British Riders in the Tour de France 2024
While it doesn’t necessarily look like a vintage year for British participation in the Tour de France, there are quite a few riders to keep an eye out for.
Geraint Thomas
At 38, Geraint Thomas is now a veteran bike racer. He was the winner of the 2018 Tour de France.
Thomas has already ridden the Giro d’Italia this year, and he came third overall in Italy. This is what he had to say after Stage 20.
In principle, the Welshman will have a supporting role at the 2024 Tour, with Carlos Rodriguez and Egan Bernal likely to be his team’s protected riders.
British rider Ben Turner is one of Thomas’ teammates. Turner is 6ft4 and 74kg, which marks him out as a rouleur rather than a climber.
Another of Thomas’s teammates is Tom Pidcock.
Tom Pidcock
Tom Pidcock seems intent on Tour de France stage wins rather than a GC bid.
His only Tour de France stage win to date was Alpe d’Huez in 2022, but he won Strade Bianche last year and the Amstel Gold Race this year.
Pidcock has the Olympics on his mind. He is taking part in the cross-country mountain biking, where he is defending champion, and in the road race.
Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish is leading the Astana team.
He has a sprint train that includes Cees Bol, Davide Ballerini and Michael Morkov. Either all that experience will count, or perhaps it will be trumped by younger rivals on other teams.
Cavendish is looking for at least one stage win, which would take him to 35. At the moment he is tied with Eddy Merckx for the most stage wins.
There were encouraging signs in Hungary in May, when Cavendish won a stage.
Dan McLay is another British sprinter; he is on the Arkéa B&B Hotels team. His role might be to support Arnaud Démare rather than to go for stage wins himself.
Fred Wright
Fred Wright is one of number of riders on the Bahrain Victorious team who could win a stage from a breakaway.
The others include Matej Mohoric, Wout Poels, Pello Bilbao and Santiago Buitrago.
Wright was 2023 British champion, and he has been second on Grand Tour stages a couple of times. He will be hoping to go one better in 2024.
Adam and Simon Yates
Adam and Simon Yates have been top GC riders for quite a few years now.
Simon was perhaps at his peak in 2018, when he won the Vuelta. He rides for Jayco Alula, and will be given the freedom to ride for a high overall placing. The team’s other objective will be stage wins with Dylan Groenewegen and Michael Matthews.
Adam hasn’t won a Grand Tour, but he has come first in a lot of shorter stage races, including the recent Tour de Suisse.
Adam will be a super-domestique for Pogacar, a role he was able to perform last year and still come third overall.
The Yates brothers fought it out for the win on Stage 1 of the 2023 Tour de France. Adam came out on top on that occasion.
Oscar Onley
Oscar Onley rides for DSM-Firmenich; he’s only 21 years old.
Onley was 8th on GC in the recent Tour de Suisse, and won a stage of the Tour Down Under on Willunga Hill earlier this year.
The Scot has had bad luck, fracturing his collar bone three times, most recently in the Amstel Gold Race in April.
He and his team are going for stage wins.
Stephen Williams and Jake Stewart
Stephen Williams and Jake Stewart are in the Israel Premier Tech team.
Williams won Fleche Wallonne in April and before that, the Tour Down Under in January. He is small and light and 28 years old.
He says he is targeting stages at the Tour de France. This could include Stage 1.
24-year-old Stewart is a fast finisher, but he will be expected to support sprinter Pascal Ackermann rather than go for stage wins himself.