Overview
- Tadej Pogačar is the clear pre‑race favorite after an extraordinarily dominant spring and early season, and he goes into the race chasing a record‑equalling fifth Tour when the race starts Saturday.
- Jonas Vingegaard is the principal challenger after wins at Paris‑Nice, the Tour of Catalunya and the Giro d'Italia, and he is pursuing a rare Giro–Tour double this summer.
- Nineteen‑year‑old Paul Seixas has been cleared to make his Tour debut for France after a crash in the Tour Auvergne–Rhône‑Alpes but his truncated build‑up makes his three‑week form a major unknown.
- The route begins with a team time trial in Barcelona, moves into the Pyrenees early, and ends with back‑to‑back stages on Alpe d’Huez, a layout that hands advantage to teams with strong domestiques and faultless coordination.
- Team composition and absences will matter: UAE Team Emirates‑XRG will back Pogačar with riders such as Isaac del Toro and Adam Yates, Visma‑Lease a Bike bring a Giro‑sharpened Vingegaard, and Belgium’s Wout van Aert is sidelined with an elbow injury.