ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK

The Flemish team set up by brothers Philip and Christoph Roodhoft in 2009 hit the ground running in its first Tour de France start. Known originally as BKCP–Powerplus and then as Corendon–Circus, it took its first steps in cyclo-cross, in which it got acquainted with success thanks to Niels Albert, world champion in 2009 and 2012. It gradually expanded its activities to road cycling until in 2019 when it became part of the Pro Continental category, a gateway to star-studded events, including the Grand Tours from 2021 onwards, before its promotion to the WorldTour tier in 2023.

Ever since Albert's career came to an abrupt end in 2014, the team has bet the farm on Mathieu van der Poel, who, as a rider who takes part in cyclo-cross, road cycling and mountain biking, is the perfect fit for the squad. His plan A was to make his Tour de France debut after the 2020 Olympic Games, but their postponement to 2021 turned the situation on its head, so he lined up in Brest for the start of the 2021 edition with a burning desire to slip on the yellow jersey that had always eluded his grandfather Raymond Poulidor. He came up short in Landerneau, where Julian Alaphilippe emerged victorious at the top of the Fosse aux Loups, but the Dutchman turned on the afterburners the next day to clinch the bonus sprint and prevail in the mad dash to the line in Mûr-de-Bretagne.

Alpecin–Fenix showed the depth of its roster on the third day of racing, when Tim Merlier repeated his exploit from the Giro by claiming the first bunch sprint in Pontivy thanks to a lead-out from the yellow jersey himself. "MVDP" again made a statement when he fought tooth and nail to defend his lead in the Laval time trial. After saving his overall lead by eight seconds over Tadej Pogačar, he showed his commitment to the old adage that the best defence is a good offence in the longest stage of the Tour, a true classic finishing in Le Creusot in which he and Wout van Aert put on a real show for the fans right from the start. He relinquished the golden fleece to Pogačar in the first Alpine stage and eased up from then on to leave something in the tank for the Olympic MTB event (where he crashed), but with the clear intention to return to the Tour in 2022. He subsequently wore the maglia rosa in the Giro, but he dipped too much into his reserves to finish the Italian race, leading to his withdrawal halfway through the Grande Boucle, where he had not been much of a factor.

Jasper Philipsen, the baby of the 2019 Tour de France and a multiple-time Vuelta a España stage winner, filled the void left by Alpecin–Deceuninck's charismatic leader and became the most prolific sprinter of the 2022 Tour, with victories first in Carcassonne and then on the Champs-Élysées, where he made amends for his defeat at the hands of Wout van Aert in 2021. The Belgian outfit, for which the mountains have often been an afterthought, bolstered its stage hunting prospects with the signing of Søren Kragh Andersen, a two-time winner in 2020.