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The Tour de France begins this Saturday in Nice the strangest edition in its history. For the first time, the best cycling race in the world will be held during the month of September and will be marked by the pandemic and its consequences. Almost all the best 'voltomaniacs' in the world will be present. The big absences are Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome , both displaced by Ineos, Steven Kruijswijk, injured, and Vincenzo Nibali and Simon Yates, who have opted for the Giro.

Egan Bernal aspires to get his second victory and will be the only one of the 176 cyclists who will take the start who knows what it is to win a Tour. There will be two winners of the Giro (Dumoulin and Carapaz) and four of the Vuelta (Valverde, Aru, Quintana and Roglic). Two of them, Dumoulin and Roglic , will be, under the command of the very powerful Jumbo-Visma, the main threat to Bernal. Among the Spanish, Landa and Mas are the best assets.

Other riders such as the leader of Astana, Miguel Ángel López, that of Mitchelton, Adam Yates, the Colombian trio of Education First made up of Rigoberto Urán, Daniel Felipe Martínez and Sergio Higuita or the French Romain Bardet (Ag2r), Julian would fit on this list. Alaphilippe (Deceuninck) and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis). With this qualification made, these are the top 10 favorites for the podium in Paris.

EGAN BERNAL (Ineos)

The defending champion is, on his own merits, the main candidate to win the 2020 Tour. The 23-year-old Colombian will have all of Ineos ( Carapaz, Sivakov, Kwiatkowski, Castroviejo ... ) at his disposal, following the decision of the British squad to remove from the race Thomas and Froome, whose hierarchy and record threatened their leadership. The main asterisk is the back injury that forced him to leave the Dauphiné.

RICHARD CARAPAZ (Ineos)

His big goal for this season, before and after the pandemic, was to revalidate his victory last year at the Giro . However, he will ultimately be Bernal's lieutenant on the Tour ... and an interesting second trick for Ineos if Bernal were not able to live up to expectations. It will be his debut on the Tour and also his first three-week round with the British team, after leaving Movistar.

PRIMOZ ROGLIC (Jumbo-Visma)

The Slovenian, winner of the last Lap, has been the most solvent rider in the preparatory races for the Tour. He has four victories in this unusual season, in which he has finished all the races and stages in the top 10. The main doubt resides in the fall that Dauphiné suffered when he was the undisputed leader. His participation has been in doubt until the last minute, so his physical condition is unknown.

TOM DUMOULIN (Jumbo-Visma)

The other great asset of the Dutch team, in which leadership is not clear. The Dutchman has always been more solvent and regular than Roglic in three-week tests, but he has been unemployed for a year due to injury and his performance in the races prior to this Tour has not been as good as that of the Slovenian. If he is at 100%, the Dutchman is as favorite as Bernal and has a team as good as the Colombian.

THIBAUT PINOT (Groupama-FDJ)

The eternal aspirant who is always accompanied by misfortune. His last three appearances ended in retirements , last year when he had serious options to win the final victory and in the best moment of his life. This year he will try again, with a very powerful block that will be completely at his service. He is the great hope of French cycling, dry on the Tour since 1985.

MIKEL LANDA (Bahrain-McLaren)

For the first time in his entire career, the climber from Alava attends the Tour as the undisputed leader of his team . After finishing in the top seven in the last three editions, the Spaniard aspires to storm the podium in Paris with the help of Bilbao, Valls, Poels and Caruso. His good performance in Burgos and also in Dauphiné until the cramps on the last day feed his hopes of giving, at 30, the leap he has been looking for for a long time.

NAIRO QUINTANA (Arkéa)

Like Landa, the Colombian left Movistar in search of unique leadership and has also found it. Not only that, but it seems revitalized after a few years of disappointment and presents itself with three partial victories and two general victories, all of them before the pandemic, as baggage of the year. His three podiums (2013, 2015 and 2016) are far away, but Nairo aspires to green his laurels with the help of Barguil, Anacona and Rosa.

ENRIC MAS (Movistar)

Second in the 2018 Vuelta and luxury gregarious for Alaphilippe in the last Tour, the Balearic will carry the stripes of the Spanish team, in need of good news in a fateful season, with a single victory as baggage. He will have the backing of Alejandro Valverde and also that of Marc Soler , who alters his initial plans to lead the telephone squad in the Giro to reinforce the 'eight' of the Tour.

EMANUEL BUCHMANN (Bora)

Another of those affected by the falls in the Dauphiné, where he offered a great performance until he had to leave. The German was the great surprise of the last edition, achieving a fourth place that entered few pools, which makes him by right a clear contender for the podium in Paris. Schachmann, Grossschartner and Mülhberger will be his main supporters in a team that also has Sagan.

TADEJ POGACAR (UAE Team)

He makes his debut in the Tour and that a priori suggests that he will pay for the hazing. However, the new generation of cyclists is a specialist in breaking the traditional logic. At 21 years old and after shining in the last Vuelta, achieving third position, the Slovenian talent leads a block that also includes Aru and De la Cruz , with Matxin at the helm. Fourth in the Dauphiné, he disputes this Tour released from pressure and with nothing to lose.

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