The Tour de France is set to get underway in Barcelona with a team time-trial on Saturday 4th July. We circle eight riders making their debut that could also make some headlines along the way, from generational stars to those with Grand Tour classifications already in the bag.
Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM)
Frenchman Paul Seixas is making the mostly hotly anticipated Tour debut in maybe the entire history of the race. Why? Because he’s only 19 years old and in his second pro season, yet he’s already riding like a Grand Tour winner. He’s already been crowned France’s first men’s Tour de France winner since 1985 and he hasn’t even rolled off the starting ramp.
This season alone he has victories at Itzulia Basque Country and La Flèche Wallonne while being the first man behind Tadej Pogačar at Strade Bianche and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, which in 2026 is practically a win in itself.
Now, he’s realistically not going to win this year, but it will serve as a vital learning experience for a man on the verge of stardom. The pressure isn’t quite at full-throttle just yet, and considering he had a bad crash at the recent Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, we don’t know what kind of level he’ll start the race in.
However, if all goes well and form is good, he’s absolutely capable of winning a stage and finishing in the top five overall, which will be remarkable in itself.
Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates XRG)
Next up is a man that almost won the Giro d’Italia on debut last year. There are a lot of highly talented young riders in this list, but Mexican Isaac del Toro could realistically podium at this Tour. His palmarès already stacked, with 18 wins in his 2025 season alone and he’s been building his stage race collection in 2026 with dominating victories at the UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
He’s capable of leading his own team at this race, so it will be interesting to see how he’s used by UAE Team Emirates XRG, who bring his as a domestique for four-time winner Tadej Pogačar.
It’s likely that in helping Pogačar in his quest for yellow Del Toro will end up in GC battle of his own – we could well be seeing two UAE riders on the podium in Paris. And if for whatever reason Pogačar can’t finish the race, then the stage will be Del Toro’s.
Davide Piganzoli (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Davide Piganzoli truly announced himself to the cycling world at this year’s Giro. Coming alive in the mountains, the 23-year-old raced to third on the Corno alle Scale, fourth at Pila and sixth at Carì on the way to finishing a strong eighth overall. And all that while working for Jonas Vingegaard and not targeting his own results.
He carried this form to the Route d’Occitanie, where he won by almost two minutes and now he lines up for his debut Tour in the same role as he excelled in at the Giro.
With the loss of Wout van Aert and Edoardi Affini from the team’s lineup, Visma decided that another mountain domestique would be the best way forward alongside Sepp Kuss, Matteo Jorgenson and Bruno Armirail, especially given the strength of UAE. The competition is a lot tougher here than at the Giro, so Piganzoli may not slip into so much personal success this time, but expect to see some impressive mountain performances from the Italian nonetheless.
Per Strand Hagenes (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Another young bee taking flight. This will be 22-year-old Per Strand Hagenes’s first Grand Tour. The Norwegian, who was the Junior World Champion in 2021, graduated from the squad’s development team in 2024 and has been steadily getting better and better, this season finishing an incredible second behind Mathieu van der Poel at the E3 Saxo Classic.
After a strong spring, he got the call up the Visma’s Tour lineup following Van Aert’s withdrawal and will be essential for the team both in controlling the race and in the team time-trial on the opening stage having been part of the winning team in the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes TTT.
Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious)
I had to double check, but yes, this is Bahrain Victorious rider Antonio Tiberi’s first ride on the Tour rollercoaster. It just feels like something that would’ve happened already for the 25-year-old, who has previously finished fifth at the Giro in 2024.
Tiberi is a talented climber but is very hot and cold, so he might be better suited stage or polka-dot hunting, but he’s been known to hit tricky targets in the past, so a top ten could be on the cards.
Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM)
Unless Decathlon do a last minute squad U-turn, they’re set to come into Seixas’s debut Tour with two baskets for their eggs, with sprinter Olav Kooij looking likely to be at the start in Barcelona.
Kooij moved to the squad from Visma-Lease a Bike over the winter but couldn’t start his season until the end of May after he picked up a virus. However since he got started he has three impressive wins to his name, including beating Tim Merlier and Jasper Philipsen on Stage 4 of the Baloise Belgium Tour.
He has two editions of the Giro in his legs, picking up one victory in 2024 and two in 2025, the latter including the hotly contested showdown in Rome on the final stage, but this would be his Tour debut.
Cian Uijtdebroeks (Movistar)
It’s been a difficult few years for Cian Uijtdebroeks. The promising Belgian finished eighth at the 2023 Vuelta, but then entered a contract dispute with his Bora-Hansgrohe team after he was allegedly bullied. He then signed for Visma-Lease a Bike and dealt with a lengthy back injury. With his return to racing on the horizon, he was then hit by a car driver in the summer of 2025. His contract was then terminated by mutual consent and he penned a deal with Movistar for 2026.
Thankfully this season is looking positive for the 23-year-old. He raced to eighth place at the Volta a Catalunya and seventh at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes after a solid fifth place on the Grand Colombier. With Enric Mas’s form unpredictable, this could be a real breakthrough for young Uijtdebroeks.
Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana)
One of the oldest debutants at the race, 30-year-old Lorenzo Fortunato has taken the scenic route to the Tour, having made the step up to the WorldTour with Astana in 2024. He’s ridden plenty of Giro d’Italias, including winning the mountains classification and the overall combativity award in 2025. He looks set to take a similar approach to his first Tour de France having stated his intention of targeting the polka dot jersey. He’s certainly capable of climbing with the best having previously won a Giro stage on Monte Zoncolan in 2021, but he’ll face stiff competition for the iconic jersey.
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