Stars absent from Copenhagen when the Tour de France gets underway include a former winner, a former yellow jersey wearer and a sprint star.
Mark Cavendish:
Number 35 will have to wait. The British superstar was hoping to set a record for stage wins and break away from Eddy Merckx, with whom he shares first place with 34 stage wins. But Mark Cavendish is only intended as a substitute by his team QuickStep-Alpha Vinyl, instead they rely on the Dutchman Fabio Jakobsen in the sprint.
Julian Alaphilippe:
The world champion stays at home. However, Julian Alaphilippe is not absent as involuntarily as his teammate Cavendish. The Frenchman fell badly in April and only made his comeback on Sunday. Alaphilippe simply lacks the form for the three-week tour ordeal.
Egan Bernal:
A photo on Instagram gave the fans hope for a moment. On Tuesday, Egan Bernal posted a snap from the team bus in Denmark. Was there a sensational comeback looming? After all, Bernal had a bad fall in his native Colombia in January and narrowly escaped paraplegia. A few hours after his post, the Ineos-Grenadiers team published its tour squad, in which the 2019 winner was missing, as expected.
Biniam Girmay:
The 22-year-old was the discovery of spring. Biniam Girmay was the first African to win a classic, winning at Gent-Wevelgem. The professional from Eritrea won the tenth stage of the Giro d’Italia, but then shot the cork of the winning champagne in the eye and had to give up injured. His next start in Europe is planned for the Tour of Poland at the end of July.
Jai Hindley:
With his triumph at the Giro, the Australian clinched the first major tour victory for Bora-hansgrohe. Jai Hindley later admitted that he wanted to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France one day. But the 26-year-old still has to be patient and is skipping the tour this year as planned.