Aussies on Tour – The six Australians flying the flag at the 2024 Tour de France

Australian riders set to race at the Tour de France 2024

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The 2024 Tour de France will see the number of Australians on the start line halved from last year’s bumper crop but forget any notion that this means the nation will fade into the background at the biggest race on the calendar.

Among the six Australian riders at the Tour, there is plenty of potential for them to be highly visible at crucial junctures, both in the mountains, on the flat and in between. A number are entering the race in crucial support roles though many things can happen over 21 days so it isn't out of the question that those roles could evolve.

Last year’s notable highlights from Australian riders were a spectacular stage 5 victory from Jai Hindley in Laruns, which also put the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider into the sought-after yellow jersey for the day and while Ben O’Connor’s overall tilt at the Tour didn’t go to plan, he still made it to the podium in third on stage 10 and 19. As far as the sprinters were concerned, Caleb Ewan had a third and second on stage 3 and 4.

It was certainly a result that was enough to stoke future podium hopes but that’s a dream that may have to wait for another year for the Western Australian. With the signing of 2020 runner-up Primož Roglič to the team there was all of a sudden another in the ranks with a clear claim on leadership. That means, if all goes to plan Hindley and teammate Aleksandr Vlasov will be providing the crucial support in the final stages of those days in the mountains.

Like Hindley, Jack Haig once had his eye on the Tour de France overall but will now head into the race in a climbing support role, with Santiago Buitrago leading the Bahrain Victorious squad. It will be the fourth Tour de France and third in a row for the rider originally from Bendigo, with 2021 and 2022 both ending with DNFs after unavoidable crashes but the streak got broken in 2023, with his late entry in a support role. However there is also potential for more from the rider who told Cyclingnews earlier this year that among his goals is to get a stage win at a Grand Tour.

The announcement of the team outlined that Haig, as well as being in a support role, would get his own opportunities through the race. He hasn’t had the strongest of seasons but was showing signs of improving form with his ninth place on stage 6 of the Critérium du Dauphiné, which finished atop Le Collet d’Allevard. There is every chance the rider who finished third overall at La Vuelta a España in 2021 could make a mark at the Tour.

He is a crucial support rider for Simon Yates. Harper also made his debut at the French Grand Tour in 2023 in the same role, and considering Yates finished fourth overall it was clearly a strong pairing. Harper, too finished 16th overall while in the support role and seems to have stepped his GC game up a notch in recent times and he delivered sixth overall at the Volta a sixth overall at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya in March.

His last two stage races, the Tour of the Alps and Critérium du Dauphiné, have been cut short by crashes so he may be a little shorter on racing than he expected to be coming into the Tour de France but at least has had the time to recover and line up in Florence.

The final of the three Jayco-AlUla riders is Luke Durbridge, with the experienced hand taking on his tenth Tour. The Western Australian is a powerful driving force and while it's not likely he’ll be chasing stage victories for himself that doesn’t mean he won’t be clearly visible at the front – it is just that it’s likely to be earlier in the day as he chases down breaks or positions his teammates coming into crucial points of the race. He will be a valuable player for both the sprint team and GC effort as he does his part to control breaks and to ensure the climbers make it to the base of the ascents in the optimum spot. Slipping into a break is also not out of the question.

Simone is a degree-qualified journalist that has accumulated decades of wide-ranging experience while working across a variety of leading media organisations. She joined Cyclingnews as a Production Editor at the start of the 2021 season and has now moved into the role of Australia Editor. Previously she worked as a freelance writer, Australian Editor at Ella CyclingTips and as a correspondent for Reuters and Bloomberg. Cycling was initially purely a leisure pursuit for Simone, who started out as a business journalist, but in 2015 her career focus also shifted to the sport.