Soudal Quick-Step travels this week to Barcelona, which on Saturday will become the 24th different city to host the Tour de France Grand Depart. Taking place from 4 to 26 July, the 113th edition of the season’s second Grand Tour will see the team time trial return for the first time since 2019, with Barcelona set to host the event on the opening day, when the riders will finish on the Montjuic hill. Aside from this, the race schedules just one more stage against the clock, a 26.1km individual one, coming in the last week.

The many sprinters at the start will have at least five opportunities to fight for victory and the many points that these bring in the green jersey classification. There will be a total of five summit finishes this year, including Orcières-Merlette - where Luis Ocaña took a famous victory in 1971 - and Alpe d’Huez, which features in back-to-back stages.

Soudal Quick-Step has won 55 stages at the previous participations, the most recent of which was delivered by Valentin Paret-Peintre on the slopes of Mont Ventoux. The Frenchman, who will make his second appearance at the race, is excited to get things underway in a couple of days: “I’m happy to be back at the start after my successful debut last year and I hope to get another stage victory, but it would be nice to fight also for the polka dot jersey. When possible, I will also try to help the team and give my best so that we can get as many victories as possible. Alpe d’Huez stands out as the main attraction of the race, and it would be really nice to win there, especially as there are two opportunities.”

A triple stage winner at the Grande Boucle, Tim Merlier leads our squad on the flat, where the Belgian - one of the best sprinters in the world - will look to add to his impressive palmares, which at the moment counts 72 pro wins. Soudal Quick-Step’s team will also include Pascal Eenkhoorn, Jasper Stuyven, Dylan van Baarle, Bert Van Lerberghe, Ilan Van Wilder, and Louis Vervaeke - an experienced roster capable of fighting for good results regardless of the terrain.

A notable absentee is Mikel Landa, fifth overall at the 2024 edition in his first year with The Wolfpack. The Basque was due to race his eighth Tour de France, but due to a lingering back injury he will not be present at the start: “I am very disappointed because I won’t be there after already missing the Giro d’Italia. It’s been a difficult year so far, and after struggling in the Tour de Suisse, I realized there’s no point in trying to go to Le Tour. It’s important now to rest and recover, and hopefully I will be at the start of the Vuelta in two months.”

“We go to the start of the Tour in Barcelona with a strong and versatile team. Tim has as main goal to win a stage, and with the changes that were made in the points classification, he could also get involved in the fight for green, especially as he has a strong squad for the bunch sprints. Valentin, who is incredibly motivated and has improved in this past year, will try to be again a protagonist in the mountains, while Ilan will be our guy for the general classification, but the plan is for him to take it day by day. We also have guys capable of going in the breakaways, but our main focus will be of course on the sprint stages”, said sports director Tom Steels.