Tadej Pogacar will begin this year's Tour de France as the strong favourite to win cycling's greatest race for a fourth time - but will anyone stop him?

Defending champion Tadej Pogacar insisted he had every respect for his great Tour de France rival Jonas Vingegaard ahead of Saturday's opening stage in Lille. The 26-year-old Slovenian won the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and world title in 2024 and is hot favourite again here.

Van Aert is an all-around rider who can sprint (won the 2022 green jersey), climb (often a key worker for Vingegaard), time trial (Olympic bronze medalist) and excel in one-day races (second in the road race at the Olympics and worlds). In 2025, van Aert was second at cyclo-cross worlds, fourth at Paris-Roubaix and then helped Yates win the Giro.