Many teams are structured around a single rider who they believe can win the race’s overall title, known as the general classification. Other teams have more than one race contender, and will decide during the Tour which one has the best chance of victory. Then there is the pride in winning even a single day’s stage, which for many cyclists can rank as a career highlight. There are two overwhelming favorites: Jonas Vingegaard, a Danish cyclist on Team Jumbo-Visma who won last year, and Tadej Pogacar, the Slovene cyclist on UAE Team Emirates who won in 2020 and 2021. The overarching story line of this year’s race, and the battle that dictates much of the strategy, will be based around the assumption that Vingegaard and Pogacar will duke it out all the way to Paris.

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Persons: Jonas Vingegaard, Visma, Tadej Pogacar, Pogacar, David Gaudu of, Jai Hindley, Richard Carapaz Organizations: UAE Team Emirates, Enric Mas Locations: Danish, Slovene, Paris, Spain, David Gaudu of France, Australia, Ecuador