For the first time, the Tour de France will begin in Italy, with the Grand Départ from Florence kicking off 21 days of intense racing across 3,497 km and over 53,000 vertical metres of climbing.
Santiago Buitrago, making his debut in the 111th edition, will lead the Bahrain Victorious team. Drawing confidence from his recent successes on Italian soil at the Giro d’Italia in 2022 & 2023, where he secured stage wins in his last two appearances, Buitrago is poised for a strong performance.
The young Colombian will be supported by a wealth of experience, including three stage winners from last year’s Tour: Pello Bilbao, Wout Poels, and Matej Mohorič. Jack Haig and Fred Wright will play crucial roles in supporting the team while also seeking their own opportunities throughout the race. Rounding out the line-up, Nikias Arndt will act as the final lead-out man for Phil Bauhaus, who aims to claim his first Tour de France win after finishing inside the top three on three occasions last year.
The 21 stages of the Tour have been categorised into eight flat stages, four intermediate stages (including a gravel sector stage on stage 9), seven mountain stages, and two individual time trials (ITT). While the overall competition will likely be decided in the Alps, this year’s Tour offers no easy weeks. The action starts as early as stage 4, with riders tackling 3,625 vertical metres across just 130 km of racing before a 25 km ITT on stage 7 caps off the first week.
Week two promises back-to-back challenging stages on stages 14 and 15, with 8,838 vertical metres across three Hors catégorie climbs, including the Col du Tourmalet, a 19 km ascent with an average gradient of 7.4%.
Following the second rest day, stage 16 moves towards the south coast of France. Although it’s a flat stage, the potential for echelons could catch out the GC contenders.
The final three days will be crucial, featuring two decisive mountain stages in the Alps with a total of 8,734 vertical metres of climbing. The highlight will be the Hors catégorie Cime de la Bonnette, a 22.9 km climb with an average gradient of 6.9%, reaching an elevation of 2,802 metres. This is the highest paved road in France and was last featured in the Tour in 2008. Following these gruelling stages, the race concludes with a challenging 33.7 km ITT from Monaco to Nice, marking the first time the Tour de France will end outside of Paris due to the Olympics.
Rider Quotes:
Santiago Buitrago: “I’m really excited about my first Tour de France, the team and I have been working hard over in Andorra at training camp, and I think at this Tour you need to be ready from the first stage. It’s a really hard opening week. We start in Italy, which is comfortable for me. I have experience racing the Giro, and I’ve won two stages there, so hopefully, this will bring good fortune to me on this year’s Tour. I am fighting to do my best in the GC, and there is really strong competition, but I know that if I follow my race, I can be up there with the best talents and also fight for the white jersey. I have a great team with a lot of experience who will guide and help me through the upcoming three weeks.”
Pello Bilbao: “The start in Florence is going to be a new experience. Personally, it won’t be as intense as departing from my home, but even so, it will be nice to start in Italy. I’ve always had great memories racing in Italy, and I’ve missed it because, in the last few years, I’ve not raced the Giro, which is one of my favourite races, so I’m excited about starting the Tour in such a great city like Florence.
Overall, I would say the parcours is pretty complete with two long time trials, which I’m really looking forward to, especially as I’ve worked really hard this year for improvements in the TT, and I want to see if the results are arriving. We then have the gravel sector this year which will also be a decisive stage for the overall.
The difficulties are pretty spread out over the three weeks straight from the beginning, and you’ll need to be 100% from the off. You can’t start the Tour and expect to grow in the race. It’s going to be crucial to be ready.
My ambitions obviously will be to try win another stage. Last year it was one of the most intense emotions I’ve ever lived through in my cycling career, and I’d love to repeat it; there is nothing comparable to winning a stage at the Tour de France. Meanwhile I will also be focussing on the GC and want to do my best possible race. It will be a really interesting Tour with all the big contenders here, and it will also be interesting to see who comes out on top this year between Tadej and Jonas, especially after Tadej’s strong show in the Giro.
Overall, we have a really strong team coming here, and every day will be an opportunity for us.”
Matej Mohorič: ” Personally, I think the start in Florence is something we’ve not seen before. It kicks off with a mountain stage, and the roads are quite nervous, being twisty and narrow. It’s going to be full-on racing from the first two days. It’s a good thing as we will immediately see who has the legs in the GC, which most likely means there will be less stress as we move into France.
We’ve got a well-balanced parcours this year. Personally, the two stages I look forward to the most are the gravel stage and stage 18, which could be a good opportunity for the breakaway. There will be other opportunities across the race as things never go as planned, and we need to embrace those opportunities.
Physically, I feel ready and motivated for the Tour. It’s the biggest race of the year, so I will be doing my best to make the most of the opportunity. As far as the team goals, we have a really strong line-up with some guys for the GC, and we will also look to support Phil in the sprint. But honestly, I think any member of this team is capable of winning a stage at this year’s Tour.”
