Tour de France Power Poll: The 25 Most Important Riders in 2026

In American sports writing, we have a fascinating tradition of list-making, power rankings, and assessing value. From the multitude of media pieces covering fantasy football, monthly rankings dissecting baseball’s marathon season, and, perhaps most significantly, Bill Simmons’ famous trade value rankings.

And, it shouldn’t be hard to introduce these kinds of narratives into cycling. With sprinters, classics riders, and GC contenders all questing after different goals on the same team and drawing from the same funding pool, why can’t we evaluate the top riders in the Tour de France in the same context as how we evaluate the contribution of players in the World Cup?

As I went through the process of ranking, the difficulty and intrigue to me, a close watcher of racing, kept being reinforced with each spot. How much should past track record in the Tour match up with form from this calendar year? How does a stage win compare to a top ten at the Tour? What is actually the value of the Polka Dot jersey?

Ultimately, there is no objective way to do this. There is no point system that I can drum up that will capture the ethos of a power poll like this. Let’s be real, this is an audacious vibe check that you should have no qualms with. The point is the controversy; it gets the people going.

So, in the spirit of debate, along with the ranking, I debate myself in each case, arguing the case for and against each rider. For some, the upside and downsides are obvious. For others, I might zag or douse a bit of settle down juice on hype that might run amok. All of it, at the end of the day, is about the love of the game. Debates are a part of that love language.

1. Tadej Pogacar — UAE Team Emirates — General Classification

• The Case For: He is the two-time defending Tour and Worlds champion. He was unstoppable at the Tour de Suisse, and he also has a teammate who is in the top five of this list. What more could you ask for in the number one spot?
• The Case Against: There is none.

2. Jonas Vingegaard — Visma Lease a Bike — GC

• For: He is fresh off a career Grand Tour sweep where he proved that, in terms of resume, he is far and away the second-best GC rider in the world. Despite the rise of Sexias, he still feels like the only conceivable alternative to a Pogačar Tour win, barring true disaster or miracle.
• Against: Vingegaard has been very one-dimensional this year. He is massively impressive at that one dimension—his long climbs are as elite as anyone in the history of cycling—but the Tour is more than long climbs. Also, he is joined at a vaunted level for long climbs with the version of Pogacar we see today. So, is that superpower enough in the face of a rapidly rising contender in Sexias?

3. Isaac Del Toro — UAE Team Emirates — Domestique

• For: Third place on the ranking would seem high, but would it if the young Mexican made a different tactical choice at the Giro’s final mountain stage? If that happened, we would be talking about a 22-year-old with a 20-win season and a pink jersey. And then in the off-season, he got even better. Oh, he also gets to play off of Pogačar.
• Against: There is still some doubt around how Del Toro handles long climbs with the best in the world. Without a ton of evidence going in either way, it is easier to see the upside from Paul Sexias’ exploits as reasoning to put the Frenchman ahead of Del Toro.

4. Paul Sexias — Decathlon — GC

• For: Paul Seixas is in rarified air. While Remco started the movement towards runaway-hype trains, Seixas has innovated on that trend this year as the proclaimed savior of French cycling. Combine that hype with a dominating win at the Itzulia Basque Country and following Pogacar’s initial attack at Leige-Bastogne-Leige, this Tour feels like the dawn of something grand.
• Against: Beyond the success, the fact remains that Sexias hasn’t ridden a Grand Tour yet, and his position here still leans heavily on speculation. A crash at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes didn’t help give a clear picture either, as we never got the definitive showdown with Del Toro that we were looking for.

5. Mathieu van der Poel — Alpecin-Premier Tech — Stage hunter

• For: Van der Poel is in the inner circle of all-time classics riders, the best cyclo-cross rider of all time, and is one of a precious few riders who can beat Pogačar at races that suit the Slovenian. It is Van der Poel in the Classics, Vingegaard in the high mountains, and Evenepoel in hilly time trials.
• Against: We frankly don’t see him being as good as he can be at the Tour. Beyond one sparkling week a few years ago, the world’s biggest race isn’t his bread and butter, and that will always be a knock against the man who has few other things going against him.

6. Remco Evenepoel — Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe — GC

• For: The Belgian is the undisputed best in the world at time trialing, and while that doesn’t count for as much as it used to, it counts for something. He is still a great one-day racer and a grand tour podium contender.
• Against: Still, the true GC chops the cycling world wanted to see from Remco are lacking. Guess how many high-level GC wins Remco has in the last three years—one, at the Volta ao Algarve in 2023. That’s the same amount as Matthew Brennan, Arnaud De Lie, and Tim Wellens.

7. Tom Pidcock — Q36.5 Pinerello — GC

• For: Tom Pidcock is a one-of-one rider who has proven himself to be nearly infinitely moldable. A podium at the Vuelta a España last year was a big breakthrough, and the two-time Olympic mountain bike champion always looks for the biggest stage.
• Against: A soft Vuelta podium, a distant second at Strade, and merely ten wins on the road don’t sound like the CV of the eighth rider in the world. Mountain bike back-to-back golds still hold more weight than they should for someone as talented as Pidcock.

8. Tim Merlier — Soudal Quick Step — Sprinter

• For: Close watchers will remember the Tour last year, and will remember Merlier was flying. Sure, he didn’t always make it to the line with a shot of winning, but throughout last year, Merlier was the best bet if he had even the whiff of a clean lane to the line.
• Against: With Merlier, Tour success will have much to do with durability. Not only has the Belgian sprinter had a very late start to the year after injury, but he has also started fast and fallen off as grand tours progress.

9. Matteo Jorgenson — Visma-Lease a Bike — Domestique

• For: Jorgenson is one of the most important riders in the whole Tour. If the American can be consistently strong as support for Vingegaard, especially in the mountains, the balance of the race will be much more even. With Pogačar having Del Toro as a podium contender at his side, Jorgenson has to be a threat to put the UAE Team under pressure.
• Against: If he can’t, Visma-Lease a Bike will have a depth problem on its hands. Without Wout Van Aert and with little climbing support beyond Sepp Kuss, it will be tough sledding even with a very fit Jorgenson.

10. Jasper Philipsen — Alpecin-Premier Tech — Sprinter

• For: Count out Jasper Philipsen at the Tour at your peril. The former green jersey winner also has ten stages in his account, with at least one per year from 2022 to 2025. A win at the recent Baloise Belgium Tour and the Copenhagen has him back on winning form right on time to do it again.
• Against: As the years go on, Philipsen seems to be losing some of the pure speed that netted him four wins in 2023. Head-to-head, there are a handful of sprinters who can beat him on any type of finish.

11. Florian Lipovitz — Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe — GC

• For: Here is Lipowitz GC record last year: Paris Nice, second; Itzulia, fourth; Dauphine, third; Tour, third. This year: Catalunya, third; Itzulia, second; Tour du Romandie, second. Lipovitz might not be a realistic winner, but no one outside of the big two has shown this kind of consistency.
• Against: The German proved this summer he can be a podium finisher wherever he lines up, but I don’t see a lot of wins coming in 2026. That is part bad luck, but also part due to his profile as a pure climber in an explosive peloton.

12. Mads Pedersen — Lidl-Trek — Sprinter

• For: Pedersen is the best rider in the world who has never won a monument or a Grand Tour, and it isn’t really close. Even though two riders who fit that category are next on the list, there is a huge gulf between fifth and sixth on this list.
• Against: Pedersen has moved further and further away from playing the role of a pure sprinter. In theory, this year, with its multitude of breakaway opportunities, should work well for a medium mountain sprinter, but the points for the green jersey this year are skewed towards the pure bunch sprints.

13. Juan Ayuso — Lidl-Trek — GC

• For: The Spanish GC rider forced his way out of UAE Team Emirates for this: a shot at leading a Tour de France team. It’s been a year of big swings for the 23-year-old, but it’s pointing in the right direction.
• Against: After four years at UAE, it was telling that, despite the promise of a third place at his first Vuelta, there was only one Grand Tour podium on his resume. Sure, one podium is great, but for that to be a debut showing without a strong follow-up, questions around durability emerge.

14. Richard Carapaz — EF EasyPost — Stage hunter

• For: EF Education EasyPost will be a team full of breakaway hunters, and there are no mountain breakaway hunters more deadly than Richard Carapaz. When the Ecuadorian is not going for the general classification, he has a massive record of big stage wins.
• Against: What is the true value of being the supreme breakaway maestro if UAE and Visma start to gobble up the available mountain stages?

15. Romain Gregoire — FDJ — Stage hunter

• For: Fresh off his French national title, Gregoire will look to stage two as an opportunity to steal a stage win if he has great legs and finds a stroke of luck on the punchy Montjuic circuit.
• Against: In any other era, Gregoire would likely be a multiple-time Tour de France stage winner. But we live in the Poğacar era.

 16. Sepp Kuss — Visma Lease a Bike — Domestique

• For: If Vingegaard is going to have a shot at this year’s Tour de France, Sepp Kuss needs to be at his Vuelta-winning level. The only way to stretch Pogačar is through extended climbing efforts, and the only way for Visma to build those is with the skills of Sepp Kuss.
• Against: Even if they put those efforts together, Pogačar has not been dropped in years. A Sepp Kuss pull could end up just getting rid of everyone else instead.

17. Tim Wellens — UAE Team Emirates — Domestique 

• For: Last year, the Belgian was Pogacar’s most valuable teammate, plain and simple. He was everywhere he needed to be, when he needed to be there. It was Wout van Aert in 2022, minus the bunch sprint win.
• Against: With a better overall team backing Pogačar, they will hope the durable rouleur is needed less. In theory, Brandon McNulty and Felix Großschartner will take some of those duties.

18. Tobias Halland Johanessen — Uno X-Mobility — GC 

• For: Here is the Norwegian’s typical racing strategy: 1) lose a bunch of time early in the race (unintentional); 2) get stronger in the middle of the race; 3) attack with the whole team and vault back to the top five of the GC. In theory, that works even better in a Grand Tour.
• Against: Johanessen, at his best, is one of the strongest climbers in the world, but his inconsistency requires a bit of luck and missteps from his rivals.

19. Mathias Vacek — Lidl-Trek — Stage hunter

• For: A third place at the Tour de Suisse risks bumping Vacek out of his place as one of the most underrated riders in the world. The Czech all-rounder has been gaining momentum over the last few years, but the podium at Suisse was something different entirely.
• Against: There are a ton of cooks in the kitchen at Lidl-Trek. Not only are there the likes of Ayuso and Pedersen, but there are also other riders like Vacek who will be hunting for the same stages in Quinn Simmons, Mattias Skjelmose, and Derek Gee-West.

20. Kevin Vauquelin — Netcompany Ineos — GC

• For: The Frenchman made a move to Ineos at the start of this year for a better environment to suit his budding GC ambitions. Now, he has that support and a team behind him that will be deep and experienced in the moments that count, starting with the stage one team time trial.
• Against: Vauquelin hasn’t shown his level from last year. That said, he also won a stage in 2025, and if he is out of the GC fight, he could win a few this year.

21. Lenny Martinez — Bahrain Victorious — Stage Hunter

• For: Outside of the main GC favorites, Martinez seems like the most likely to win the polka dot jersey for best climber. If he does, there is no doubt he will play an important role in several stages throughout the race.
• Against: In the modern Tour, it seems harder to go for the polka dot jersey and also win stages. Plus, if stages fall a certain way, he might even find himself leaving the Tour with nothing, as he did last year.

22. Biniam Girmay — NSN — Sprinter

• For: The Eritrean has proved to be a big game rider. Throughout his career, Girmay has not shied away from the big stage against the most formidable opponents. This year, with Philipsen and Merlier coming into the Tour with good form and strong teams, Girmay will need to channel that kind of performance.
• Against: Up until this point in 2026, Girmay has yet to hit that type of form, even though he did manage to get one past Merlier at the Baloise Belgian Tour last month.

23. Dorian Godon — Netcompany Ineos — Sprinter

• For: Did you know Godon has six WorldTour wins this year? That’s the same as Alpecien Premier tech and Lidl-Trek.
• Against: Were any of them close to the level of this Tour de France peloton? Nope.

24. Mauro Schmid — Jayco-AlUla — Stage hunter

• For: In the Spring, Schmid was one of the strongest riders in the world, delivering one scintillating performance after the next. If it weren’t for Sexias, Schmid was powerful enough to win even on the Mur de Huy. He is on the short list for riders to win from virtually any breakaway.
• Against: Breakaways are a risky business at the Tour, especially as the days go on and better riders fall away from the top of the GC standings.

25. Arnaud De Lie — Lotto Intermarché — Sprinter

• For: The promise of the big Belgian is undeniable. At just 24, De Lie has already amassed four seasons in the top 25 in the annual UCI points rankings. Surely that will translate to multiple wins at the Tour at some point. Why not this year?
• Against: De Lie has been fairly disappointing in the Tour, compared to his sprinting level elsewhere on the calendar. It could be the heat, but it very well could be the deeper bench of sprinters that makes things like positioning more important.

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