Favorites and outsiders of the Tour de France 2020: who will win the yellow jersey?

Imminent departure for the 2020 edition of the Tour de France. From Saturday, August 29 and for three weeks, the runners will compete on the roads and in the passes of France to seize the yellow jersey of best runner. The course being particularly mountainous, a trio of favorites emerge: Egan Bernal, Primoz Roglic and Thibaut Pinot. Without forgetting the many outsiders.

•  E gan Bernal, winner of the 2019 Tour

Winner last year, Egan Bernal is naturally a candidate for his own succession. The pure climber that he is can only appreciate the course concocted by the organization ASO, which offers 10 stages of medium or high mountain. However, the young Colombian would be diminished. He had to leave the Criterium du Dauphiné due to a back injury in mid-August. And his team, Ineos Grenadier, have appeared less domineering than in the past since the resumption of the season. At the last moment, she decided to do without the services of Christopher Froome and Geraint Thomas, five Big Buckles to their two assets, to make room for her young guard: Richard Carapaz and Pavel Sivakov. What to call into question the supremacy of Ineos on the Tour, while a rider of the formation has won seven of the last eight editions?

• Primoz Roglic: the ultra-favorite

Current world number one, winner of the Tour of Spain last year, the Slovenian rider Primoz Roglic arrives on the roads of the Tour de France in the shoes of the favorite. His team, the Jumbo-Visma, has invested heavily to surround him with a quality team. If Steven Kruiswijk (third last year) is finally forfeited, the Slovenian champion can still count on Tom Dumoulin, George Benett, the American prodigy Sepp Kuss and the wheeler Wout Van Aert to lead him to victory. A team so impressive that the main danger could come from there. His teammate Tom Dumoulin also dreams of the yellow jersey: "It's Primoz and me for the general", he recently warned.

• Thibaut Pinot: the best French luck

What if 2020 was a good year for Thibaut Pinot? After a frustrating 2019 edition where a thigh injury forced him to retire, while he seemed to be flying to a podium or victory, the Frenchman returns determined on the road to the Tour. With David Gaudu, Valentin Madouas, Rudy Molard, Sébastien Reichenbach, his team, Groupama-FDJ, provided him with a quality bodyguard to take him to the mountains. The organization seems to have designed the course for him with the highlight of this time trial in the Planche des Belles Filles - which he knows by heart. However, the French are used to twists and turns. Let's hope that the stars finally align to offer a French winner in the Tour for the first time since Bernard Hinault, in 1985.

• Tom Dumoulin: caliph in place of the caliph?

Will Tom Dumoulin remain in the shadow of Primoz Roglic? Between his experience and his consistency in the big laps, Tom Dumoulin claims the co-leadership of this Jumbo-Visma team which could just as easily lead him to victory. However, some uncertainties remain, starting with his state of health after a fall that kept him out of competition for over a year. And the Col de la Loze of the 17th stage, and its irregular slopes, could mark the end of the ambitions of someone who is more a roller than a climber.

• Nairo Quintana and his old yellow dream

The Breton air seems to do wonders on Nairo Quintana. Since he left the Spanish flag of the Movistar for the Breton one of Arkea-Samsic, the Colombian rider seems freed from a weight. Before the season interruption due to Covid-19, he was the most prominent runner with five wins in 16 days of racing. Reduced by an injury just before the restart, he now seems less in legs but he will remain a rider to watch, especially since he confided in early July to France 24 that he had never given up on "his yellow dream".

• Tadej Pogacar: the Slovenian prodigy

A Slovenian can hide another. At 21, the young runner already has everything of a great. Last year, he proved himself on the Vuelta, where he reached the third step of the podium and won three stages. What if this young prodigy from UEA training was the Tour's surprise? As Egan Bernal proved last year, young age is no longer an excuse. However, it will be necessary to see if the Slovenian climber manages to show consistency throughout the three weeks.

• Guillaume Martin: in good shape for his fourth Tour

At 27, Frenchman Guillaume Martin sets off for his fourth Tour de France in what seems to be the shape of his life. Third in the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenges and the Critérium du Dauphiné, the Normand has multiplied his good performances since the restart and has shown himself capable of following the favorites, even attacking them. He who has a master's degree in philosophy will he cultivate the spirit of winning?

• Miguel Angel Lopez: "Superman" conquering the summits

Third in the Giro and the Vuelta in 2018, the Colombian will play his first Tour de France. Like Thibaut Pinot, “Superman” has a card to play on a very mountainous course and the only time trial is actually a hill climb. 

• Romain Bardet: the quest for success for his last year at AG2R

The pandemic brought Auvergnat back to the Tour, he who wanted to run the Giro this year. Less expected after its decline last year (15th), it will be less marked by the favorites than in 2019 to seek stage successes. And no longer such affinities for his last Tour under the jersey of his long-standing team, AG2R La Mondiale

• Julian Alaphilippe ensures not to aim for the general classification

One year after the “unforgettable emotions” of his Tour de France in yellow, Julian Alaphilippe claims not to have “come for the general classification” this year. However, if he plays his cards well, he could find himself in yellow at the end of the 2nd stage which corresponds to his qualities as a puncher. From there to afford a new yellow epic in 2020? Hard to believe given the mountainous route that serves it.

It will also be necessary to monitor them ...

To this already long list of riders, we must also add the Colombians of Education-First,  Rigoberto Uran and Daniel Martinez , Emanuel Buchmann of Bora-Hansgrohe or Richard Carapaz , winner of the Giro 2019, and who will discover the routes of the Tour this year.

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