Pool tips Tour de France 2025 | Should you need advice, otherwise sorry for the (extra) stress!

We’ll start this list off with some Dutch national bias — because while the spotlight is on Mathieu van der Poel and his green jersey dreams, there are other Dutchmen coming to France with serious intentions. Marijn van den Berg made his debut last year and comes into this edition with some hard-earned experience. Could this be the year everything clicks? EF certainly thinks so.

There’s been a lot of noise about all those tricky finishes in the first two weeks — tailor-made for classics specialists. But Van den Berg is no slouch on a short climb, and if it comes down to a reduced bunch, he’s one of the fastest left. He once boasted that his top speed doesn’t drop after an effort — and with a recent win at La Route d’Occitanie, he’s clearly got the legs. Let the sprints come.

A Tour debut for Tobias Foss, and it might just be a memorable one. The 28-year-old Norwegian made his name with Visma | Lease a Bike, won the Tour de l’Avenir in 2019 with Uno-X, and surprised everyone with a time trial world title in 2022. Since then, it’s been a mix of highs and disappointments.

His move to INEOS in 2024 didn’t immediately turn things around, but the team’s new attacking style seems to suit him. Foss is an all-round engine, already snagged a stage win at the Tour of the Alps last year, and looked solid this year in Paris-Nice, Flèche Wallonne, and the Dauphiné. He also just grabbed the Norwegian TT title, and with his punch and engine, he could shine in tough finales, time trials — maybe even in the high mountains. Definitely one to keep an eye on.

He’s only done two Grand Tours, both of them Tours de France. Tobias Halland Johannessen is still with Uno-X, the team that’s been giving him space — even if he often has to wait deep into the race before he’s let off the leash. Last year he showed himself as a gutsy attacker, especially in the third week after a rough start. But Johannessen is more than a breakaway guy — remember, he won the 2021 Tour de l’Avenir.

Like Foss, we’re still waiting for him to truly explode, and maybe the Tour isn’t the easiest place to do that — especially as the lone wildcard team. But his recent fifth place at the Dauphiné suggests he’s ready. He can go for GC or chase mountain stages. This could be the year he finally breaks through.

Back to the sprinters — because when it comes to Tour pools, you want the big guns, and then that one sneaky name who racks up top-10s like it’s nothing. TotalEnergies might just have that guy in Emilien Jeannière. The 26-year-old Frenchman has never ridden a Grand Tour, so the Tour could hit him like a freight train — but his results say he’s ready.

Jeannière raced at club level until 2022, then signed with TotalEnergies. Since then, he’s been sprinting into the top five in one-week races and took his first wins in 2024 in the Boucles de la Mayenne, the Tour of Istanbul, and somewhere in Japan. More importantly, he showed he can handle stiffer competition in Oman, Paris-Nice, and the Dauphiné. He’s probably not winning a stage — but he might quietly gather a mountain of top-10s. That’s pool gold.

Looking for a puncher for those spicy first two weeks — who isn’t named Van der Poel or Van Aert? Then take a peek at Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale. Team leader Benoît Cosnefroy is out with injury, but Bastien Tronchon is ready to step in. At just 23, he already made his Grand Tour debut at this year’s Giro. Bring on the Tour.

Tronchon is in only his third pro season but already looks like a Cosnefroy clone: great on short climbs, maybe not a GC threat, but dangerous from small groups. He placed top seven twice in the Critérium du Dauphiné, won Tro-Bro Léon, and finished 18th on the Mur de Huy in Flèche Wallonne. If you want a cheeky pick for the punchy days, this is your guy.

Another former Tour de l’Avenir winner — this time from 2024. Okay, that edition was only six days instead of eight, but Joe Blackmore still joined an impressive list of past winners. The 22-year-old Brit jumped from Israel’s devo team to the WorldTour in 2023 and nearly cracked the top 10 in the U23 Tour that year. This season? Wins in the Tour du Rwanda and Tour de Taiwan, among others.

Last year, he bagged Circuit des Ardennes, Liège-Bastogne-Liège U23, and the Avenir, proving he’d outgrown the U23 ranks. In 2025, he finished fourth in the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes and held his own in Flèche Wallonne and Amstel Gold. He’s got a motor, a time trial, a punch, and smart racing instincts. Whether he’s going for stages or a cheeky GC run, he could be one of the Tour’s surprise packages.

One more sprinter for the road? Alright. Say hello to Alexis Renard, 26 years old, riding for Cofidis. Now, technically Bryan Coquard is their lead sprinter — but the team’s hunting UCI points, which means they’ll probably let multiple riders have a go, just like in 2024. And don’t be shocked if Renard ends up beating Coquard in some of those bunch finishes.

He was second in the Copenhagen sprint behind Jordi Meeus, and also second in the Brussels Cycling Classic behind Tim Merlier. Seventh in Bruges–De Panne, fifth in last year’s Paris–Tours. Hasn’t won yet, but that’s not the point for your pool. Like Jeannière, Renard could be a consistent top-10 finisher, which helps both Cofidis and your standings.

Yet another debutant — and not just any debutant. Mauro Schmid is only 25, but he’s been around for a while. He first made headlines in 2021 with a Giro stage win on gravel and earned a move to Soudal-Quick Step. There, he won the Baloise Belgium Tour in 2022 and Coppi e Bartali in 2023. Then he switched to Jayco–AlUla.

In Aussie colors, Schmid’s reinventing himself as a stage racer who can also perform in classics. He won the Tour of Slovakia last year and kicked off 2025 with a win at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. He recently defended his Swiss national title and will likely ride the Tour in a free role. He’s strong in the hills, solid in breakaways, and his TT is sharp. Bonus tip: he thrives in the heat.

Can you still call him a sleeper pick? If you’ve followed 2025 even a little, Iván Romeo is probably already in your squad. The 21-year-old Spaniard opened his season with a stage win in the Tour of Valencia, then doubled down with victories at Paris–Nice and the Dauphiné. He’s got the legs, but more impressively — he’s got the smarts.

Romeo’s been with Movistar since 2023, but this season he’s clearly leveled up. No cobbled classics this year — instead, he focused on stage races and used his time trial and climbing to make the difference. He’s starting to resemble Oier Lazkano (now with Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) in style. Could the Tour become his playground?

Expect Astana to go all-in on breakaways this Tour — and luckily, the route is perfect for that. After a UCI points haul in the Giro, they’ll be hungry in France too. You probably know names like Harold Tejada, Sergio Higuita, and Clément Champoussin, but don’t sleep on Simone Velasco. The 29-year-old Italian has been around and even wore the national champion’s jersey in 2023.

In 2025, he’s been flying — fifth in Coppi e Bartali, eighth in the Tour of the Basque Country, and a stunning fourth in Liège–Bastogne–Liège. After that, he disappeared into a long training block to peak for the Tour. While Champoussin might be their big hope for the KOM jersey, don’t be surprised if Velasco turns out to be the form guy at Astana — and starts racking up points.