I threw up my preview a few days before every team had finished confirming their lineups for the biggest race in the world. So I’ll run through some names that are now in for better or worse.
Lenny Martinez: The 20-year-old Frenchman has won five races this year, mostly farming on the French Cup circuit, but he did manage the Trofeo Laigueglia (1.Pro) in March. More impressive in my view was an 8th-place finish in Strade Bianche and 7th on GC in Catalunya, which had a loaded field. Martinez was scheduled to do the Vuelta again this year after finishing 24th last year in the final GC, but wearing the Red Jersey for two days after a second-place finish on Stage 6. However, since he is almost certainly transferring to Bahrain – Victorious next year, it seems that Groupama – FDJ (his current team) wanted to get a result out of him in the Tour de France before he leaves, and of course Martinez wanted to do the Tour this year. It’s a logical decision from both parties. How will he fare in July? A stage win from a soft breakaway on a punchy uphill finish is possible. A GC challenge is not. The KOM jersey is not likely either. But he’s probably FDJ’s best shot at a stage win, and Stefan Kung should be his tug buddy in breakaways.
Bart Lemmen: The awful run of luck for Visma | Lease a Bike continues with Sepp Kuss apparently not recovered from COVID and, what Visma did not say, his terrible form this entire year. So Kuss is out and Lemmen is in. I don’t think this is as bad as everyone is saying. In fact, Lemmen has been better than Sepp this year, and he is a far better rouleur, and decent medium mountain man, so he’s a bit more versatile than Sepp, who usually only performs on monster climbs. Lemmen is a former Dutch Air Force Captain who, at age 28, is in his first year in the World Tour on the best team. I can only imagine what sort of power data he tested last off-season for Visma to sign him with basically no results to his name, essentially a decade older than teams are signing guys these days. He’s had some decent showings this year, including 2nd on GC at the Tour of Norway and 5th on GC at the Tour Down Under. But there is nothing on his resume that indicates he can perform anything like Sepp has in the past in the high mountains, let alone in a three-week race (Bart has never even ridden a Grand Tour or Monument, let alone the Tour de France). My argument is simply that because Sepp has clearly not recovered from riding three Grand Tours last year, and is bad shape, Lemmen is an upgrade. He probably would not have ever made the Tour de France squad for Visma in his career if the chips had not fallen perfectly in his favor this year. It is quite amazing that first his former team (which does not get invited to the Tour de France) folded, he was the last man to sign for Visma in the off-season, a catastrophic series of crashes and illnesses knocked out half of the first choices for the roles within the team, Lemmen found himself in what one assumes must be decent form having not ridden the Giro d’Italia in May, and finally was selected for the most important race on the calendar. He must be on Cloud Nine.
Wilco Kelderman: Visma’s eighth man before Lemmen replaced Kuss is Kelderman, a strong Dutch veteran ATV who finished 5th in the 2021 Tour de France. Kelderman was the obvious choice to complete the team with his versatility and the form he showed this year finishing in the top 10 in Paris-Nice and the Tour de Suisse. Kelderman was the man who rode maillot jaune Jai Hindley off of the wheel near the top of the Tourmalet in last year’s Tour, so his top level is obviously quite high. Still, he probably cannot consistently climb with his counterpart on UAE, Joao Almeida, this time around, so Visma will likely be on the back foot.
Oscar Onley: A 21-year-old from Scotland is perhaps DSM’s best shot at a stage win in this Tour (Romain Bardet is also in the team, but despite his best efforts could not get a stage in the Giro and probably exhausted himself trying). I feel bad for Onley’s collarbone, which he has fractured three times within the past year. But the legs pedal the bike and as long as you can steer, one’s form can still be excellent even with a surgically-repaired clavicle. Onley nearly won the Tour Down Under (with a victory on Willunga Hill) to start the year, and recently finished 8th in the Tour de Suisse, showing consistency in the hard mountain days that defined the race. Onley needs to throw everything at breakaways and hope he can pull off a stage. I would not say it is likely, but it is not impossible. There are at least 25 guys in his tier (like Martinez, for example) who all dream of winning a stage too, however, and if UAE locks down many of the mountain stages as expected, there just aren’t going to be many opportunities for riders like Onley. But you never know if you do not try, and he will certainly try.
Sean Quinn: The American champion who rides for EF Education – Easypost got the expected berth to show off the Stars and Stripes for three weeks in France. Quinn is highly unlikely to have the level to grab a stage, but he can support his teammates, some of whom have a real shot at one. He’s one of only three Americans in the race, the other two being his teammate Neilson Powless, and Matteo Jorgenson of Visma.
Sam Bennett: The Irish sprinter now riding for Decathlon AG2r La Mondiale is a bit of an odd choice for this race considering how well their team has performed this year, and how Bennett has done little to show that he is back to his top form. And he has had some astoundingly bad years. This year he has been a bit better, but I don’t think it’s enough to compete in the Tour bunch sprints. Leaving home both of the Paret-Peintre brothers, Benoit Cosnefroy, Victor Lafay, and other strong riders, most of them French, in favor of a washed-up sprinter is not wise from my perspective. I fear that their incredible season will be deemed a bit of a failure if they do not at least win one stage of the Tour de France, and the squad they are bringing is no guarantee to pull that off. I’ll do an entire team analysis in my next post.
That’s all for some riders that I was surprised to see on the start list, or who were entered late, for the Tour.
Three days to go, so I’m gonna hustle to get a full teams preview up.
Puncheur 
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