This year’s Tour de France was dominated by Tadej Pogačar, who wore the yellow jersey from stage four all the way to Nice, only giving two other riders the chance in the yellow limelight. He also took six of the 21 stage victories up for grabs and became the only rider in 26 years to complete the historic Giro-Tour double. Pogačar alone provided plenty of talking points throughout the course of the race.
Beyond the Slovenian however, there were plenty of other landmark moments in this year’s race, namely from Biniam Girmay, who became the first Black African rider to win a Tour stage (plus, two more on top of that) and take home the green jersey, and Mark Cavendish, who broke the legendary 35th Tour stage record.
The past three weeks have certainly kept us entertained, but what about those who come away from the Tour empty-handed? Victories and jerseys don’t tell the full story, however, and some riders and teams were impressive during the race even though they may have missed out on their ultimate goal.
Here, Rouleur takes a look at what each of the Tour’s teams brought to the race and rate their overall performance.
Alpecin-Deceuninck 8 / 10
Even if things didn’t go as smoothly as last year’s four stage haul success, their lead-out train misfiring sometimes and the green jersey eluding him, Jasper Philipsen still managed to bounce back spectacularly in the second week to finish with a very impressive total of three stage wins.
Arkéa–B&B Hotels 7 / 10
In Bologna on stage two, Kévin Vauquelin achieved what neither Nairo Quintana, nor Warren Barguil, nor any other rider in Arkéa–B&B Hotels’s 10 year history at the Tour de France could manage — win a stage. That success alone made their race a historic success, even as they faded towards the end.
Astana Qazaqstan 7 / 10
When Astana signed, and then re-signed, Mark Cavendish, they could barely have hoped for a better send-off. It wasn’t just how, in winning the stage five sprint in Saint Vulbas, he achieved the record-breaking stage win he set out exclusively to break; it was the way he had to fight through such advisory during his opening weekend sickness, to the unwavering solidarity shown to him by his teammates rallying around him, to the fact he battled his way all the way to the finish to celebrate in Nice, that made their Tour such a fairytale narrative.
Bahrain-Victorious 4 / 10
As one of the teams worst affected by the illnesses spreading around…