada
- Cristophe Laporte
- Guillaume Martin
- Anthony Perez
- Kenneth Vanbilsen
- Nathan Haas Pierre Luc Perichon
- Julien Vermote