10 riders to watch at the 2019 Tour de France

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Thibaur Pinot in the Dauphine peloton during stage 3(Image credit: Getty Images)

With just one day to go until the 2019 Tour de France is set on its way from Brussels, Belgium, Cyclingnews brings you our 10 riders to watch at this year's race.

Look beyond this list, however, to Astana's Jakob Fuglsang, who's been arguably the best of the GC contenders so far this year, and to Mitchelton-Scott's Yates brothers, and Adam Yates, in particular. And to Michael Woods – EF Education First's Canadian climber – who could eclipse his more experienced teammates in what is his first Tour, and could even find himself in a leadership role if Rigoberto Urán and Tejay van Garderen fail to fire.

Add in the fact that neither Tom Dumoulin or four-time winner Chris Froome will be at the Tour, that defending champion Geraint Thomas hasn't had the most stellar of springs, and that the Welshman's wunderkind Team Ineos teammate Egan Bernal still lacks experience at this level, that Jakob Fuglsang's best Tour placing of seventh was back in 2013, that in recent seasons Movistar leader Nairo Quintana has been unable to match his consistent podium places of a few years ago… suddenly our French colleagues really could be right about their 'now or never' take on things.

In her assessment of Nairo Quintana as part of our countdown this week, Philippa York writes that the Colombian's spark has gone missing. And while the 29-year-old hasn't been firing on all cylinders since his second place at the 2017 Giro d'Italia, and his third place at the Tour de France and overall victory at the Vuelta a España the year before that, the French media's 'now or never' assessment of Romain Bardet and Thibaut Pinot's chances of overall victory this year could easily also apply to Quintana in the absence of a number of star names – if he can pull himself together and grab the opportunity with both hands.

Last year, Quintana was stymied by Movistar's infamous 'three-pronged attack' on the race, when he had to share leadership with both Mikel Landa and Alejandro Valverde on a squad of just eight riders. It didn't work out, and Quintana just about finished in the top 10 – although he did also take a stage win in the Pyrenees – while Landa finished a slightly more credible seventh and Valverde faded to 14th.

Now, at 28, another year wiser and possibly stronger, Bardet has to put that experience into trying to better his runner's-up position at the 2016 Tour, and his third place the following year. Both those years were won by Chris Froome; Froome's not at this year's race, but there's no escaping the fact that Bardet faded to sixth overall last year, just when he should have been steeping things up a notch.

It perhaps left people thinking that if Bardet can't beat a rider from a Pro Continental team in a head-to-head battle on the Ventoux, how can he expect to win the Tour de France? But maybe that's what Bardet wants you to think… Besides, who wouldn't trade a win at a new one-day race – albeit on one of cycling's most iconic climbs – for overall victory at the Tour? Time will tell if Bardet's build-up has been the right one.

Bernal was all set to lead Team Ineos – at once a test of his leadership potential – at this year's Giro d'Italia before a training crash the week before the start of the race left him nursing a broken collar bone. Instead, Bernal was handed a spot at the Tour, and, were it not for teammate Chris Froome's own crash while warming up for the time trial at the Critérium du Dauphiné, Ineos would have been left with the luxury problem of fielding three riders with GC aspirations in Froome, Bernal and Geraint Thomas.

As it is, Bernal and Thomas could yet lock horns in the mountains if things are close, but Bernal probably really needs at least this race – his second Tour after riding for Thomas and Froome last year – to show whether he potentially has what it takes to be a leader on the very biggest stage. His recent overall win at the Tour de Suisse, however, suggests that the Colombian is in flying form.

After moving to Team Sky in 2015 for three seasons, Viviani racked up sprint-stage wins at the Giro d'Italia and the Tour of Britain, but it was only really after joining Quick-Step in 2018 that a true sprint-star was born. Four stage wins at last year's Giro, plus another three at the Vuelta a España, singled him out as something special. And yet he didn't get to ride the Tour, with Quick-Step instead awarding main-sprinter status to Fernando Gaviria – who promptly won the opening stage and took the race's first yellow jersey.

Gaviria left for pastures new at UAE Team Emirates for 2019, and won't take part in this year's Tour as he continues to struggle with a knee injury. The path is therefore clear for Viviani to take what will surely again be a number of stage victories. It won't be easy – he will be up against the likes of Alexander Kristoff, Caleb Ewan, Dylan Groenewegan and Peter Sagan – but the 30-year-old Italian is surely the man most likely on paper.

All eyes will be on poor Richie Porte when stage 9 – from Saint-Etienne to Brioude on Sunday, July 14 – comes around. The Australian crashed out of the Tour on stage 9 in both 2017 and 2018, and, providing he can get that monkey off his back, and can stay safe and healthy for the rest of the race, Porte certainly has what it takes to considerably better his fifth place of 2016 and take a spot on the podium in Paris.

Arguably cycling's most exciting rider right now, Julian Alaphilippe poses a very real danger to Peter Sagan's popularity. And while Sagan's victory-rate has dropped of late, the Frenchman's become a prolific winner – which has had both fans and the media drooling. Alaphilippe, then, is the complete package, and already has 10 wins to his name this season, including Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo and Flèche Wallonne.

Both Wout van Aert and his Dutch counterpart Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus) have become essential viewing this season, lighting up the spring Classics on the road with their youthful exuberance off the back of their cyclo-cross seasons. That two such talented riders have emerged from cycling's 'cross scene is not being taken for granted, with Van Aert being rewarded with promotion to WorldTour outfit Jumbo-Visma for 2019.

The 24-year-old rode his first Critérium du Dauphiné in June, and came away with two stage wins and the points jersey. That he was named in Jumbo-Visma's squad for the Tour was no real surprise given his obvious talent, but his inexperience on the road at the highest level should really mean that he'll use this year's race as a learning experience, riding in the service of team sprinter Dylan Groenewegen and GC contender Steven Kruijswijk.

As a prolific Classics winner, Sagan perhaps doesn't need the Tour de France to showcase his considerable talent, either, but La Grande Boucle has been a happy hunting ground for the Slovakian over the years, with 11 stage wins and, perhaps more importantly, six green points jerseys in seven participations. His run of trying to take six in a row was only halted when he was booted off the race in 2017 for having been deemed to have caused a bunch-sprint crash that ended Mark Cavendish's Tour, with the British sprinter sustaining a broken shoulder in the incident.

Last year's sixth green jersey for Sagan didn't come easy, either, as he had to battle through to the finish in Paris after a major crash in the final week almost sent him home. And that's perhaps what's so watchable about Peter Sagan at the Tour de France: that he's always ready to try so hard – that he's willing to be active even on mountain stages to poach points towards the green jersey on the flatter sections prior to the climbs.