tour gc contenders

The final GC standings of the 2023 Tour de France

Jonas Vingegaard claims his second consecutive title

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo Visma) crossed the line safely on the final stage of the 2023 Tour de France, celebrating his second overall victory in a row well behind the peloton with his teammates.

Because of rain, officials called the time for general classification with one lap to go on the Champs Élysées, and the final gaps in the standings remained the same after stage 21 .

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) was more active in the proceedings, going on the attack then leading out the sprint and then celebrating second overall at 7:29. He was also the race's best young rider.

Adam Yates gave the team two on the podium in third place overall at 10:56, claiming his first Grand Tour podium.

His identical twin brother Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla) finished the race in fourth at 12:23.

Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) finished the race despite his heavy crash on the penultimate stage to land in fifth at 13:17.

There were no changes for sixth to eighth place, in order,  Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) at 13:27, Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) at 14:44 and second on stage 20, Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën) at 16:09.

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Rounding out the top 10 are Groupama-FDJ’s  David Gaudu (ninth at 23:08) and Cofidis’ Guillaume Martin (10th at 26:30).

American Sepp Kuss (jumbo Visma) who was involved in the same crash as Rodriguez, finished in 12th overall.

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) lost the stage to Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe) but could be consoled with a dominant performance in the Tour's green jersey competition.

Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) took the last points on offer, while Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny) was awarded the most combative rider prize.

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The Tour de France classifications

Here's a rundown of all the ongoing competitions at the Tour de France. Click here for a more comprehensive explainer , including minor competitions such as the intermediate sprints prize and the fighting spirit prize. Speaking of prizes, click here to find out how much the riders can win during the Tour de France .

Yellow Jersey/Maillot Jaune – The yellow jersey is worn by the overall race leader on the general classification who has completed the stages so far in the lowest accumulated time.

Green Jersey – The green jersey is the points classification. Riders accrue points at one of the two intermediate sprints during stages and also at stage finishes, and the man with the most points leads the ranking.

Polka Dot Jersey – The red and white polka dot jersey is the mountain classification. Points are handed out to the first riders over certain hills and climbs during the Tour de France, with the hardest mountains giving the most points. Once again, the man with the most points leads the ranking.

White jersey – The white jersey is the best young rider classification. It works the same way as the yellow jersey, but only riders aged 25 or under are eligible to win.

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Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura's specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.

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Who Are the Yellow Jersey Contenders at the 2023 Tour de France?

The General Classification battle at the men’s Tour de France will be fierce once again this year. Can anyone unseat defending champion Jonas Vingegaard?

First awarded during the 1919 Tour de France, the maillot jaune’s true origins are murky. Some say it was yellow to match the color of the newsprint that the l’Auto sports newspaper–the Tour’s founding sponsor–was printed on. Others say yellow wool was the cheapest fabric option at the time and was therefore chosen to construct the jersey worn by the Tour’s overall leader so that spectators could identify him more easily.

Regardless of how it came to be, the yellow jersey is now one of the most notable and recognizable symbols in cycling, and riders consider it a career-defining achievement just to wear it for a day.

But the Tour’s biggest battle is the fight to wear the maillot jaune on the Tour’s last day, atop the final podium in Paris. This rider is the overall champion of the Tour de France, an accomplishment that cements those who achieve within the pantheon of cycling’s greatest riders.

The list of contenders for the 2023 Tour de France is topped by two defending champions, one who looks to be picking-up right where he left off , and another who–after a dominant start to the season–heads to the Tour still recovering from an injury sustained at a race in late-April. Behind them, several riders are competing to either pull-off a major upset or stand beside them on the podium in Paris three weeks later. Here’s a run-down of this year’s yellow jersey contenders:

The Defending Champion

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)

Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard wasn’t even his team’s leader heading into last year’s Tour de France , but this year begins the race as the top favorite. He’s spent much of the season at training camps with his teammates, but when he has raced, he’s done well, winning three of the four stage races he’s entered and finishing third in the one that he didn’t.

His best performance came two weeks ago when he won two stages and the General Classification at the recent Critérium du Dauphiné , an important pre-Tour stage race that often serves as a predictor of what will happen in July. Perhaps more importantly, he’ll be supported by one of the strongest teams in the Tour, and the course suits his strengths. He’s the #1 contender.

The Challengers

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)

Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar won back-to-back Tours in 2020 and 2021, and absolutely CRUSHED the first part of the 2023 season, winning the Ruta del Sol, Paris-Nice, the Tour of Flanders , the Amstel Gold Race , and Flèche Wallonne .

But the 23-year-old crashed and broke his wrist during Liège-Bastogne-Liège in late-April, an injury that forced him off the bike for a while, delaying the start of the Slovenian’s Tour de France preparations. But Pog’s now back on his bike at a high altitude training camp in Sierra Nevada, Spain and will participate in the Slovenian National Championships this weekend.

Assuming he gets stronger as the Tour progresses–which could come in handy during the Tour’s challenging third week–he could catch Vingegaard just as the Dane’s fitness starts to wane. And he has the added mental advantage of having beaten Vingegaard the only time they raced against one another so far this season: at Paris-Nice in March .

Jai Hindley (BORA-hansgrohe)

Last year, Jai Hindley became the first Australian to win the Giro d’Italia, and now he’s starting his first Tour de France as a solid podium contender. More of a climber than a time trialist, Hindley will benefit from a course with only time trial–and an uphill one at that.

Fourth at the Dauphiné, his form is clearly where it needs to be heading into the Tour and he has sneakily talented team supporting him, a team that includes Germany’s Emanuel Buchmann, who finished fourth at the Tour de France in 2019, Colombia’s Sergio Higuita, one of the sport’s best climbers, and Luxembourg’s Bob Jungels, who finished 11th at last year’s Tour and has two top-10 finishes at the Giro on his resume.

Daniel Martinez (INEOS Grenadiers)

INEOS is perhaps the biggest wild card in this year’s Tour de France, as they’re expected to bring a squad brimming with talent, but with several question marks as well. Colombia’s Daniel Martinez, who’s so far failed to live up to the expectations the team had for him when they signed him away from EF Education a few years ago, looks set to lead the team.

The 28-year-old had a quiet Dauphiné, finishing 23rd overall in the event which he won back in 2020. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing as he could just be slowly building his fitness for the Tour de France.

But if falters early, his team could shift their support to either his compatriot, Egan Bernal, who won the Tour in 2019 (and the 2021 Giro d’Italia) and has slowly been working his way back from a crash that nearly took his life in February 2022; or Spain’s Carlos Rodriguez, a 22-year-old who’s making his Tour debut after finishing 9th at the recent Dauphiné and 7th at last year’s Tour of Spain.

Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroën)

Australia’s Ben O’Connor was one of the revelations of the 2021 Tour de France, winning Stage 9 in the Alps and holding onto the time he gained that day to finish fourth overall. The 27-year-old looked to be on track for another solid performance after finishing third at last year’s Dauphiné, but crumbled a few weeks later in the Tour, dropping out of the race due to injuries sustained in a nasty crash on Stage 2.

But he rebounded to finish eighth at the Tour of Spain later in the summer and scored another third-place at the Dauphiné two weeks ago. With renewed confidence–and good form–he’s a strong contender for a spot on the podium.

Enric Mas (Movistar)

Spain’s Enric Mas, a three-time runner-up in the Tour of Spain, has fifth- and sixth-place Tour de France finishes on his resume. That seems about right for a rider who always seems to have a bad day that kills his chances of a podium finish.

But this year he leads the team all by himself, without having to worry about the too-many-cooks-in-kitchen issues that have plagued Movistar in previous Tours. And with American Matteo Jorgenson coming into his own the 28-year-old has a lieutenant capable of supporting when he needs it most. The good news: the mountains come early and the Tour’s only time trial is short and hilly, so he doesn’t risk losing as much time as he would if it were long and flat.

David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ)

The French will be rooting for David Gaudu, who finished one spot away from the final podium last year. A pure climber, Gaudu should start the race well thanks to a hilly opening weekend in the Basque Country followed by an early trip through the Pyrenees. But if he’s well-placed on the GC heading into the second week, the pressure will start to build. His ability to handle it will play a big role in determining whether or not he improves on last year’s performance.

Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost)

Ecuador's Richard Carapaz won the 2019 Giro d’Italia and has earned at least one grand tour podium finish every year since–in all three grand tours–with the INEOS Grenadiers. Now he’s riding with a EF Education-EasyPost, a change of scenery that the 30-year-old hopes will land him back on the Tour de France podium.

And this is the year to do it: with so many mountains and a time trial that suits him better than most grand tour ITTs have in the past, it’s certainly well within his reach–especially with Colombia’s Rigoberto Uran, himself a former Tour podium-finisher, expected to be his wingman.

Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious)

Talk about close but no cigar: Spain’s Mikel Landa has four top-10 Tour de France finishes–including two fourth-places–on his resume, but he’s never landed on the podium. But this could be his year thanks to a mountainous course that avoids the long, flat time trials that have tripped him up in the past.

Look to see Landa on the attack early: the Tour starts in the Basque Country (the region from which he hails), and a stage win on home roads with perhaps a day or two in the yellow jersey would be the highlight of his career. Should that happen, anything else would be gravy.

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2024 Ghent-Wevelgem | Results & Highlights

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Race information

• Date: 23 July 2023
• Start time: 16:40
• Avg. speed winner: 39.19 km/h
• Race category: ME - Men Elite
• Distance: 115.1 km
• Points scale: GT.A.Stage
• UCI scale: UCI.WR.GT.A.Stage
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• ProfileScore: 14
• Vert. meters: 577
• Departure: Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
• Arrival: Paris
• Race ranking: 1
• Startlist quality score: 1584
• Won how: Sprint of large group
• Avg. temperature:

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Tour de France 2023 Preview: Key Stages, Contenders, and Predictions

The 2023 Tour de France is here! Here's everything you need to know from contenders, GC favorites, and stages you won't want to miss.

It is that time of year again: Le Tour de France is upon us. With last year’s thrilling general classification (GC) battle and the release of the Netflix docuseries Tour de France: Unchained, the anticipation for the 2023 lap around France is high. The favorites for the yellow jersey are once again the ever-familiar faces of Tadej Pogačar and defending champion Jonas Vingegaard. 

Although these two riders are the bookie’s favorites, a deep field of GC talent is expected at the 2023 Tour . Richard Carapaz, the newly minted EF Education First-EasyPost rider, is likely another major contender. He’ll be coming off the back of a strong effort at the Criterium du Dauphine, where he ultimately finished second.  Teams have just announced their squads for the race, fortifying their teams with high-mountain talent to support GC ambitions. With the lack of time trial kilometers in this year’s Tour, the fight for the yellow jersey will be decided in the mountains , which are plentiful.

Key Stages in the 2023 Tour

Stage 9: saint-léonard-de-noblat – puy de dôme (184 km, 3441m), sunday, july 9.

Stage 9 will be the first opportunity to see who brought their best climbing legs to the Tour. The stage finishes up the 12.6km, 7.8% Hors Categorie Puy de Dôme. This is its first appearance in the Tour de France in 35 years. 

This mythical volcano finish features consistently steep gradients, with the final 4.5km of the climb averaging over 12%. A rest day awaits the peloton after this stage, so we can expect to see teams go full-throttle from the very beginning of the climb. There is more to gain other than time as GC teams and riders will look for a tactical advantage during this stage.  Whichever team can dominate this stage and set up their rider for victory will have an edge going into the high Alps later in the race.

Stage 15: Les Gets Les Portes du Soleil – Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc Le Bettex (180 km, 4527m), Sunday July 16

Stage 15 is one of the more interesting and unpredictable mountain stages of this year’s Tour. The stage features five categorized climbs in the final 100 kilometers, totaling 4,527 meters of elevation gain. The crux of the parcours is the final two climbs, with a one-two punch of the second category Côte de Amerands followed by the final first category climb of Le Bettex. These come in rapid succession, with only a one-kilometer descent between them.

Going into this stage, we should expect more separation in the GC standings, meaning that the team with the yellow jersey is expected to control the whole day. Because of the difficulty of pacing for a stage like this, there is a good chance that the breakaway will fight for stage honors. However, the GC battle will be explosive regardless. 

Unlike Stage 9, the peloton will have to tackle some of the biggest climbs of the race before reaching the finale of Stage 15. The penultimate test will be the Col de la Croix Fry, averaging just over 7% for 11.4 kilometers. This stage should show us which of the GC contenders are able to deal with fatigue effectively, as this stage caps off the second week of racing. Expect fireworks, as anyone who is close to getting their hands on the yellow jersey will be vying for the lead before entering the final week of the race.

Stage 17: Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc – Courchevel (166 km, 5405m), Wednesday, July 19

The 166km queen stage of this year’s Tour de France is a doozy. Every GC contender will have this stage in the back of their mind — some will find it daunting, others as an exciting opportunity. 

The defining climb is Col de la Loze, a whopping 28.3-kilometer climb, peaking at over 2300 meters in altitude. It’s the final of four categorized climbs and is significantly more difficult than the preceding climbs. With proportions as epic as this, the GC race could blow wide open. Riders will crack, others will attack, some might succumb to the altitude, and others will thrive.

Whoever is in yellow at the start of the day will have their work cut out for themselves and their team, as any rider close in the GC standings will be giving everything they have to take time back. I recommend watching this stage from kilometer zero, as teams will try early and often to break this race open well before hitting the slopes of Col de la Loze. Whoever is in the yellow jersey in Courchevel is very likely to be the winner of the 2023 Tour de France.

GC Favorites & Contenders

The field of contenders at this year’s Tour is deep. Since this year’s race features some of the most difficult, high-mountain terrain, teams are insulating their GC contenders with their best climbers. Jai Hindley, Jack Haig, Ben O’Connor, Romain Bardet, and David Gaudu are just some of the riders that will be looking to upset the expected battle between Vingegaard and Pogačar. 

Vingegaard vs. Pogačar

Two riders guaranteed to be there are defending champion Jonas Vingegaard and two-time champion Tadej Pogačar. These two are arguably the best grand tour and GC racers in the peloton. Last year, we saw a tight battle between the two throughout the first week and a half until Vingegaard was able to crack open Pogačar on Stage 11 in the high mountains. He maintained this lead until Paris.

Vingegaard is considered the favorite coming into this year’s race after a dominant performance at the Criterium du Dauphine. He’ll also have the strongest team in the Dutch outfit of Jumbo-Visma, an incredibly well-drilled squad with deep talent that played a crucial role in his 2022 victory. 

Jumbo-Visma

This year, Jumbo-Visma is set to bring a team that is just as strong with only minimal substitutes from the 8-man team of 2022. The newly signed Dutch duo of Wilco Kelderman and Dylan van Baarle will be the crucial mountain domestiques for Vingegaard, as well as the Belgian superstar Wout van Aert. Wout was an important player in the final mountain stages for Vingegaard, and I would not be surprised to see the big Belgian do the same in this year’s Tour.

UAE Team Emirates

UAE Team Emirates is looking to disrupt the mountain dominance of Jumbo-Visma, hoping to add to Pogačar’s current collection of yellow jerseys. Pogačar is coming off a broken wrist suffered in April of this year at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He has not raced since. This could benefit the young Slovenian as he has spent the past few months completely focused on the Tour; however, a lack of race days could prove costly in the build-up of his fitness. 

Last year, UAE looked to be in rough shape in the high mountains, often leaving Pogačar alone in key moments of mountain stages. They experienced some unfortunate luck with some of their domestiques abandoning the race early due to injury and illness. This year, they’ll be looking to turn that around. Adam Yates and Rafał Majka will be Pogačar’s main helpers in the high mountains as former Tour de Romandie and polka dot jersey winners, respectively. 

Pogačar will need to be patient compared to last year, where he seemed to play all of his cards by the end of the first half of the race. UAE will wait in the wings of the Jumbo-Visma team, eyeing an opportunity to pounce on any weakness.

EF Education First-EasyPost

Richard Carapaz will be the frontman for the EF Education First-EasyPost, piloting one of the stronger GC teams that EF has been able to field. The team also likely includes recent signee and mountain domestique, Andrey Amador.

Carapaz, the current Olympic Champion, has stood on the podium of four grand tours, including the top step of the 2019 Giro d’Italia. He’ll be looking to add to his tally with his new team. Rigoberto Urán will likely be a member of the squad as well, potentially gunning for his own result in GC. This edition of the Tour seems to suit both of these riders as they tend to suffer with individual time trials.

Neilson Powless will be another domestique that will aid the duo in the later mountain stages, but we might see him get a few opportunities of his own for a stage victory. The team tactics should be interesting — we’ll see how they can balance the ambitions of their two South American climbers. It will be an uphill battle for the gentlemen in pink to secure the yellow jersey in Paris, but it’s the Tour de France. Anything can happen.

Predictions

The Tour is primed to be a two-horse race between Vingegaard and Pogačar, with Vingegaard having the slight advantage coming into the race according to the bookies. However, I think that by the Champs-Élyseés, the young Slovenian, Pogačar, will be bringing home his third Tour victory in four years.  

Pogočar has been quiet in recent months, slowly recovering from his injury sustained in April and dialing in his training for the Tour de France. This will benefit Pogačar, who should ride into form throughout the race. I am expecting him to lose a bit of time in the first ten days of the race as Vingegaard is already in stellar form. UAE Team Emirates is hungry for redemption, so their team will be well-organized with a concise plan on how to best the Jumbo-Visma squad. 

Regardless of who wins, this year’s Tour is set to be a fantastic race. Limited time trial kilometers and challenging mountain stages will provide an entertaining battle for the yellow jersey. The most celebrated and renowned bike race in the world is just one week away and I, for one, can’t wait to see what this year’s edition brings.

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Henry Lutz is a former competitive road cyclist. From the age of 14, he raced at the highest level in the United States as well as abroad. He is a fan of all things professional cycling, with a focus on World Tour road racing. In recent years, he has stepped away from high-level racing, but has continued a career within the cycling industry.

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• Spring Classics

Tour de France 2024: Analysing the contenders

After Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico, we take a look at the key potential protagonists and their prospects in the hunt for yellow

Daniel Benson

Editor in chief.

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from left to right: Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel, Tadej Pogačar, and Primož Roglič

The racing season is well underway and all of the major contenders for the 2024 Tour de France have begun their campaigns and their journeys to July.

After early-season skirmishes across various continents, things stepped up a notch in early March with two of the most prestigious week-long races: Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico .

Between those races and Strade Bianche , where two-time Tour winner Tadej Pogačar soloed to a sensational victory, we’ve had a good chance to see how the yellow jersey hopefuls are shaping up.

When the route for the 2024 Tour de France was revealed back in October, we issued our initial analysis of the main protagonists. Now, we revisit them, assembling them into an early-season ranking based on form and prospects for July.

• Read more: Tour de France 2024 route revealed

1. Jonas Vingegaard

• Team: Visma-Lease a Bike
• Tour pedigree: Winner in 2022, 2023 and runner-up in 2021. Three stage wins.
• Recent results: Overall winner with two stage wins at Tirreno-Adriatico, overall winner with three stage wins at O Gran Camiño
• Previous ranking: 1

Jonas Vingegaard won the recent Tirreno-Adriatico

Vingegaard was top of our rankings back in October of last year when the Tour de France route was first announced and there’s been little evidence since then that the Danish rider will be stopped from winning this third straight title in July.

His number one rival in Tadej Pogačar will be battle-weary from the Giro come the summer, and Vingegaard himself has started the season in astonishing form. When the race organisers themselves, in this case Tirreno-Adriatico - are calling you out as ‘from a different planet’ there can be no doubt as to who the favourite for the Tour is.

Vingegaard has bludgeoned the opposition this season in his opening races and he’s firmly established himself as the Chris Froome of his generation. Seven victories in just 11 race days, including two wins from two in O Gran Camino and Tirreno, make Vingegaard the rider to beat.

Can anyone stop him? Possibly. Will they? No.

2. Tadej Pogačar

• Team: UAE Team Emirates
• Tour pedigree: Winner in 2020, 2021 and runner-up in 2022, 2023. 11 stage wins.
• Recent results: A staggering solo victory at Strade Bianche.
• Previous ranking: 2

© Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images

Tadej Pogačar (left) with Jonas Vingegaard at the 2023 Tour de France

Despite not clipping in for a single stage race this season Pogačar remains second on our list. That says as much about the separation between the top two riders in the world as it does about the demolition the Slovenian rolled out at Strade Bianche just over a week ago.

The 25-year-old will race the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya later in March, at which point we’ll have a better view of his pre-Giro d’Italia condition but the likely scenario is that he burns through the field in Spain before a rinse and repeat at the Giro d’Italia in May.

Of course, there’s an awful lot of road between now and the first Grand Tour of the season, and least we forget that an injury in the spring of 2023 massively shaped Pogačar’s form at the Tour, but the most pressing question remains: How much will he have left in the tank for Vingegaard after the Giro?

• Read more: Does gravel belong in the Tour de France? Off-road stage of 2024 route divides opinion

3. Remco Evenepoel

• Team: Soudal Quick-Step
• Tour pedigree: Yet to make his debut.
• Recent results: Runner-up with a stage win at Paris-Nice, overall winner with a stage win at the Volta ao Algarve
• Previous ranking: 4

Remco Evenepoel wins the final stage of Paris-Nice

The Belgian press can barely keep it together right now with one domestic publication calling Evenepoel the Belgian Bernard Hinault after his second-placed performance at Paris-Nice. In the next few months that hype, bordering on hysteria, is only going to swell, and while Evenepoel has moved up one spot on our list since last October, he remains some way behind the top two contenders.

Yes, he’s won a Vuelta a España and no one at GCN would dispute the rider’s phenomenal talent and pedigree but there’s a big difference between flashes of brilliance and three-week consistency at the biggest race in the world. It’s been written before, and it’s still true, that Jai Hindley has a better Grand Tour record than Evenepoel, and while that doesn’t impact deciding who is a better rider, it is worth contemplating when comparisons are made with five-time Tour winners like Hinault.

• Read more: Remco Evenepoel considering Giro d'Italia Tour de France double, Lefevere 'advises against'

4. Primož Roglič

• Team: Bora-Hansgrohe
• Tour pedigree: Runner-up in 2020. Three stage wins.
• Recent results: 10th overall at Paris-Nice
• Previous ranking: 3

Primoz Roglic had a quiet week at Paris-Nice

Most onlookers probably expected a little more from Roglič in his season debut at Paris-Nice. 10th overall is far from a disaster but that’s the lowest placing he’s had in stage races he’s finished since the same race back in 2021.

Read more: 'A good base to build on' — Primož Roglič and Bora-Hansgrohe react to Paris-Nice

Of course, context is vital, and there have been a handful of major DNFs during that period. It’s also worth stating that Roglič is still getting used to his new surroundings at Bora-Hansgrohe, having admitted earlier in the race that his instinct is to follow Visma-Lease a Bike in the bunch. That’s not as bad as calling your new partner by your ex’s name but it does imply that work needs to be done and that someone needs to up their game between now and the Grand Départ.

That said, as Roglič keenly pointed out, he’s not been hired to win Paris-Nice and his main focus is on July, with every stepping stone between now and then an opportunity to learn and build those bonds with his new teammates.

They’ve clearly taken to him at Bora, and he’s already their lynchpin, no matter what Aleksandr Vlasov achieves over the coming months, but a meek showing in the race to the sun sees the veteran drop a spot on our list. As with most things in early March, that’s unlikely to matter come the summer.

• Read more: Pro cycling transfers - every move for the 2024 season

5. Simon Yates

• Team: Jayco-AlUla
• Tour pedigree: Fourth in 2023. Two career stage wins.
• Recent results: Overall winner with a stage win at the AlUla Tour
• Previous ranking: 6

The British climber is another rider who has moved up a spot despite not racing either Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico. Yates was, however, decent enough at the Tour Down Under and then took a sponsor-pleasing win at the AlUla Tour a few weeks later.

We’ve not seen him in action since then but we’ll have a clearer indication of his form later this month in Catalunya, where he will take on a host of Tour rivals. Fourth in the Tour last year, following three DNFs in Grand Tours, the 31-year-old doesn’t draw the hype and attention that some of the other top-10 contenders receive but his palmarès speaks volumes.

It’s a contract year too, which means there’s slightly more incentive to put in a memorable ride at the Tour.

6. Juan Ayuso

• Tour pedigree: Yet to make his debut
• Recent results: Runner-up with a stage win at Tirreno-Adriatico, winner of Faun Ardèche Classic
• Previous ranking: New entry

Ayuso in action at Tirreno-Adriatico

Best of the rest in Tirreno, the Spaniard has grown in stature and confidence this season with two wins and a gaggle of well-ranked placings to his name. He’s yet to make his Tour debut but two highly regarded outings at the Vuelta a España more than suggest that the 21-year-old is ready.

Read more: Spain’s next Tour de France champion? Juan Ayuso prepares for debut in 2024

If Adam Yates has another stumble, or João Almeida endures another health setback, then Ayuso looks ready to step into the void and be Pogačar's last man in the mountains.

7. Carlos Rodríguez

• Team: Ineos Grenadiers
• Tour pedigree: Fifth in 2023. One stage win.
• Recent results: 28th at Paris-Nice, 31st at O Gran Camiño
• Previous ranking: 5

Carlos Rodríguez winning a stage of the 2023 Tour de France

The weather at both O Gran Camino and Paris-Nice was atrocious, so there’s some leeway to be had with these early season results but so far Rodríguez has underwhelmed. 31st in Spain, 28th in France, these aren’t the results of a rider starting the season on the right foot and with the Tour in mind.

If he were on another team, perhaps it might not matter so much, but when Tom Pidcock and a resurgent Egan Bernal are both outshining you in March then everything takes on a new dynamic because Rodríguez certainly isn’t guaranteed Tour leadership this year. He’ll need to raise his game in the next few months or risk dropping down the pecking order at both Ineos and on our list.

There’s still time but the 23-year-old can’t afford to sleepwalk through the spring and early summer.

8. Adam Yates

• Tour pedigree: Third overall in 2023.
• Recent results: Winner with a stage win at Tour of Oman
• Previous ranking: 10

This list always runs the risk of being dominated by riders from two teams but there’s no way of omitting Yates given his podium finish last year and the questions over Pogačar's post-Giro condition. Solid, reliable and proven, Yates has the edge over the likes of João Almeida and Juan Ayuso, who have yet to race the Tour, and although the British rider is currently sitting on the sidelines due to concussion, he remains UAE's most consistent plan-B.

• UAE Tour: Adam Yates 'doesn't remember hitting the ground' after crash and concussion
• Adam Yates: UAE Team Emirates' Tour de France team will be a bit of a challenge

9. Enric Mas

• Team: Movistar
• Tour pedigree: Two top-10 finishes but two DNFs in the last two years.
• Recent results: 12th overall at Tirreno-Adriatico
• Previous ranking: 8th

We know the drill with Mas, we’ve seen it plenty of times when it comes to the Tour de France and his pre-race shape. Twelfth overall was solid but far from spectacular in Tirreno-Adriatico but as with other riders on this list, it’s difficult to gauge that performance given the weather and the fact that it was the Spaniard’s first outing of the campaign.

In 2021, he was similarly average before a couple of better results in the spring spawned some of the best Tour performances of his career, including a stellar ride to Luz Ardiden. Come July, assuming he’s not beset with the same bad luck that’s disrupted him over the last two years, Mas will be in the mix for another top-ten.

A top-five does look out of his reach these days, especially with younger riders continuing to come through, but unlike several riders on here, Mas has the entire backing of a squad at his disposal. When you have eight riders all pulling for seventh overall that makes a difference.

10. Sepp Kuss

• Tour pedigree: Four appearances in a supporting role, 12th overall in 2023
• Recent results: 8th overall at Volta ao Algarve, 6th at Clásica Jaén

Sepp Kuss showed some one-day gravel class at the Clásica Jaén

If UAE have several riders on this list, then Visma deserve at least another representative outside of the pre-race favourite. Kuss gets the obvious nod given the fact that he won the last Grand Tour on the men’s circuit, and with Roglič plying his trade at Bora, moves up a spot on the Dutch team’s pecking order.

In a straight shoot-out with several contenders, Kuss will come up short, and while the Tour isn’t raced with the same unpredictability as the Vuelta, the American is a respectable second leader. He knows the score – we all do – in that, Vingegaard is the undisputed leader but that shouldn’t stop Kuss from finishing towards the pointy end of the mountain stages. 

11. Jai Hindley

• Tour pedigree: 7th overall on debut in 2023
• Recent results: 3rd at Tirreno-Adriatico, 5th at Volta Valenciana

Jai Hindley in action at Tirreno-Adriatico

The Australian might just be the best-placed plan B on this list given the fact that his team leader Primož Roglič hasn’t finished a Tour de France since 2020. Hindley put up some admirable opposition at Tirreno, at least challenging Vingegaard’s domination before settling for third place on the podium. He’s been in fine fettle throughout the early skirmishes, and the Basque Country at the start of April will be telling.

It’ll be the first time the Australian has raced with Roglič, and while few would expect any leadership wobbles based on the result from an April race, it could set the tone for a wider internal conversation as to whether Hindley is too good to just be a super domestique and where his future lies in what’s an important contract year.

12. David Gaudu

• Team: Groupama-FDJ
• Tour pedigree: Fourth in 2022 but slipped to ninth in 2023.
• Recent results: DNF Paris-Nice, 18th overall at O Gran Camiño, 6th at Classic Var
• Previous ranking: 7th

Gaudu drops several places on our list after a tepid showing at Paris-Nice that involved a crash, speculation over his health, and a DNS ahead of stage 8. That fourth place on GC at the 2022 Tour de France feels like an awfully long time ago, and the 27-year-old now hasn’t put together any meaningful results since last year’s ninth at the Tour.

Compare and contrast this version of Gaudu with the one who was beating Vingegaard into second at Paris-Nice last year and one can understand the level of frustration that surrounds the enigmatic climber. On his day he remains a virtuoso talent but like his former teammate Thibaut Pinot, a sense of fragility runs through him. He risks being left behind by some of these otherworldly performances.

13. Richard Carapaz

• Team: EF Education-EasyPost
• Tour pedigree: Third overall in 2021
• Recent results: DNF Tirreno-Adriatico, 11th overall at O Gran Camiño, runner-up with a stage win at Tour Colombia
• Previous ranking: 9th

The Olympic champion is clinging onto the coattails of this list with his bare fingers after a dogged but ultimately disappointing outing in Tirreno that culminated in a crash. Luckily there were no serious injuries to report but he will need to perform a lot better in Itzulia Basque Country at the start of April if he is to garner the GC mantle at EF for the Tour.

His selection isn’t in jeopardy, far from it, but the American team have told GCN that they’re not interested in riding around for eighth overall . So they’ll either position Carapaz and the rest of the team as stage hunters or hope that their talisman can summon up his best form and regain his top-five credentials for the Tour.

Visit our Tour de France home page for all the latest news, including full details and analysis of the 2024 route.

Team Visma | Lease a Bike

• Nationality Netherlands
• Founded 1984
• Team Principal Richard Plugge
• UCI Code TVL
• Bike Sponsor Cervélo

UAE Team Emirates

• Nationality United Arab Emirates
• Founded 2017
• Team Principal Mauro Gianetti
• UCI Code UAD
• Bike Sponsor Colnago

Soudal Quick-Step

• Nationality Belgium
• Founded 2003
• Team Principal Patrick Lefevere
• UCI Code SOQ
• Bike Sponsor Specialized

BORA-hansgrohe

• Nationality Germany
• Team Principal Ralph Denk
• UCI Code BOH

INEOS Grenadiers

• Nationality United Kingdom
• Founded 2010
• Team Principal David Brailsford
• UCI Code IGD
• Bike Sponsor Pinarello

Jonas Vingegaard

• Team Team Visma | Lease a Bike
• Nationality Denmark
• UCI Wins 35
• Height 1.75m

Tadej Pogacar

• Team UAE Team Emirates
• Nationality Slovenia
• UCI Wins 73
• Height 1.76m

Primoz Roglic

• Team BORA-hansgrohe
• UCI Wins 82
• Height 1.77m

Remco Evenepoel

• Team Soudal Quick-Step
• UCI Wins 54
• Height 1.71m

Carlos Rodriguez

• Team INEOS Grenadiers
• Nationality Spain
• Height 1.83m

Simon Yates

• Team Team Jayco-AlUla
• UCI Wins 37
• Height 1.72m

David Gaudu

• Team Groupama-FDJ
• Nationality France
• UCI Wins 13
• Height 1.73m

• Team Movistar Team

Richard Carapaz

• Team EF Education-EasyPost
• Nationality Ecuador
• UCI Wins 22
• Height 1.7m

• UCI Wins 25

• UCI Wins 12

Jai Hindley

• Nationality Australia

• Nationality United States of America
• UCI Wins 10
• Height 1.8m

Tour de France

• Dates 29 Jun - 21 Jul
• Race Length 3,492 kms
• Race Category Elite Men

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What does it take to be a Tour de France contender?

Relentless drive, unwavering resilience, exceptional fitness – all required just to make it to the startline of the Tour de France. What more, then, does it take to challenge for the win?

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1. Unbreakable work ethic

2. world-beating watts per kilo, 3. oxygen-burning furnaces, 4. lionhearted beats, 5. jack sprat fat levels, 6. endless appetite, 7. brimming carb tanks, 8. solid sleep patterns, 9. a-head for heights, 10. can stand the heat, what makes pogačar so special.

• How did Vingegaard and Remco win Grand Tours last year?

The Tour de France is an almighty undertaking. This year’s edition packs in 3,404km over 21 stages, with an accumulated elevation total in excess of 56,000 metres. Just getting selected for the start requires all the riders to be in peak physical condition, but winning the biggest race of all demands an even more finely turned body. The general classification (GC) contenders are arguably the fittest athletes on the entire planet – but what exactly does it take, in terms of talent and training, to get there? In other words, what makes them the best of the best?  

The basic description of a Tour de France winner – the last being Jonas Vingegaard ( Jumbo-Visma ) – won’t shock anyone: almost always European, typically aged between 24 and 34; usually with a height between 175 and 185cm (5ft 9in and 6ft 1in), and low body weight of between 60 and 66kg. But there have been exceptions: two-time champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) was only 21 when he claimed his first title in 2020 – 98 years after the race’s oldest winner, 36-year-old Firmin Lambot, took the title in 1922. The race’s first ever winner in 1903, Maurice Garin, was a petite 162cm (5ft 4in), while 2012 winner Bradley Wiggins was 190cm (6ft 3in). On the scales, five-time winner Miguel Induráin was 80kg, some 28kg heavier than his Spanish compatriot Luis Ocaña who won in 1973. As for non-Europeans, there have been three: American Greg LeMond won in 1986, 1989 and 1990; Australian Cadel Evans won in 2011; and Colombian Egan Bernal became the first South American winner in 2019. 

There are clearly no strict physical parameters, at least not on the surface, so what do we know about their habits – their monk-like devotion to their single objective – and how they get their bodies ready for the biggest challenge in sport? 

The road to a Grand Tour starts all the way back in the dark, cold winter months, when riders log 30-hour training weeks of low-intensity rides, building aerobic efficiency and reinforcing the body’s ability to burn fuel as fat – to push hard while using as little energy as possible. As spring nears, more tempo, sub-threshold and threshold work are introduced, and the work becomes ever more tailored and specific. 

“There are no sessions specifically for GC riders, but what is most important for them is that they’re able to recover from big loads,” says Bora-Hansgrohe ’s head of performance, Dan Lorang. “GC riders will train in a three-to-one rhythm: three weeks of load, one week of recovery. These riders do a lot more climbing, and they train to reproduce high-intensity efforts after four to five hours.” Putting in hard efforts after many hours of steady riding is bread-and-butter for prospective Tour winners. “An example would be four hours of training at Zone 2 , finishing off with 30 minutes of threshold climbing to simulate a final climb,” adds Lorang. “GC guys also train on their time trial bikes two or three times a week.” To simulate Grand Tour demands, many GC riders train intensely before heading straight into a one-week stage race, or extend a heavy block of training to imitate three weeks of racing. Two weeks before the Tour, they begin their taper with more rest periods and less intense work. 

To think of cycling as solely a watts per kilogram game removes the romance and the panache, but time gaps are made in the mountains and in time trials thanks to a rider’s power output. Put simply, if a rider wants to win the Tour de France, they need to be able to maintain an exceptional power output over a sustained period of around 30 minutes after several hours of attritional, varied-intensity riding. Not just exceptional, but better than every other cyclist in the world.

The numbers are mind-boggling. When Jonas Vingegaard crushed the field on Stage 11 to win atop the Col du Granon (11.3km at 9.2% gradient) at last year’s Tour, he averaged 6.1W/kg for 35 minutes 52 seconds. No one has gone faster. Six days later, on Stage 17, Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) climbed the Col d’ Azet (8.34km, 7.9%) averaging 6.58W/kg for a time of 22:24. Again, it was the fastest time ever recorded.

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Jump on Zwift and try riding at 6.5W/kg – then imagine sustaining it for 20 minutes. You’ll get a taste for just how hard GC riders are able to push. Over shorter periods of around 10 minutes, some riders, including former Tour winner Chris Froome ( Israel-Premier Tech ), have registered eye-popping figures of around 7.5W/kg. 

During a normal stage before any attacks go off, riders generally pedal along at 220 to 250 watts. That’s a stout effort for most of us amateurs, but bear in mind that Tadej Pogačar’s functional threshold power (FTP) – the highest power he can sustain for one hour – is as high as 415 watts. 

VO2max – very simply put – is the maximum rate at which the body can use oxygen during exercise, so it is used to measure an individual’s aerobic capacity. Measured in millilitres of oxygen per kilogram per minute, the relative figure in an averagely fit 30-year-old male is usually in the upper 40s. It can be improved substantially with training. 

What about VO2max in those who win the yellow jersey? Way, way higher. When Chris Froome was dominating Tours, he could intake 88.2ml/kg/min. Remarkably, that’s not the best. American Greg LeMond, winner of the Tour on three occasions, had a reported VO2max of 92. If your VO2max isn’t in the 70s, at least, you’re probably not going to the Tour.

During the 2020 Tour de France, the WorldTour team now known as EF Education-EasyPost released data on each of their riders’ heart rates and heart rate variability . Among their roster of eight, the average resting heart rate was 42bpm before the race began. During the race, this rose to 51bpm ahead of the first rest day, but after a day off it dropped to 40bpm, highlighting the power of recovery.

Chris Froome had a reported resting heart rate of 29bpm, and Miguel Induráin’s was claimed to be even lower, at 28bpm – about half the speed of a typical adult’s heart rate. A pro rider’s cardiovascular system is so efficient that this plodding heart rate is fast enough, at rest, to supply their body with all the blood and oxygen it needs. 

On intense days in the mountains, with full-throttle racing, GC riders spend as much as 50% of their day performing in the upper heart rate zones, at 80-90% of their maximum heart rate.

You only need to look at a Tour de France rider to know that they aren’t carrying so much as a twig’s worth of spare timber. A ‘normal’ man usually has body fat of between 18 and 24% – but for our Grand Tour cyclists, determined not just to make it over the mountains but to triumph up them, their body fat needs to be as low as possible, around 5-6%.

There is a danger, however, in going too low. The body needs between 3% and 5% of body fat to protect organs and to regular body temperature, so while there have been some reported cases of riders competing with less than 5% of body fat, that is the lowest they can go without jeopardising their health.

It’s become a cycling press cliche to quantify a Tour de France rider’s daily calorie intake by showing the equivalent number of McDonald’s Big Macs. Oh go on, then: it’s 12 to 18 Big Macs, depending on the stage. 

A Tour rider shovels anywhere between 6,000 and 9,000kcal of food down them per 24 hours during a stage race. While racing, up to six hours per stage, they burn around 1,000kcal per hour. Unsurprisingly, riders are prone to losing weight and shedding fat during a three-week race, since consuming enough – in food and carb-laden drinks – isn’t easy.

Dropping a little weight is sometimes in the plan: at the 2018 Giro, Chris Froome only ate 2,500 calories on stage 11 as he was attempting to drop to his ideal weight of 68.5kg in time for his famous late-race assault that secured him the maglia rosa. 

Riding relentlessly hard for three weeks is only possible to endlessly consuming huge amounts of carbohydrate – before and during each stage. Iñigo San Millán is UAE-Team Emirates’ head of performance: “A rider needs to absorb 500 grams of glycogen [stored carbohydrate] before the race starts,” he says. “They should be completely full before the race, and empty afterwards.”

Filling up the proverbial tank relies on mammoth breakfasts containing 200g carbs – equivalent to about 13 slices of bread – with similarly gut-busting amounts for dinner once the day is done. During the race they replenish their energy stores with about 100g carbs per hour, in various forms including energy gels , carb drinks and rice cakes. Over the course of a day, a rider imbibes a massive carb load of about 1,200g – compared to about 300g in a normal diet.

“ Sleep is the most important recovery resource for people in general, but especially for cyclists who use their bodies so intensively,” says Jumbo-Visma’s head of performance, Mathieu Heijboer. “The enormous effort during a race damages the body… [and] physical recovery is therefore the most important thing. Deep sleep is essential. If it is disturbed, it is at the expense of recovery, which slows down reaction times, causes memory problems and has a negative effect on motor coordination.”

Getting a good amount of shut-eye, night after night, is essential for someone who wants to win the world’s biggest race. Some teams carry their own mattresses and bedding, such is the emphasis on good sleep. On average, riders in a Grand Tour sleep for eight hours, with most going to bed at 11.30pm and waking up at 8am. If that sounds late, it’s because stages don’t start until around 1pm, and dinner is often not served until 9pm.

Several times a season, riders go on altitude camp to increase their blood haemoglobin levels – the component of blood that carries oxygen and gives blood its red colour. Having more haemoglobin allows riders not only to perform better at higher elevations but to use oxygen more efficiently at sea level too.

Bora-Hansgrohe’s Dan Lorang: “For a rider wanting to win a Grand Tour, I would recommend that they spend two 18-day periods at altitude, and then one block of 15 days before the Grand Tour.” This approach is mirrored across the WorldTour. The final altitude block has to finish as close as possible to the start of the race, as half of the haemoglobin increase disappears after a week, and returns to normal after a fortnight. If the altitude camp is too early, “the effect evaporates,” according to Professor Lars Nybo of the University of Copenhagen. “High-altitude camps conducted in the winter or pre-season will almost certainly have no direct effect on performance several months later.”

Temperatures on Stage 15 of last year’s Tour de France got close to 40ºC, putting riders under even greater strain. As summer temperatures climb ever higher, Ineos Grenadiers have begun to perfect cooling strategies, having realised that excessive heat can have a direct effect on a rider’s power output. “A one degree increase in core temperature results in a 1% drop in gross efficiency, which means about a 10-12 change in watts,” says Dan Bigham, Ineos’ performance engineer.

Ice vests have become a common sight – for good reason. Studies have shown that a rider’s performance can decline by as much as 16% when not acclimatised to hot conditions . Given at least two weeks getting used to the weather they’ll be racing in, these losses can be reduced to as little as 2%. 

Although Tadej Pogačar isn’t going into this year’s Tour as the defending champion, it is widely accepted that the Slovenian is the greatest bike rider on the planet. Some believe he may even surpass the winning feats of Eddy Merckx . But what makes him so good?

“First things first, he has a massive motor,” says Allan Peiper, his former DS, “and a recuperative power that I’ve never seen before. It’s natural, for sure. There are very few guys who can go into a Grand Tour and get better and keep the motor running, but Tadej’s one of them.

“I’ve been on [UAE-Team Emirates] training camps and riders have ridden themselves into the ground trying to keep up with him and it hasn’t been beneficial for them.”

It’s not just the 24-year-old’s exceptional cardiovascular system. “The other defining thing about Tadej is his approach and outlook on life: he’s always got a positive mindset,” Peiper adds. “He has a way of putting everything into perspective, and that ability to do that when you’re in the hurt box in a Grand Tour keeps you afloat.” 

“You can have all these great physical characteristics, but if you’re weighed down by the mental side or overpowered by stress or the fear of failure, it’ll bring you down. Tadej has the physical talent as well as this unbelievable mental side. I have no idea what motivates this kid, but it’s definitely not his ego or by having a chip on his shoulder.”

First-time winners: How did Vingegaard and Remco win Grand Tours last year?

All of last year’s Grand Tours were won by riders who had never before won a three-week race: Jai Hindley in the Giro d'Italia ; Jonas Vingegaard in the Tour de France; and Remco Evenepoel in the Vuelta a España .

The latter’s coach, Koen Pelgrim, summarises how the current world champion ensured he was in peak condition to win the Spanish race. “He needed a really good base to be able to work on that to optimise his shape. A few months before we were focusing on shorter work, and then closer to the Vuelta it was about specific and longer efforts so that he could handle multiple consecutive days and multiple efforts. 

“The Vuelta had a lot of steep ascents, so he did a lot of efforts on steeper climbs, and he also trained in the middle of the day in Spain so that he was used to the heat. When it’s warm and steep, you suffer more, and we wanted him to be totally acclimatised to that.”

As for 26-year-old Vingegaard, his coach Tim Heemskerk faced a dilemma after the Dane finished second at the Critérium du Dauphiné. “He was in really great shape and I had a choice to make: do I let him have more recovery days or not?” he reflects. “We had three weeks until the Tour, we couldn’t let him get ill, and we couldn’t let him overdo it. This is the time when a coach really has to analyse and manage the situation.

“Getting someone into the best possible shape requires a lot of hard work from the rider, their coaches, the nutritionist and focusing on planning everything correctly. Optimising recovery is really essential.”

This full version of this article was published in the print edition of Cycling Weekly.  Subscribe online  and get the magazine delivered direct to your door every week. 

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A freelance sports journalist and podcaster, you'll mostly find Chris's byline attached to news scoops, profile interviews and feature writing across a variety of different publications. He has been writing regularly for Cycling Weekly since 2013.

Previously a ski, hiking and cycling guide in a number of places, but mostly in the Canadian Rockies and Spanish Pyrenees, he almost certainly holds the record for the most number of interviews conducted from snowy mountains.

He lives in Valencia, Spain.

In-form Italian praises Lidl-Trek team after repeating feat she achieved in 2015

By Tom Davidson Published 31 March 24

World champion becomes seventh man in history to win the race three times

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Will ‘Go Big or Go Home’ Team Selections Derail Visma-Lease a Bike at the 2024 Tour de France?

Analysis: how the trend of squads stacking their 2024 tour rosters with top gc talent could alter the balance of power in july..

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As pro cycling eases into the rapidly approaching 2024 season with pre-season training camps and, at least in my opinion, much-too-early Tour de France team reveals (via the release of the 2024 racing schedules for their major stars), an interesting trend has emerged that differs significantly from year’s past: The major GC contending teams are all putting together Tour de France super teams in an attempt to take on the Jonas Vingegaard/ Visma-Lease a Bike juggernaut.

For example, the Bora-Hansgrohe and UAE Team Emirates teams of the two biggest GC challengers ( Primož Roglič and Tadej Pogačar ) to the two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard , have all announced they are sending teams stacked with all of their top GC contenders in an attempt to combat Vingegaard and Visma with a dose of their own medicine.

And, perhaps most interestingly, instead of the traditional “we will let the road decide” mantra we’ve seen from multi-leader teams in years past, Bora has already come out and explicitly stated that their talented team will be fully behind Roglič from the start of the race.

Similarly, UAE has implicitly signaled their stacked team will be solely behind Pogačar due to the simple fact that Pogačar is the sole team leader, without question, at any race he participates in (a small perk of being one of the best riders of all-time in the prime of their career).

This trend runs counter to the conventional wisdom of years past, which stated that teams should spread their best talent out across the three grand tours in order to maximize their chances of success.

The perceived safer route would be for Bora to send solid GC riders like Aleksandr Vlasov to the Giro d’Italia, instead of committing him to ride in support of Roglič at the Tour.

While holding talented riders back and sending them to target other Grand Tours is an intriguing idea and is something that “feels” like it should work, the return on the strategy has significantly decreased in recent years.

For example, in the last three editions, the Giro has been won twice by riders who were near the top of the GC food chain at the time of their win (Egan Bernal 2021 and Primož Roglič 2023).

Meanwhile, four out of the last five editions of the Vuelta a España have been won by Primož Roglič and Remco Evenepoel, with the fifth victor, Sepp Kuss , winning due to having two of the best riders, Vingegaard and Roglič, on his team.

Going into 2024, the Giro overall classification will be contested by top-tier riders like Pogačar, and potentially even Wout van Aert, while the Vuelta, as has become the norm in recent years, will almost certainly continue to feature the world’s best GC riders.

In summation, the non-Tour de France grand tours are no longer the low-hanging fruit they once were, so the incentive to hold your top GC riders out of the Tour to target them has all but disappeared.

Another reason we are seeing this is that teams realize that the only way to beat modern super contenders like Jonas Vingegaard and super teams like Visma-Lease a Bike is to throw everything at them and attempt to sow chaos (much like Jumbo did to overthrow the seemingly unbeatable Tadej Pogačar at the 2022 Tour de France).

How this strategy could swing the balance of power at the 2024 Tour de France

Outside of the simple fact that this will (hopefully) produce the most interesting GC battle at the Tour, it contradicts Vingegaard’s Visma team’s 2024 grand tour strategy, which is seeing them stretch their team thin across the grand tours.

Ironically, Visma is the team that has used the “stacked-team, swarm-attack” strategy with the most success in recent years when they implemented it to win the 2022 Tour de France and 2023 Vuelta a Espaňa.

We should note that this is partly by design since, as the team of the odds-on favorite to win in 2024 with Vingegaard, they have somewhat lost the ability to run this strategy back.

This is the case as their best chance of winning requires them to fall into a defensive/control mode from the very beginning of the race, since they have the most to lose by racing aggressively.

This means the risk/reward ratio doesn’t align for them to bring multiple leaders, but instead, it incentivizes them to bring extremely strong domestiques who can set such a hard race that they can control attacks from their rivals.

As a reference, when we look at the recently-released full start lists from UAE, Visma, and Bora-Hansgrohe for the 2024 Tour de France (as well as Ineos’ partial start list), we can see that UAE, Bora, and even Ineos have more potential GC contenders* on their Tour teams than Visma.

It goes without saying that we should keep in mind that these start lists can and will change due to rider injury and form issues once the season actually gets underway.

* This was calculated by tracking the top Grand Tour GC results within the three years prior to that Tour for each team’s riders and, through an admittedly objective process, by tagging a rider as an ‘Actual’ or ‘Best-Case’ GC contender.

2024 Tour de France select team GC contender rankings

1) UAE Emirates

Tadej Pogačar (2xTdF Wins) Adam Yates (1xTdF podium) João Almeida (1x Giro podium) Juan Auyso (1xVuelta podium) Pavel Sivakov (1xGiro top ten) Marc Soler Nils Politt Tim Wellens

Totals: 4xActual GC Contenders 5xBest-Case GC Contenders

2) Bora-Hansgrohe

Primož Roglič (4xGT wins) Jai Hindley (1xGiro win) Aleksandr Vlasov (2xGT top five) Daniel Martínez (1xGiro top five) Lennard Kämna (1xGiro top ten) Matteo Sobrero Nico Denz Danny van Poppel

Totals: 2xActual GC Contenders 5xBest-Case GC Contenders

3) Ineos Grenadiers

Geraint Thomas (2xGT podium) Carlos Rodríguez (1xTdF top five) Tom Pidcock (2xTdF top 20)

Totals: 2xActual GC Contenders 3xBest-Case GC Contenders

4) Visma-Lease a Bike

Jonas Vingegaard (2xTdF wins) Sepp Kuss (1xVuelta win) Steven Kruijswijk Jan Tratnik Dylan van Baarle Christophe Laporte Matteo Jorgenson Tiesj Benoot

Totals: 2xActual GC Contenders 2xBest-Case GC Contenders

2023 Tour de France select team GC contender rankings

When we compare this to the 2023 Tour de France, we can immediately see that while Visma-Lease a Bike’s team strength (as judged by the raw number of ‘Best-Case GC Contenders’) is roughly the same as 2024, Bora and UAE have significantly increased their GC contender depth between the 2023 and 2024 edition of the Tour.

1) Visma (Jumbo-Visma)

Jonas Vingegaard (1xTdF win) Wilco Kelderman (1xGiro podium) Sepp Kuss (1xVuelta top ten) Tiesj Benoot Christophe Laporte Wout van Aert Dylan van Baarle Nathan van Hooydonck

Total: 1xActual GC Contenders 3xBest-Case GC Contenders

2) UAE Emirates

Tadej Pogačar (2xTdF wins) Adam Yates (2xGT top five) Marc Soler Rafał Majka Mikkel Bjerg Felix Großschartner Vegard Stake Laengen Matteo Trentin

Totals: 2xActualGC Contenders 2xBest-Case GC Contenders

3) Bora-Hansgrohe

Jai Hindley (1xGiro win) Emanuel Buchmann (1xGiro top ten) Patrick Konrad Marco Haller Bob Jungels Jordi Meeus Nils Politt Danny van Poppel

Total: 1xActual GC Contenders 2xBest-Case GC Contenders

2022 Tour de France select team GC contender rankings

When we go back and look at teams of the top three riders in the 2022 Tour, we can see just how much Visma (formerly Jumbo-Visma) has drifted from their multi-prong leader strategy that they executed so well on Stage 11 of that race to dismantle Tadej Pogačar’s UAE team support and, ultimately, crack Pogačar on the final climb.

Primož Primož (3xVuelta win) Jonas Vingegaard (1xTdF podium) Steven Kruijswijk (1xTdF podium) Sepp Kuss (1xVuelta top ten) Wout Van Aert Tiesj Benoot Christophe Laporte Nathan van Hooydonck

Total: 2xActual GC Contenders 4xBest-Case GC Contenders

Tadej Pogačar (2xTdF win) Rafał Majka (2xGT top ten) George Bennett (2xGT top ten) Marc Soler (1xVuelta top ten) Brandon McNulty Mikkel Bjerg Vegard Stake Laengen Marc Hirschi

Total: 1xActual GC Contenders 4xBest-Case GC Contenders

Geraint Thomas (1xTdF win) Daniel Martínez (1xGiro top five) Adam Yates (2xGT top five) Jonathan Castroviejo Filippo Ganna Tom Pidcock Luke Rowe Dylan van Baarle

Total: 2xActual GC Contenders 3xBest-Case GC Contenders

The above data makes it clear that Vingegaard and Visma’s Tour de France GC rivals have clearly made significant adjustments in an effort to put up the best fight they possibly can with the rosters they have.

These deep rosters, just as we saw at the recent Vuelta, give teams multiple ways to squeeze the team of the pre-race favorite.

In particular, sending a second-favorite into the early breakaway, just as Jumbo did on Stage 6 of the 2023 Vuelta and Bora did on Stage 5 of the 2023 Tour de France, can add significant stress and increase the physical workload for the team of the race leader/favorite.

While it isn’t clear if this “full chaos” will actually work, and does come with a significant amount of risk since it means UAE and Bora are pooling valuable resources at a single race, it is promising to see teams pivoting quickly to face the formidable threat of Jonas Vingegaard’s Tour de France year-over-year dominance.

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Who Are The Top Grand Tour Contenders Heading Into 2023?

Rider tiers breakdown.

2023 Rider Tiers Part 1: As the final days of 2022 wind down and the start of the 2023 professional cycling season quickly approaches, I thought it would be instructive (as well as just fun), to take stock of who the sport’s elite riders are at each major discipline (grand tours, one-classics & stage winning) heading into 2023 to give us a clearer view of what to expect when these major events roll around.

– This article is an excerpt from the Beyond the Peloton newsletter. Sign up here for full access. –

To kick things off, I am separating the top grand tour contenders into four tiers. To delineate them into tiers, I am taking into account 1) their results over the past four seasons, with results generated recently given more emphasis, 2) their age, and, most importantly 3) their likelihood to generate results (wins) in the 2023 season.

Why This Is Helpful One major benefit of this exercise is the ability to objectively cut through the noise and see who the best riders at each discipline are. This is especially important in the modern landscape since there is an odd inversion where the less a rider produces, the more media coverage they receive.

For example, Mikel Landa has racked up a single grand tour podium since 2016 but gets far more attention and hype than his countryman Enric Mas, who has finished 2nd at the Vuelta in both of the last two seasons. This inversion can create mismatched expectations amongst fans, and even teams/riders themselves, prior to grand tours when 1/4th of the field is being touted as potential winners and teams are devoting precious resources to GC campaigns of riders with no real chance of contending for podium spots.

The Criteria While there is a nearly endless array of emerging grand tour talents, like João Almeida, Carlos Rodriguez, and Juan Ayuso, who may go on to fantastic careers as grand tour winners, to qualify for the top four tiers, a rider must have either won a grand tour in the past four seasons or landed on a Tour de France podium within the past year. These young riders rightfully create a lot of excitement and get significant attention, but, most people vastly overestimate how close they are to actually converting their talent into a major grand tour win. Of course, there is always a chance one of them replicates Remco Evenepoel’s 2022 season, where he came in with a history of strong, but somewhat scattered, big-race results, and won a one-day Monument, grand tour, and world road race championship title, but, due to the unprecedented nature of the season, this is highly unlikely.

Below, each rider is listed in their BTP designated tier along with the age and team they will be racing at in 2023:

Tier 1 Reserved for riders who have proven an ability to win a grand tour against the sport’s best competition in recent years and have the ability to do so in 2023. This is obviously an incredibly small group.

Tadej Pogačar – (24) – UAE

• 2022: 2nd@TdF
• 2021: 1st@TdF
• 2020: 1st@TdF
• Totals: 2xTdF overall win, 1xTdF runner-up, 1xVuelta 3rd place

Jonas Vingegaard – (26) – Jumbo

• 2022: 1st@TdF
• Totals: 1xTdF overall win, 1xTdF runner-up

Tier 2 Riders who both have, and could win in 2023, the rest of the sport’s grand tours. These riders will be considered serious potential winners of the Tour de France in 2023 if they are on the start list.

Primož Roglič – (33) – Jumbo

• 2021: 1st@LaVuelta
• 2020: 2nd@TdF, 1st@LaVuelta
• Totals: 3xVuelta overall win, 1xTdF runner-up, 1xGiro 3rd

Remco Evenepoel – (23) – QuickStep

• Totals: 1xVuelta overall win

Tier 3 Riders who are able to win, but not be the outright favorite, at the sport’s two lesser grand tours (Giro & Vuelta) and competing for podiums at the Tour de France in 2023.

Richard Carapaz – (29) – EF

• 2022: 2nd@Giro
• 2021: 3rd@TdF
• 2020: 2nd@Vuelta
• Totals: 1xGiro overall win, 1xGiro runner-up, 1xVuelta runner-up, 1xTdF 3rd

Jai Hindley – (26) – Bora

• 2022: 1st@Giro
• Totals: 1xGiro overall win, 1xGiro runner-up

Tier 4 These riders have an outside chance of winning and a good chance at podium finishes at the Giro and Vuelta in 2023. And if things go their way, they could finish on the podium at the Tour de France (note: Bernal would be higher on this list but his recovery from a difficult injury sustained 12 months ago, and the long time it takes to get back to full speed, makes his status somewhat unknown for 2023).

Egan Bernal – (26) – Ineos

• 2021: 1st@Giro
• Totals: 1xTdF overall win, 1xGiro win

Geraint Thomas – (36) – Ineos

• 2022: 3rd@TdF
• Totals: 2xTdF podium

Enric Mas – (28) – Movistar

• 2022: 2nd@Vuelta
• 2021: 2nd@Vuelta
• Totals: 2xVuelta podium

Tier 5: The sport’s elite young grand tour GC talent. Completely unproven as winners, but all have an impressive collection of top tens and podiums so far and will have great chances to finish on the podium, and perhaps even win, the 2023 Giro and/or Vuelta.

João Almeida – (24) – 3xGT top 6 overall (2020-202) Carlos Rodriguez – (22) – 7th@ Vuelta 2022 Juan Ayuso – (20) -3rd@Vuelta 2022 Thymen Arensman – (23) – 6th@Vuelta 2022

Key Takeaways:

• The big takeaway from this list is just how few riders currently competing have won multiple grand tours over the past four seasons. In fact, only two riders on this list, Pogacar, and Roglic have won the same grand tour more than once since 2019. This shows just how strong the delineation is between the top tier and the rest of the field.
• This also speaks to the difficulty of not only winning a grand tour, but sustaining that success. For example, after winning the 2020 Giro d’Italia, Tao Geoghegan Hart hasn’t shown any signs that he could challenge for another grand tour title.
• This exercise illustrates just how far ahead the sport’s two elite grand tour GC teams, Jumbo and UAE, are ahead of the rest. Both are the only teams to possess current elite Tour de France-winning talents while having impressive depth with ‘backup’ GC riders that also land in their exclusive tiers.
• It also shows just how wide the gulf is between these two elite organizations and the others. For example, even while the extremely well-funded Ineos squad has three tiered riders, they lack a single superstar capable of entering a grand tour as a favorite in 2023.

Projecting Future Dominance An interesting sub-exercise we can undertake is taking the GC riders from these tiers and see how well they perform in the fight for stage wins while competing for the overall title at a grand tour. This is usually a good measure of a rider’s dominance and their sustainability as a grand tour winner since winning stages nets time bonuses, which are becoming more and more valuable as time margins tighten in modern racing, and it almost always shows an ability to time trial at an extremely high level during grand tours, which is the most efficient way to pry open time gaps in a grand tour.

Grand Tour Stage Win Performances:

Tier 1 Roglič, Pogačar, and Vingegaard are nearly unstoppable forces on their preferred terrain in a grand tour while on form (Pogačar’s 66% strike rate in particular is almost incomprehensibly good). The ability to convert wins gives them a major advantage over their competition due to their ability to rack up time with time bonuses and time trial gaps. While Vingegaard lacks the raw numbers of the other two, his two stage wins and four podiums at the most recent Tour de France are incredibly impressive and show an ability to compete for stages in the future.

Tadej Pogačar (24)

• 2022: 5xTdF stage podium (3xTdF stage win)
• 2021: 3xTdF stage podium (2xTdF stage win)
• 2020: 4xTdF stage podium (2xTdF stage win)
• Totals: 10xGT total stage wins, 15xGT total stage podiums

Primož Roglič (33)

• 2022: 2xLaVuelta stage podium (1xLavuelta stage win) 1xTdF stage podium
• 2021: 6xLaVuelta stage podium (2xLaVuelta stage win) 2xTdF stage podium
• 2020: 6xLaVuelta stage podium (3xLaVuelta stage win) 4xTdF stage podium (1xTdF stage win)
• Totals: 7xGT total stage wins, 21xGT total stage podiums

Jonas Vingegaard (26)

• 2022: 4xTdF stage podium (2xTdF stage wins)
• Totals: 2xGT total stage wins, 6xGT total stage podiums

Tier 2 Carapaz and Evenepoel have the ability to win extremely difficult stages but lack the well-roundedness of the top tier (Evenepoel’s lack of sprinting ability and Carapaz’s struggles in true watts-per-kilos battles). But, even with these limitations, they are among the best in the sport at converting wins in grand tours where they are competing in the GC (Carapaz’s numbers are slightly inflated due to his poor showing at the 2022 Vuelta allowing him to focus on chasing stage wins).

Richard Carapaz (29)

• 2022: 3xLaVuelta stage wins, 2xGiro stage podiums
• 2021: 2xTdF stage podiums
• 2020: 3xLaVuelta stage podiums, 2xTdF stage podiums
• Totals: 5xGT total stage wins, 14xGT total stage podiums

Remco Evenepoel (23)

• Totals: 1xGT total stage win, 3xGT total stage podiums

Tier 3 Hindley, Bernal, and Mas are all very solid riders who have the ability to stay in the hunt for stages but struggle to consistently convert wins at grand tours. This makes them slightly vulnerable in GC battles to the riders in higher tiers since even at equal strength, they can tend to leak small amounts of time due to this.

Jai Hindley (26)

• 2022: 3xGiro stage podiums (1xGiro stage win)

Egan Bernal (26)

• 2021: 5xGiro stage podiums (2xGiro stage wins)
• Totals: 2xGT total stage wins, 5xGT total stage podiums

• 2022: 4xVuelta stage podiums
• 2021: 3xVuelta stage podiums
• 2020: 1xVuelta stage podium
• Totals: 8xGT total stage podiums

Tier 4 Thomas, despite success earlier in his career and an impressive third-place overall showing at the 2022 Tour de France, is one of the worst top GC contenders at competing for stage wins in grand tours. This will make it incredibly difficult for him to convert grand tour podiums into wins in 2023.

• Totals: 1xGT total stage podium

Key Takeaways

• This all combines to show us that, at least in the near future, the established superstars class of Pogačar, Roglič, and Vingegaard will be extremely difficult to unseat if they take the start line fit and healthy since riders like Carapaz and Evenepoel will have to be a level above, either in poaching time through savvy tactics during transition stages or in the time trials, if they want to beat the more well-rounded riders in the top tier (which is potentially part of the reason why Evenepoel is kicking the can on head-to-head primetime showdown until the 2024 Tour de France).
• It might seem absurd to say that a double grand tour winner like Bernal could struggle to compete with the sport’s top talents, but if you critically examine his talents in each discipline against his competition, it becomes obvious that he will struggle, even at full health, to take time on the climbs while losing time against the clock. This shows the extreme depth at the top levels of current grand tour contenders.

# Spencer Martin is the author of the cycling-analysis newsletter Beyond the Peloton that breaks down the nuances of each race and answers big picture questions surrounding team and rider performance. Sign up now to get full access to all the available content and race breakdowns. #

Spencer Martin authors the cycling-analysis newsletter Beyond the Peloton that breaks down the nuances of each race and attempts to bring a logic-based approach to cycling coverage. He is also a partner in cycling business publication The Outer Line, and in the past, has written for cycling outlets such as Velonews and CyclingTips. He has raced at a high-level in the past and still enjoys participating in a wide variety of races as well as riding in the mountains surrounding his residence in Boulder, Colorado. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @spencersoward.

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2024 men's frozen four: bracket, scores, schedule for the college hockey championship.

The Frozen Four is set for 2024. No. 2 Boston University will take on No. 3 Denver and No. 1 Boston College will face Michigan, which pulled off an upset over No. 4 Michigan State.

The Frozen Four runs through April 11 and 13 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Click or tap here to view the full field.  

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2024 Tour of Flanders: Preview, schedule, how to watch men's and women's cycling classic races live

Who will succeed defending champions Tadej Pogacar and Lotte Kopecky? Find out the routes and the main contenders for this year's 'De Ronde' one-day races, in our preview.

Sunday 31 March 2024 is a date to mark on the calendar for road cycling fans.

On that day, the Tour of Flanders (Ronde van Vlaanderen), the second classic Monument of the 2024 season, will celebrate its 108th men's and 21st women's editions.

The men's event, which has taken place every year since 1919, will start again from Antwerp, as it did between 2017 and 2022, covering 17 iconic climbs and five cobblestone sectors for a total of 270.8 kilometres. The women will tackle 12 climbs, taking on a 163km traverse through the Flanders region in Belgium.

Who will succeed defending champions Tadej Pogacar and Lotte Kopecky ?

Find out in our preview below.

• How to qualify for road cycling at Paris 2024
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2024 Tour of Flanders course routes

The men's route covers 270.8 kilometres.

The organisers have decided to modify the first 100 kilometers for safety reasons, removing the climbs of Kortekeer and the Kanarieberg. A year ago, the start was in Bruges, while this year it will be in Antwerp. The finish will be in Oudenaarde.

The riders will have to tackle 17 climbs:

• Vieux Quaremont (km 136,7)
• Kappelle Berg (km 155,7)
• Wolvenberg (km 158,9)
• Molenberg (km 171,3)
• Marlboroughstraat (km 175,3)
• Berendries (km 179,3)
• Valkenberg (km 184,7)
• Berg Ten Houte (km 197,1)
• Hotond (km 206,6)
• Vieux Quaremont (km 216,5)
• Paterberg (km 219,9)
• Koppenberg (km 226,2)
• Steenbeekdries (km 231,6)
• Taaienberg (km 234,0)
• Kruisberg (km 244,3)
• Vieux Quaremont (km 254,1)
• Paterberg (km 257,6)

The women's route spans 163 kilometres.

Both the start and finish are scheduled in Oudenaarde.

There are 12 climbs to face during the race:

• Wolvenberg (km 72,1)
• Molenberg (km 84,6)
• Marlboroughstraat (km 88,6)
• Berendries (km 92,6)
• Valkenberg (km 97,9)
• Kappelle Berg (km 109,7)
• Koppenberg (km 118,4)
• Steenbeekdries (km 123,7)
• Taaienberg (km 126,2)
• Kruisberg (km 136,5)
• Vieux Quaremont (km 146,3)
• Paterberg (km 149,7)

2024 Tour of Flanders riders to watch

Men's race - 2024 riders to watch.

A mass crash during the Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday ruled out some of his biggest contenders, including Wout van Aert, who suffered fractured collarbone and ribs. Defending champion Tadej Pogacar decided to skip the Ronde this year to focus on the preparation of the Giro d'Italia. The big names who will be competing are:

• Mathieu van der Poel (NED/Alpecin Deceuninck): The two-time winner (2020, 2022) is considered the undisputed favourite after dominating the E3 Saxo Classic and finishing second at last week's Gent-Wevelgem, and with archrival van Aert not competing.
• Matteo Jorgenson (USA/Team Visma | Lease a Bike): The American rider is expected to lead his team following his win at the Dwars door Vlaanderen and the injuries carried by both Tiesji Benoot and Jan Tratnik. This season he also claimed the general classification at the Paris-Nice.
• Alberto Bettiol: The Italian is a former winner of the Ronde and, despite suffering from cramps at the recent Dwars door Vlaanderen, has demonstrated a good form by winning the Milano-Torino and finishing fifth at the Milan-San Remo.

Women's race - 2024 riders to watch

• Lotte Kopecky (BEL/SD Worx-Protime): The Belgian superstar and reigning world champion is aiming for a third consecutive Flanders title after her convincing victories at Strade Bianche and Nokere Koerse so far this spring.
• Demi Vollering (NED/SD Worx-Protime): The Tour de France Femmes reigning champion, who finished third at Strade Bianche, is ready to step up as a leader if Kopecky finds herself in difficulty.
• Elisa Balsamo (ITA/Lidl-Trek): Italy's 2021 road world champion has impressed this season, showing that she can both climb and sprint by winning the Trofeo Alfredo Binda and the Brugge-De Panne.

2024 Tour of Flanders: Race schedules

(All times local CEST, approximate after race start. Assumes an average race speed of 44km/h for men and 40km/h for women)

Sunday 31 March 2024

10:00 Start men's race (Antwerp)

13:25 Start women's race (Oudenaarde)

16:29 Estimated men's race finish (Oudenaarde)

17:44 Estimated women's race finish (Oudenaard)

Tour of Flanders: Last five winners

• 2023 Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAE Team Emirates)
• 2022: Mathieu van der Poel (NED/Alpecin-Fenix)
• 2021: Kasper Asgreen (DEN/Deceuninck-Quick-Step)
• 2020: Mathieu van der Poel (NED/Alpecin-Fenix)
• 2019: Alberto Bettiol (ITA/EF Educational First)
• 2023: Lotte Kopecky (BEL/SD Worx)
• 2022: Lotte Kopecky (BEL/SD Worx)
• 2021: Annemiek van Vleuten (NED/Movistar Team)
• 2020: Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (NED/Boels-Dolmans)
• 2019: Marta Bastianelli (ITA/Team Virtu Cycling)

How to watch 2024 Tour of Flanders - Ronde van Vlaanderen

List of regional broadcasters (TV / online):

• Belgium – RTBF
• Czechia – Czech TV
• Denmark – TV2
• France – France TV
• Italy – RAI
• Netherlands – NOS
• Norway – TV2
• Slovenia – JOJ
• Spain – Enjoy
• Switzerland – SRG SSR
• Pan-Europe – Eurosport, GCN
• Canada – Flobikes
• United States – Flobikes
• Australia – Flobikes, SBS
• New Zealand – SKY Sport
• Central and South America and the Caribbean – ESPN
• Sub-Saharan Africa – Supersport

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2024 valero texas open odds, picks and pga tour predictions, share this article.

Players will have one last chance to tune their game before the Masters this week at the 2024 Valero Texas Open , which is once again being held at TPC San Antonio. Corey Conners will look to defend his title after winning the event last year with a score of 15-under par.

Below, we look at the 2024 Valero Texas Open odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions .

Rory McIlroy typically doesn’t play the week before the Masters but he’s in the Texas Open field this year and the betting favorite to win at +1000. Ludvig Aberg (+1200), Hideki Matsuyama (+1800) and Collin Morikawa (+2500) are among the other big names teeing it up this week.

TPC San Antonio is a par 72 and plays at 7,438 yards with very little elevation change throughout the course. It’s not an overly challenging course, with the winning score being between 11-under and 20-under par over the last 8 years. However, if the wind picks up it will have a big impact on scoring.

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Valero Texas Open – Expert picks

Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook ; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 3:53 p.m. ET.

Ludvig Aberg (+1200)

Aberg is only in his 1st full season on the PGA Tour, but he’s already one of the best ball strikers in the world and that’s highly advantageous on this course. He ranks 24th in strokes gained: tee-to-green this season and his putting isn’t holding him back too much (57th in SG), so he’s a perfect fit for TPC San Antonio, even after missing the cut here last year.

Corey Conners (+2200)

It’s always hard to expect the defending champion to win in back-to-back years but Conners’ course history and ball-striking prowess make him too good to ignore. He’s won here twice since 2019 (his only 2 PGA wins)  and hasn’t finished worse than 35th in his last 5 starts in this event, using his stellar iron play to propel him to 2 victories.

Valero Texas Open picks – Contenders

Keith mitchell (+5500).

After blowing a 54-hole lead at the Valspar Championship 2 weeks ago, Mitchell missed the cut at the Texas Children’s Houston Open over the weekend after finishing 3-over in his last 5 holes to miss it by 1 shot. He’s still among the best players on tour from tee to green, ranking 8th in strokes gained, and he’s finished 17th and 26th in 2 starts here during his career. He’s due for a bounce-back.

Erik van Rooyen (+6600)

van Rooyen has not been good around the greens this season, which is holding him back from contending more, but he’s 48th on tour in strokes gained: tee-to-green and 19th total. Before he missed the cut at the Players Championship, he finished 8th, 2nd and 25th in 3 consecutive tournaments.

Valero Texas Open picks – Long shots

Ryan moore (+10000).

Moore is quietly playing well right now, finishing 31st, 5th and 45th in his last 3 starts. Impressively, he’s 12th in SG: tee-to-green, including 4th in approach, but his putting has been horrific (173rd). TPC San Antonio is more about ball striking than putting, which has helped him finish in the top 10 twice before, so he’s a worthy long shot this week.

Matt Kuchar (+12500)

Kuchar has finished 3rd, 2nd, 12th and 7th in his last 4 starts at this tournament, an event he plays every year. Looking at his stats from this season gives you pause when it comes to betting him because he isn’t playing well (6 missed cuts in 8 starts), but it’s hard to ignore his recent finishes at TPC San Antonio.

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2024 Houston Open leaderboard, scores: Scottie Scheffler eyes third straight PGA Tour win heading into Round 4

The top name in the game will aim to emerge from a congested leaderboard on sunday.

We've seen this movie before and may know exactly how it ends. Scottie Scheffler will take a share of the lead into the final round of the 2024 Houston Open with eyes on his third straight PGA Tour victory. With one, he joins the likes of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson as the most recent players to accomplish such a feat -- this, in Scheffler's final start before the Masters in two weeks. 

Scheffler stands at 9 under, alongside David Skinns, Stephan Jaeger, Thomas Detry and Alejandro Tosti, thanks to an eight-birdie 66 on Saturday. In total, 21 players find themselves within five strokes of the lead, setting up what is sure to be dramatic final round in Houston. 

That is unless the Sunday Scheffler from the past two tournaments appears once again.

Gaining more than seven strokes on the field in the final round en route to victory at both the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship, Scheffler has thrived when the tension has been at its highest. He will need to be at his best again; back-nine mistakes have allowed a litany of players a chance to reign supreme on Sunday.

Seemingly without a crack in his armor with a new mallet putter in tow, Scheffler hasn't been his sharpest with his long game the last two days. A couple of water balls and a double bogey on Friday were shrugged off as outliers, but there the mistakes were again on Saturday.

"What are you gonna do?" Scottie Scheffler was at a loss for words after his tee shot at No. 15. pic.twitter.com/Rj8efsKW8r — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 30, 2024

Greenside in one on the drivable par-4 13th, Scheffler chipped across the green and made bogey on a hole where most players added a circle to their scorecard. Another short hole a few moments later bit Scheffler, however, when his tee shot on the par-3 15th landed 6 feet short of the pin, spun off the front and into the water leading to another double bogey.

The world No. 1 rebooted, as he so often does, and tacked on birdies on 16 and 17 to erase the mistake; however, it is the difference between sleeping on the lead alone and sleeping on it with four others. No matter how many are in with a chance, Scheffler remains the favorite. Should his usual game come through in the final round, the Texan will find himself in a place where he has become all too familiar: the winner's circle.

Scottie Scheffler is tied for the lead through 3 rounds at the Houston Open. Most rounds led/co-led the last 3 PGA Tour seasons: Scheffler, 33 McIlroy, 18 Rahm, 17 Clark, 14 — Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) March 30, 2024

The leaders

T1. Scottie Scheffler, Stephan Jaeger, David Skinns, Alejandro Tosti, Thomas Detry (-9)

This isn't exactly a Murderers' Row of contenders for Scheffler, but this thing won't be handed to him. The four others acquitted themselves quite nicely in the third round, with Jaeger in particular standing out. The German has added some new pop in the big stick thanks to dedicated distance training, and it is paying dividends. 

Like Scheffler, he made some silly mistakes with missed par putts from 6 feet and 4 feet to go along with a water ball on 17 (where he managed to save par), but he is still right there. With final-round experience under his belt from the Farmers Insurance Open and playing alongside Scheffler on Saturday, Jaeger could be frisky.

"Yeah, that guy, he's pretty good," Jaeger said of Scheffler. "No, it was fun, right? That's kind of what we practice for, and we try to get in the lead and we're trying to have a chance to win. So, I'm excited."

Other contenders

T6. Taylor Moore, Akshay Bhatia, Nick Dunlap (-8) T9. Chad Ramey, Aaron Rai, Max Greyserman, Tony Finau (-7)

The round of the day came courtesy of Dunlap's bogey-free 63, which has positioned the 20-year-old to contend for his second PGA Tour title. Ever since breaking through as an amateur at The American Express, Dunlap has struggled ever so slightly as a professional. Though that dip was not totally unexpected, he nevertheless finished dead last at Pebble Beach and missed the cuts at Riviera and TPC Sawgrass. He also failed to register top 40s at Bay Hill and PGA National. Dunlap continues to learn each and every week, and Sunday will serve as yet another lesson with a chance to win again.

"It's still new, and I still get lost and don't know where to register and don't know where dining is," said Dunlap. "As far as I'm getting a little bit more comfortable out there. It obviously helps, today played alongside Gary [Woodland] and almost every week playing with either Scottie [Scheffler] or Sam [Burns], practice rounds, just being in their company has helped me."

Nick Dunlap drops it in for birdie from off the green on 12. 👏 📺: Golf Channel & @peacock | @TCHouOpen pic.twitter.com/VGO5WzxeXj — Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) March 29, 2024

2024 Houston Open updated odds and picks

Odds via Sportsline consensus

• Scottie Scheffler: 7/5
• Stephan Jaeger: 13/2
• Thomas Detry: 9-1
• Alejandro Tosti: 12-1
• Taylor Moore: 12-1
• Akshay Bhatia: 12-1
• Tony Finau: 14-1
• Nick Dunlap: 16-1

It is really hard to pick anyone other than the best player in the world over the last two years. Scheffler has a wave of momentum at his back, and yet in all honesty he seems to be playing with his C-game. If the A-game comes through for him on Sunday, Scheffler should run away from the field. (He may still have enough in the tank even if he doesn't.) If 7/5 is too light for your taste, then consider Moore at 12-1. His short game has been great through 54 holes and should keep him in it. If his ball-striking shows up, then he will have a chance.

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2024 Valero Texas Open: Power Rankings, Prize Money, Defending Champion, and More

W ith a field of 156, larger than the last two events on the PGA Tour, the Valero Texas Open will undoubtedly be a battlefield for the PGA Tour pros who will be vying to lift the trophy at the end of the event. Although Scottie Scheffler will be missing the event , the world number two will be there on the field at TPC San Antonio to give the other players a run for the game.

The event will start on April 4th and before all the Masters’ shenanigans commence, it will end on April 7th. The Texas Open has many things at stake, with the last spot for the 2024 Masters for the winner, who will be the lucky one to triumph in the event. We have our five best choices that may have a better chance.

Top 5 contenders at the Valero Texas open 

175 miles west of last week’s Houston Open, the PGA Tour will stop at the TPC Antonio for the next event in Texas, California, before the players tee it up at the 2024 Masters. The field has 2024 Cognizant Classic winner Austin Eckroat, 1-time PGA Tour winner Akshay Bhatia, Nicolai Hojgaard trying for his maiden victory, and Padraig Harrington among the youngsters. However, the five listed below are a different set, which may give these players a tough battle at TPC Antonio.

1. Corey Conners: The Canadian golfer has won the Valero Texas Open two times, once in 2019 and again in the 2023 season. Conners has made the cut every time he has played at TPC Antonio since 2017. Although Conners started slowly in the 2024 season, in the last two runs, he finished T18 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and T13 at THE PLAYERS Championship. The two-time PGA Tour winner has been slowly rising on the leaderboard and may place himself in contention at the 2024 Valero Texas Open as the defending champion.

2. Hideki Matsuyama: The only Japanese Masters winner recently shocked the masses when he won his career’s ninth victory. Matsuyama shot a final round of 9 under 62 at the Riviera Country Club and won after two years on the PGA Tour. Moreover, after that blistering performance, Matsuyama has been in the top 15 in the last two events played.

He was tied for 12 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and T6 at the 50th PLAYERS. With gaining his long-lost form back, the Japanese pro may clinch another victory at the Texas Open in a span of a month from the last.

3. Ludvig Aberg: The world no. 9 has been playing consistently since the start of the 2024 season. Although Aberg was slow to finish at the top, so far he has had three top-10 finishes out of the seven games played. He was a runner-up and one stroke away from his second PGA Tour victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Additionally, his latest start at the PLAYERS had him at solo eight on the leaderboard. The Swedish pro has not missed a single cut in the 2024 season and may maintain his streak while winning the Texas Open.

4. Brian Harman: Although the one-time major winner missed the cut at the Valspar Championship, before that, he was a runner-up at the PLAYERS Championship. Harman was close to entering a playoff against Scottie Scheffler, however, but couldn’t make a birdie at the last two holes.

Nonetheless, the 2023 Open Championship winner has carded four top 20s in the 8 events he played. Comparatively, the field is weaker at the Texas Open than the PLAYERS, giving Harman another chance for his fourth PGA Tour victory.

5. Rory McIlroy : The Northern Irishman is the highest-ranked player at the Valero Texas Open as the World no. 2. However, he takes last in the power ranking because his run on the PGA Tour hasn’t been eventful, to say the least. McIlroy did win on the DP World Tour at the Desert Dubai Classic; however, on the PGA Tour, he was not in the top 10 even once.

Although he finished T66 at his season opener in Pebble Beach, the 24-time PGA Tour winner has been in the top 25 at every event he has played: the Genesis Invitational (T24), Cognizant Classic (T21), Arnold Palmer Invitational (T21), and PLAYERS (T19). McIlroy has been consistent, but not enough. Maybe before he plays for his unfulfilled dream of the green jacket, McIlroy pulls through an incredible victory.

What’s the prize purse for the Valero Texas Open? 

Just as the PGA Tour elevated the prize purse for many of its events for the current season, the Valero Texas Open will also have an increased prize purse from last year. The prize purse has been increased by $300,00 and is $9.2 million. Out of which, the winner will bag $1.656 million at TPC Antonio.

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Furthermore, except for the prize purse, the winner will also receive 500 FedExCup points for the season-ending FedExCup Rankings. And the eligibility to play in the men’s first major is the cherry on top to boost any player’s motivation at the Valero Texas Open. Who will win the 2024 edition of the Texas Open? Share your predictions in the comments.

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