Bahrain Victorious have named debutant Santiago Buitrago as their general classification leader for the Tour de France. The Colombian will be flanked by an experienced team that includes Pello Bilbao, Wout Poels and Matej Mohorič, who all won stages at last year’s Tour.
Jack Haig returns for his fifth Tour appearance, while Fred Wright, Nikias Arndt and sprinter Phil Bauhaus also feature in the line-up.
Buitrago won mountain stages at the Giro d’Italia in 2022 and 2023, while his 10th place at last year’s Vuelta a España was his highest overall finish in a Grand Tour to date. The 24-year-old won atop Mont Brouilly at Paris-Nice in March and he placed 11th overall at the Critérium du Dauphiné, where he impressed on the final two mountain stages.
“I’m really excited about my first Tour de France, the team and I have been working hard over in Andorra at training camp, and I think at this Tour you need to be ready from the first stage,” Buitrago said in a statement released by the team. “I am fighting to do my best in the GC, and there is really strong competition, but I know that if I follow my race, I can be up there with the best talents and also fight for the white jersey.”
Bilbao placed sixth overall in last year’s Tour as well as claiming a fine stage victory in Issoire. He warmed up for this Tour by winning a stage of the Tour of Slovenia, where he also placed second overall. While Bahrain Victorious described Buitrago as their GC leader, Bilbao will also target a high overall finish in Nice.
“My ambitions obviously will be to try win another stage,” Bilbao said. “Last year it was one of the most intense emotions I’ve ever lived through in my cycling career, and I’d love to repeat it. There is nothing comparable to winning a stage at the Tour de France. Meanwhile I will also be focusing on the GC and want to do my best possible race.”
Mohorič has won three stages at the Tour over the years, including a memorable triumph in Poligny on the 2023 race. As the reigning gravel world champion, the Slovenian will surely be to the fore on stage 9 to Troyes.
“Personally, the two stages I look forward to the most are the gravel stage and stage 18, which could be a good opportunity for the breakaway,” Mohorič said. “There will be other opportunities across the race as things never go as planned, and we need to embrace those opportunities.”
Bauhaus will lead the line in the bunch sprints, with Arndt serving as his lead-out man. The German made his Tour debut last year, placing second in Bayonne in the opening week, and third in Nogaro and Moulins. He warmed up for the Tour with a stage win at the Tour of Slovenia.
The 2024 Tour gets under way in Florence on Saturday.
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