The Tour de France is almost here and team line-ups are now confirmed. Goals are set and hopes are up for each of the 176 riders taking to the start line in Lille.
The Tour is undoubtedly a race synonymous with big mountain passes, but this doesn’t mean all sports directors want to bring a bus full of climbers. GC teams will need bigger riders who can protect the leader on flatter stages where there are risks of crosswinds and keep them safe in hectic bunch finishes. It’s also important to bring those with big engines to do the work early on in the stage to control the breakaway before the race hits some of the longer climbs.
There are also the teams, such as Lidl-Trek Alpecin-Deceuninck, who will have made their selection with the sprint stages and green jersey competition in mind, meaning they will likely bring a group of strong lead-out men who can deliver their sprinter to the line rather than focusing on riders who will contest the general classification. Teams without a pure sprinter or GC hopeful, like EF Education-EasyPost, might opt to bring a squad of all-rounders – those who can search for opportunistic stage wins and have the freedom to go for the breakaway on days where they might have a chance at staying away for the victory.
So, there is a lot to consider when choosing an eight-rider line-up for the Tour de France, and it serves as one of the most important jobs for team management in the entire season. We look at who will be on the start line this year for their teams.

This start list is provisional and will be updated when all the teams confirm their rosters.
UAE TEAM EMIRATES
1. Tadej Pogačar
2. João Almeida
3. Jhonatan Narváez
4. Nils Politt
5. Pavel Sivakov
6. Marc Soler
7. Tim Wellens
8. Adam Yates
VISMA-LEASE A BIKE
11. Jonas Vingegaard
12. Edoardo Affini
13. Tiesj Benoot
14. Victor Campenaerts
15. Matteo Jorgenson
16. Sepp Kuss
17. Wout van Aert
18. Simon Yates
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP
21. Remco Evenepoel
22. Mattia Cattaneo
23. Pascal Eenkhoorn
24. Tim Merlier
25. Valentin Paret-Peintre
26. Maximilian Schachmann
27. Bert Van Lerberghe
28. Ilan Van Wilder
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST
31. Vincenzo Albenese
32. Kasper Asgreen
33. Alex Baudin
34. Ben Healy
35. Neilson Powless
36. Harry Sweeny
37. Michael Valgre
38. Marijn van den Burg
INTERMARCHÉ - WANTY
41. Biniam Girmay
42. Louis Barré
43. Vito Braet
44. Hugo Page
45. Laurenz Rex
46. Jonas Rutsch
47. Roel van Sintmaartensdijk
48. Georg Zimmermann
BHARAIN - VICTORIOUS
51. Santiago Buitrago
52. Phil Bauhaus
53. Kamil Gradek
54. Jack Haig
55. Lenny Martinez
56. Matej Mohorič
57. Robert Stannard
58. Fred Wright
INEOS GRENADIERS
61. Carlos Rodríguez
62. Thymen Arensman
63. Tobias Foss
64. Filippo Ganna
65. Axel Laurance
66. Connor Swift
67. Geraint Thomas
68. Samuel Watson
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROPHE
71. Primož Roglič
72. Florian Lipowitz
73. Jordi Meeus
74. Gianni Moscon
75. Laurence Pithie
76. Aleksandr Vlasov
77. Mick van Dijke
78. Danny van Poppe
LIDL - TREK
81. Mattias Skjelmose
82. Simone Consonni
83. Jonathan Milan
84. Thibau Nys
85. Quinn Simmons
86. Toms Skujiņš
87. Jasper Stuyve
88. Edward Theuns
GROUPAMA - FDJ
91. Guillaume Martin
92. Lewis Askey
93. Cyril Barthe
94. Romain Grégoire
95. Valentin Mandouas
96. Quentin Pacher
97. Paul Penhoët
98. Clément Russo
ALPECIN - DECEUNINCK
101. Mathieu van der Poel
102. Silvan Dillier
103. Kaden Groves
104. Xandro Meurisse
105. Jasper Philipsen
106. Jonas Rickaert
107. Gianni Vermeersch
108. Emiel Verstrynge
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM
111. Julian Alaphilippe
112. Alberto Dainese
113. Marco Haller
114. Marc Hirschi
115. Fabian Lienhard
116. Marius Mayrhofer
117. Michael Storer
118. Matteo Trentin
TEAM JAYCO ALULA
121. Ben O’Connor
122. Eddie Dunbar
123. Luke Durbridge
124. Dylan Groenewegen
125. Luka Mezgec
126. Luke Plapp
127. Elmar Reinders
128. Mauro Schmid
ARKÉA - B&B HOTELS
131. Kévin Vauquelin
132. Amaury Capiot
133. Ewen Costiou
134. Arnaud Démare
135. Raúl García Pierna
136. Mathis Le Berre
137. Cristián Rodríguez
138. Clément Venturini
MOVISTAR TEAM
141. Enric Mas
142. Will Barta
143. Pablo Castrillo
144. Iván García Cortina
145. Gregor Mühlberger
146. Nelson Oliveira
147. Iván Romeo
148. Einer Rubio
DECATHLON AG2R LA MONDIALE TEAM
151. Felix Gall
152. Bruno Armirail
153. Clement Berthet
154. Stefan Bissegger
155. Oliver Naesen
156. Aurelien Paret-Peintre
157. Callum Scotson
158. Bastien Tronchon
CONFIDIS
161. Alex Aranburu
162. Emanuel Buchmann
163. Bryan Coquard
164. Ion Izagirre
165. Alexis Renard
166. Dylan Teuns
167. Benjamin Thomas
168. Damien Touzé
XDS ASTANA TEAM
171. Harold Tejada
172. Davide Ballerini
173. Cees Bol
174. Clément
175. Yevgeniy Fedorov
176. Sergio Higuita
177. Mike Teunissen
178. Simone Velasco
TEAM TOTALENERGIES
181. Anthony Turgis
182. Mathieu Bergaudeau
183. Steff Cras
184. Alexandre Delettre
185. Thomas Gachignard
186. Emilien Jeanniere
187. Jordan Jegat
188. Mattéo Vercher
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL
191. Oscar Onley
192. Tobias Lund Andresen
193. Warren Barguil
194. Pavel Bittner
195. Sean Flynn
196. Niklas Märkl
197. Tim Naberman
198. Frank van den Broek
ISRAEL - PREMIER TECH
201. Michael Woods
202. Pascal Ackermann
203. Joseph Blackmore
204. Guillaume Boivin
205. Matis Louvel
206. Alexey Lustenko
207. Krist Neilands
208. Jake Stewart
LOTTO
211. Lennert Van Eetvelt
212. Jenno Berckmoes
213. Jasper De Buyst
214. Arnaud De Lie
215. Jarrad Drizners
216. Sébastien Grignard
217. Eduardo Sepúlveda
218. Brent Van Moer
UNO-X MOBILITY
221. Tobias Halland Johannessen
222. Jonas Abrahamsen
223. Magnus Cort
224. Stian Fredheim
225. Markus Hoelgaard
226. Anders Halland Johannessen
227. Andreas Leknessund
228. Søren Wærenskjold