{"id":233478,"date":"2025-10-30T06:33:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T06:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/233478\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T06:33:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T06:33:16","slug":"10-riders-i-want-to-see-light-up-the-tour-de-france-in-2026-%f0%9f%a7%a8-%f0%9f%87%ab%f0%9f%87%b7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/233478\/","title":{"rendered":"10 riders I want to see light up the Tour de France in 2026 \ud83e\udde8 \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Juan Auyso looks set to lead the line for Lidl-Trek at the Tour de France in 2026. Photo courtesy of Unipublic \/ Cxcling \/ Antonio Baixauli.<\/p>\n

The 2026 Tour de France feels like it\u2019s crying out for something new – a fresh set of faces, new storylines, and a few surprises along the way. We\u2019ve had six years of Poga\u010dar and Vingegaard trading blows, and while that will almost certainly continue next season, we might also see a new wave of riders making headlines or the return of riders who either missed the Tour in 2025 or simply didn\u2019t show their true standard.<\/p>\n

Riders like Mads Pedersen, Remco Evenepoel, Derek Gee, and Juan Ayuso are all ready to shake things up, while young names like Matthew Brennan and Paul Seixas could make their mark too. Here are ten riders who could light up next year\u2019s Tour with not a Poga\u010dar or Vingegaard in sight.<\/p>\n

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2025 saw Pedersen win the points jerseys at the Giro d\u2019Italia and La Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a, but after a Tour hiatus, it\u2019s time for Lidl-Trek to bring back the Dane. Whether that explicitly means Jonathan Milan has to refocus on the Giro remains to be seen [it probably does], but Pedersen certainly deserves a spot on the flight to Barcelona after arguably enjoying his best season ever in the professional ranks. <\/p>\n

Fourteen wins, a string of podium finishes in the Classics, and those two points jerseys cannot be ignored. When he walks into the meeting with the team\u2019s directors this winter, he can legitimately point to his achievements and request a Tour spot. That\u2019s not to say that Milan didn\u2019t have a superb season, with eleven wins of his own and, of course, a green jersey at the Tour, but if Lidl-Trek are to manage two leading sprinters with competing aims, then opportunities need to be shared. <\/p>\n

Pedersen is also better against the clock, so the team might consider him a stronger choice for the opening Team Time Trial now that they have enhanced their GC bid. Regarding the route, both riders would have several opportunities. If you\u2019re Pedersen, though, and you miss the Tour for a second consecutive season, you might be well within your rights to be concerned, especially after signing that \u2018lifetime\u2019 contract. He has to be at the in 2026, and it\u2019ll be a better race for it.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a rider going into the Tour de France next season with more pressure on his shoulders than Remco Evenepoel. The defending champion, Poga\u010dar and his shadow, Vingegaard, know the drill by now and have shared the spoils for the last six years. A Tour win for either rider would obviously be a massive result, but Evenepoel is still looking for his maiden title and remains well behind the curve, given what we\u2019ve seen in the last 24 months. Add to that the fact that he\u2019s finally got his big money move to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and that Florian Lipowitz\u2019s third place could necessitate a co-leadership situation as Zak Dempster alluded to in an exclusive interview with us earlier this week, and suddenly, Evenepoel finds himself layered with questions and different forms of pressure to deal with. <\/p>\n

But it\u2019s for all those reasons that he remains a box office rider, and on a level that Lipowitz hasn\u2019t reached yet. When he\u2019s on form and in contention, Evenepoel remains the most fascinating to watch from a trio of Poga\u010dar and Vingegaard. That\u2019s not because he\u2019s the best; it\u2019s because he\u2019s the most unpredictable and the hardest to align with eventual outcomes. His Grand Tour record is DNF, 1st, DNF, 12th, 3rd, DNF. He remains a fascinating candidate, and his vulnerabilities make him captivating in ways that Poga\u010dar and Vingegaard can\u2019t attain. His pre- and post-race comments are always more in-depth, too. Poga\u010dar, at times, looks bored, and Vingegaard keeps his cards much closer to his chest, while Evenepoel wears his heart on his sleeve.<\/p>\n