2026 Tour de France start list & dropouts | Lipowitz crashes out, 165 riders left

On Saturday, July 4, the 2026 Tour de France will kick off with a team time trial in Barcelona. The 23 participating teams will announce their eight-rider rosters in the run-up to that day. IDL Pro Cycling is keeping a watchful eye on all channels, ready to bring you the confirmed start list for the upcoming Tour de France.

Below you will find a table of the 2026 Tour de France teams as well as the intended leaders of each team. Below that is a breakdown of each team and their ambitions for the 2026 race. If we've missed anything let us know in the comments.

Sick Arnaud De Lie abandons the Tour de France on stage 3

Groupama FDJ saw its climbers Guillaume Martin and Clément Berthet crash on stage 1, with the latter withdrawing from the race due to a shoulder injury. Arnaud De Lie, who had to abandon both the team presentation on Thursday and the recon on Saturday due to illness, did manage to limp his way to the finish on stages 1 and 2.

The Belgian from Lotto-Intermarché met his Waterloo in stage three though, having to let the peloton go in the opening phase and eventually realising that the time limit would be an impossible task. Painful, because after the Giro, he also disappeared from the race quickly in the Tour in a similar manner.

Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor) did finish just within the limit at Les Angers. That was not to be for Kelland O'Brien a day later; on day 3, he was involved in the crash and too battered to reach the finish within the time limit in a sweltering Foix. He rolled in outside the time limit, 45 minutes behind.

The fifth stage was won by the Dutchman Olav Kooij, but unfortunately, the first compatriot also had to abandon the race. Alex Molenaar, wearer of the polka-dot jersey on day three, crashed in the final stages and broke his metacarpal bone. Molenaar also fell on his head and could not remember anything about the crash.

During the sixth stage, the first real mountain stage, a second Dutch rider dropped out. Arvid de Kleijn fell behind on the first climb and saw no point in continuing, as did Cian Uijtdebroeks of Movistar a short time later, who was also struggling with problems. He had been dealing with stomach issues for the entire stage. Bert Van Lerberghe (Soudal Quick-Step), meanwhile, appeared to be suffering too much from his crash the day before, along with Molenaar, among others.

Træn, Trentin and Harper all out by halfway

Sadly, there was another crash to report that day as well — and it involved yellow jersey wearer Torstein Træen. The Norwegian had already lost the jersey to Tadej Pogačar, but on the descent of the Tourmalet he still hit the deck. Træen did make it to the finish, but four broken ribs and a concussion were diagnosed afterwards. That meant the end of his Tour de France.

In the days that followed, things were surprisingly better. The next withdrawal was reported after the rest day, with a sick Matteo Trentin of Tudor not starting for Day 10. During that stage, Chris Harper crashed hard. The Australian from Pinarello - Q36.5 fell on the descent of the Puy Marie. After he did manage to finish the stage, he had to undergo surgery on his thumb. It meant his exit from the Tour.

After the mountain stage, two flatter stages followed, in which things went wrong on Thursday in the twelfth stage. A select group of sprinters crashed, with Fernando Gaviria (broken collarbone, exit) and Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto-Intermarché, also a broken collarbone) appearing to be the biggest victims. The following day, in stage 13, Frits Biesterbos (Picnic PostNL) also did not start. His team pulled the plug on the first-year pro.

One day later, Alpecin-Premier Tech had to accept the first withdrawal. Ramses Debruyne (23), who was 18th in the general classification, fell ill between Friday and Saturday and was unable to continue the race due to fever. Anthon Charmig (Uno-X Mobility) had a terrible day and finished well outside the time limit.

Vingegaard and Merlier abandon the Tour de France

In stage 15, two big names in this Tour de France were ruled out. Tim Merlier was exhausted and called it quits, after having ticked off three stage wins for Soudal Quick-Step in this race. He ran into difficulties early in stage 15. Tom Van Asbroeck (NSN) also failed to reach the finish, ending up in the back of the peloton.

The biggest blow, however, was the withdrawal of Jonas Vingegaard, at that moment number two in the standings. The Dane from Visma | Lease a Bike crashed hard after a roundabout and broke his collarbone. As a result, we headed into the second rest day with 166 riders in the race.

That would leave us with 165 riders. Lotto-Intermarché had to say goodbye to Lars Craps before the start of stage 16. The Belgian fell ill on the rest day and, suffering from a fever, would not be able to continue racing. As a result, Craps would unfortunately not make it to Paris on his Tour debut.

You wouldn’t expect a rider to drop out so quickly in a time trial, but the general classification contenders gave it their all in the race against the clock. Risks were taken, and for Florian Lipowitz, things went wrong. The number five in the general classification crashed heavily and broke his collarbone. The German rider from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, who finished third last year, had to withdraw from the race immediately.

2026 Tour de France start list and dropouts

You can see the teams that have lost riders below.

Data powered by FirstCycling.com

Confirmed teams for the 2026 Tour de France:

Full 2026 Tour de France team breakdown

Read on below for our full breakdown of each Tour de France team (if released), with the ambitions and intentions of the team leaders.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG

The team from the Emirates head to the race with Tadej Pogačar chasing a fifth Tour de France overall win for the Slovenian. He has the support of an impressive train in the mountains, with shadow leader Isaac del Toro plus Brandon McNulty, Adam Yates and Felix Grossschartner. There is also plenty of power on hand in Tim Wellens, Florian Vermeersch and Nils Politt. Watch out in the team time trial, then.

Alpecin-Premier Tech

Mathieu van der Poel returns to the Tour de France and does so as a free spirit, once again alongside sprinter Jasper Philipsen. The Dutchman won't be strictly needed for the lead-out, as Jonas Rickaert is also on board, as is Silvan Dillier for the front of the peloton. Beyond that, the team can attack in numbers with Ramses Debruyne, Tim Marsman and Emiel Verstrynge.

Bahrain Victorious

Bahrain Victorious are going for a top ten in the general classification with Antonio Tiberi, for stage wins and the mountains classification with Lenny Martinez, and for the sprints with Phil Bauhaus. To make all of that possible, Damiano Caruso comes along as a climbing domestique, Kamil Gradek and Robert Stannard for the lead-out, and Matej Mohorič and Vlad Van Mechelen as all-rounders.

Caja Rural

The Spaniards get to take part — earning the nod over the Unibet Rose Rockets — and will want to make a good impression. Fernando Gaviria is the man for the sprints, while in the mountains Sebastian Berwick is one interesting name. Alex Molenaar is the Dutchman in this team. Joel Nicolau, Abel Balderstone, Stefano Oldani, Jakub Otruba and José Félix Parra round out the line-up.

Cofidis

Plenty of experience — but will that be enough to score in the Tour for the first time since 2023? Ion Izagirre and Alex Aranburu lead the way in the mountains and in tricky finales. Milan Fretin is the card to play in the sprints, with Piet Allegaert and Jenthe Biermans in support. Alex Kirsch, Benjamin Thomas and Hugo Page will also normally ride in support.

Decathlon CMA CGM

France has got its wish, with Paul Seixas as a Tour de France debutant. At his first Grand Tour as a professional, and aged just 19, he is handed leadership. Aurélien Paret-Peintre, Nicolas Prodhomme, Tiesj Benoot and Matthew Riccitello surround him in the mountains, while for the sprints Olav Kooij gets a Dutch lead-out train in Daan Hoole and Cees Bol. A strong team for the day-one team time trial!

EF Education-EasyPost

On the attack throughout, going for the mountains classification with Richard Carapaz and top climber Ben Healy and Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes surprise Alex Baudin. Kasper Asgreen, Georg Steinhauser, Sean Quinn and Michael Valgren should be able to show something too, with Max Walker the debutant of the bunch.

Groupama-FDJ United

All is not well in the Groupama FDJ camp. David Gaudu ruled himself out of the Tour de France team after criticism from an unknown teammate, and then Valentin Madouas was unexpectedly dropped. Despite the ongoing soap opera, the French team expect something from Guillaume Martin and freshly crowned French champion Romain Grégoire in the mountains. Ewen Costiou, Lorenzo Germani, Clément Braz Afonso and Clément Berthet will also be looking to grab their chance.

Netcompany INEOS

Racing offensively and attractively: that is Netcompany INEOS's objective at the 2026 Tour de France. With Thymen Arensman, Kévin Vauquelin, and Egan Bernal, they have rock-solid cards for this in the mountain stages. Also keep an eye on the British team on day one, with Filippo Ganna, Joshua Tarling, and Tobias Foss as the driving forces. Dorian Godon and Michal Kwiatkowski bring up the rear.

Lidl-Trek

Juan Ayuso is handed the leadership following his move from UAE to Lidl-Trek. The Spaniard is surrounded by training partner Carlos Verona and also has the support of big names Mattias Skjelmose and Derek Gee-West. Mads Pedersen is the other leader, chasing stage success. Toms Skujins, Mathias Vacek and Quinn Simmons will be there for him — and quietly hoping for some success of their own, too.

Lotto-Intermarché

What can the Belgians do, with what looks on paper like a very strong selection? Lennert Van Eetvelt is the climber to watch, after he abandoned following a crash at the Giro d'Italia. Arnaud De Lie gets to go for the sprints after another disappointing spring. We'll see Georg Zimmermann, Baptiste Veistroffer and Huub Artz on the attack, as well as Jenno Berckmoes and Lars Craps.

Movistar

Cian Uijtdebroeks is immediately given the leadership role at Movistar on his Tour de France debut. The Spanish team is not sending a sprinter and is aiming squarely for the general classification with the horsepower of Nelson Oliveira, Pablo Castrillo, and Javier Romo, and the climbing qualities of Einer Rubio, Juri Hessmann, Jefferson Cepeda, and Raul Garcia Pierna.

NSN Cycling

Everything on Biniam Girmay, winner of three stages and the points jersey in 2024! The Eritrean has a very deep train in Tom Van Asbroeck, Matis Louvel, Lewis Askey and Jake Stewart. Marco Frigo, George Bennett and Krists Neilands are the three free spirits on duty.

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe

What a team, what strength! Remco Evenepoel returns to the Tour de France for his new squad and does so alongside the 2025 sensation Florian Lipowitz. They have Jai Hindley (third at the Giro d'Italia) as a luxury domestique, as well as Mattia Cattaneo, Maxim Van Gils, Jan Tratnik, Nico Denz and the Dutchman Tim van Dijke.

Soudal Quick-Step

There is no shortage of ambition at The Wolfpack, which will be doing the Tour without Remco Evenepoel for the first time in a long time. Tim Merlier wants stage wins and perhaps even the green jersey, Valentin Paret-Peintre wants a stage win and maybe the polka-dot jersey, and Ilan Van Wilder is going for the general classification. Dylan van Baarle and Pascal Eenkhoorn are the Dutch riders. Louis Vervaeke, Jasper Stuyven, and Bert Van Lerberghe are also participating.

Jayco AlUla

The Australian team welcome Michael Matthews into their Tour de France selection, but have plenty more flavours to choose from. Pascal Ackermann is the sprinter, Luke Plapp and Mauro Schmid the attackers with time-trial ability, and Ben O'Connor the climber on duty. Felix Engelhardt and Luke Durbridge will be the domestiques, as will Kelland O'Brien.

Picnic PostNL

The Dutch team need some success, as they had last year when Oscar Onley surprisingly finished fourth overall. That won't be on the cards now, but with Pavel Bittner the team do have sprint ambitions. John Degenkolb, Frits Biesterbos, Robbe Dhondt and Niklas Märkl are the domestiques on duty. Frank van den Broek and Warren Barguil get to go on the offensive.

Pinarello-Q36.5

Pinarello-Q36.5 was the very last team to announce its lineup. The team says it aims to make history in what is their very first start. Tom Pidcock is the main attraction, although with Quinten Hermans, Chris Harper, and Fred Wright, they have even more dangerous contenders for success. Xabier Mikel Azparren, Damien Howson, Brent Van Moer, and Xandro Meurisse are also taking part.

TotalEnergies

Well — is this Tour de France-worthy? The team are going for a stage win, and look to have a decent chance of one mainly through Jordan Jegat. Anthony Turgis is another name of quality; beyond that, Alexandre Delettre, Mattéo Vercher, Mathis Le Berre, Nicolas Breuillard, Joris Delbove and the talented Thibault Guernalec need to make sure a sponsor takes an interest for 2027 to keep the team afloat.

Tudor Pro Cycling

Tudor are also playing a Dutch sprint leader of their own in Arvid de Kleijn. Matteo Trentin and Marco Haller will handle the lead-out, together with Rick Pluimers, who also gets to chase his own chances. In the mountains, Michael Storer, Marc Hirschi, Yannis Voisard and, of course, Julian Alaphilippe are the men for the attack.

Visma | Lease a Bike

Jonas Vingegaard, are you going to make the Tour de France exciting? Let's hope so — though Visma | Lease a Bike took some heavy blows with the losses of Christophe Laporte and Wout van Aert. At least Edoardo Affini was delcared fit after crashing in a time trial just before the Tour. He, Victor Campenaerts, Per Strand Hagenes, Matteo Jorgenson, Sepp Kuss, Bruno Armirail and Davide Piganzoli have to get it done.

Uno-X Mobility

You can count on the Norwegian team — for the first time with WorldTour status this year — to turn up again. Tobias Halland Johannessen goes for the general classification once more, with brother Anders at his side. Magnus Cort chases stage wins, and so will Anders Skaarseth, Anthon Charmig, Jonas Abrahamsen and Torstein Traaen. Do we pencil in Søren Wærenskjold for the sprints?

XDS Astana

A nice little team! It could have been even better with Lorenzo Fortunato and Cristián Rodríguez, but neither climber is going. Mike Teunissen provides some flat ground power in what is otherwise an attacking eight. Harald Tejada, Simone Velasco and Sergio Higuita are aiming for the mountains, with Max Kanter going for the sprints. Alongside Teunissen, he also has Davide Ballerini, Aaron Gate and Nicolas Vinokourov for support.