INEOS Grenadiers will present himself at the departure of the 111th Tour de France (June 29 – July 21) in Florence with a selection mixing youth and experience and a shock quartet capable of competing with the biggest cars in the fight for the Yellow jersey. The leader designated to shine in the general classification will obviously be Carlos Rodriguez5th in the 2023 edition and winner of the Tour of Romandy this season. But the young 23-year-old Spaniard will clearly not be isolated among the Black and Red and will be able to count on the support of some great names in cycling: the two former winners of the Big loop Egan Bernal et Geraint Thomasbut also Tom Pidcock, Laurens More, Jonathan Castroviejo, Michal Kwiatkowski and finally Ben Turner.
Geraint Thomas excited before his 13th and possible final Tour
Geraint Thomas to double Giro and Tour for the first time
Income at an excellent level in 2024 – 4th from recent Tour of Switzerland3rd you Tour of Catalonia7th you Paris-Nice – the Colombian Egan Bernal will evolve as a main lieutenant but will also be able to play his card as a general in order to offer different tactical options. Even if he has shown progress in the mountains, particularly in Switzerland, Tom Pidcock should have a free election role to dynamite the race and why not get a stage. Continuing for the first time directly after a Giro again finished on the podium, Geraint Thomas will be at the service of its young leaders as a road captain and super teammate in the mountains, at the age of 38 and 13 participations in the Tour.
The last four names chosen to frame this tempting quartet are no less attractive on paper, starting with the Belgian Laurens Morewhich will make more than one suffer when he starts riding in the passes, as he was able to prove by taking an impressive 5th place on the last Critérium du Dauphiné. The eternal all-terrain teammates that are Jonathan Castroviejo et Michal Kwiatkowski (10th Round each) and Ben Turner complete this very complete starting eight which will undoubtedly have a strong chance to play for the podium and stage victors.
Statements from Carlos Rodríguez, Egan Bernal, Tom Pidcock and Geraint Thomas
Carlos Rodriguez
“My preparation has gone well so far and I am convinced that I will leave Florence in the best possible shape. I had good training at the end of last year and an excellent altitude training in January. I had a slower start to the year than I wanted, but I’ve turned things around and my legs now feel good and my body is responding well. The team helped me a lot this year, looking at every aspect of my performance and going over every detail to help me improve. Now I feel ready and I’m looking forward to the start of the Tour. I have very good memories of last year’s Tour de France, sharing special moments with the team and my family, so I hope this year will be even better. Having such a strong group of riders around me is what will help us achieve the best possible result as a team.”
Tom Pidcock
“The preparation for the Tour this year has gone very well and I feel like I’m in a very good position going into the Tour. We have a team that is going to provide us with opportunities to continue to race in a way that is very exciting. I’ve already won a stage of the Tour and it’s definitely something I’d like to do again, it was one of the best days on the bike. The first stages of this year present a real opportunity but of course many riders have their eyes on the yellow jersey. After a block at altitude and my return to racing at the Tour de Suisse, I improved every day and had my best day on the bike time trial, which is very promising and definitely the right direction in which one I want to go to right now. I can’t wait to participate in my third Tour.”
