👀Underrated Riders to Watch – Budget Picks with Real Upside👀
In the world of fantasy cycling and under-the-radar Tour de France bets, sometimes it's not the stars that win you the game it's the budget gems. Here are six lesser-known or undervalued riders who could surprise with stage results, breakaway exploits, or KOM ambitions:
Iván Romeo🇪🇦 – Versatile, explosive, and in top form
Iván Romeo has been one of the breakout talents of the 2024 season, and it's surprising to still see him at such a low price in many fantasy platforms. Whether it’s uphill finishes, time trials, or hilly terrain, he’s consistently performed and more importantly, he's not afraid to attack.
The only uncertainty lies in Movistar’s tactical approach. Will he have the freedom to ride his own race? If yes, he’s arguably one of the most complete and explosive young riders on the Tour. Definitely a must-consider for breakaway-heavy stages.
Louis Barré🇨🇵 – Intermarché’s mountain wildcard
Louis Barré has had a very strong and consistent season, arguably Intermarché's most visible rider this year. He climbs well, has a strong punch, and will almost certainly be in multiple breakaways. He lacks time trial ability, but more than makes up for it with aggression.
He's also the undisputed climbing leader for his team, giving him the freedom to target mountain stages or even the KOM jersey. Barré is a cheap pick with genuine upside.
Mauro Schmid🇨🇭 – One of the most combative riders of the season
While Mauro Schmid doesn't have a ton of big wins this year, he’s been one of the most consistently aggressive riders in the peloton. He’s often seen in long-range attacks, and comes into the Tour in good form, having won both the Swiss National ITT and road race.
Schmid is a solid all-rounder and a realistic stage win contender from a breakaway. He’s a top-tier budget option for value-seekers.
Bastien Tronchon🇨🇵 – The ultimate budget pick?
Bastien Tronchon might be the most valuable low-cost rider in this year’s Tour. He’s got a great sprint for reduced groups, he climbs reasonably well, and has an excellent punch. His season has been impressive across various terrains, with particularly strong performances in French one-day races and rolling stages.
Don’t be surprised if he racks up multiple top 10s or even snatches a stage.
#TDF #TDF2025 #TDF25 #TourdeFrance #TourDeFrance2025 #IvanRomeo #LouisBarre #MauroSchmid #BastienTronchon #ClementChampoussin #AlexBaudin
👀Ultra Budget Picks – Ultra Low-Cost Riders with Potential👀
When your fantasy budget is running low, the real challenge begins: finding riders under the radar who can still offer value, visibility, and points. These are the deep-cut options, the riders priced at the bottom, but with the right circumstances, could still shine.
Andreas Leknessund🇧🇻 – Norway’s national champ with breakaway ambitions
Andreas Leknessund may come cheap, but his potential contribution is far from minimal. He’s had a quietly solid season, and heads into the Tour as the reigning Norwegian national champion, a title he earned in impressive style.
Known for his attacking mindset and willingness to suffer, Leknessund is a classic breakaway rider, and there’s a good chance we’ll see him feature prominently in early stages, especially those suited for the polka dot jersey hunt. He could do a somewhat of Jonas Abrahamsen’s 2024 performance.
Mattéo Vercher🇨🇵 – A punchy fighter made for rolling terrain
Another ultra-low-cost name to keep in mind is Mattéo Vercher. Vercher isn’t a pure climber, but he’s excellent on rolling terrain and medium mountain stages the kind of days with constant undulation and no clear control by the GC teams. That makes him perfectly suited for many of the early Tour de France stages.
He’s already proven his ability to convert attacks into results with an impressive win at the Tour du Doubs, and he’s the type of rider who thrives in chaos, especially in transition stages. If he gets into the right moves, he could deliver real fantasy value well beyond his bargain price.
Ewen Costiou🇨🇵
We shouldn’t forget that Arkea isn’t just Kevin Vauquelin. Ewen Costiou is also a very promising rider who has had a solid season so far. Costiou is a strong m aggressive racer who showed his quality in the recent Tour de Suisse, where he played a key support role for Vauquelin. While he might be somewhat overshadowed by his more prominent teammate, Costiou still offers great potential.
He’s a rider to watch for breakaways and possibly a few standout finishes, especially in stages that suit his punchy, all-round style. Expect him to animate the race and perhaps seize some valuable opportunities.
Jordan Jegat🇨🇵 – Total Direct Energies' climbing hope.
Jordan Jegat, has had a solid season so far. He climbs well but still needs to prove himself in the high mountains.
That said, he seems to be steadily improving and is a strong candidate for breakaways in this Tour. Total Direct Energies brings a fairly interesting team, and Jegat will carry the responsibility of delivering solid results here.
He’s a rider to watch for aggressive moves in mountain stages and possibly chasing the King of the Mountains points.
Anders Halland Johannessen🇧🇻 – Rising talent and strong support
Anders Halland Johannessen recently delivered an outstanding performance at the Tour of Slovenia, where he took the victory ahead of seasoned riders like Félix Großschartner and Tao Geoghegan Hart.
He appears to be in the best form of his life and is another promising candidate for breakaways in the mountain stages of the Tour. While primarily a key support rider for Tobias Johannessen, Anders also has the potential to seize good results on his own.
Stian Fredheim🇧🇻 – A rare affordable sprinter option
Looking at the sprinters, there are very few quality riders who are cheap picks, and Stian Fredheim is one of the exceptions. However, with Soren Wærenskjold on the team, Wærenskjold will clearly be the favorite for sprints.
That said, Fredheim could have a chance on some stages where Wærenskjold might struggle. He’s definitely an interesting option to consider for extra points on the more sprint-friendly stages.
#TDF #TDF2025 #TDF25 #TourdeFrance #TourDeFrance2025 #AndreasLeknessund #MatteoVercher #EwenCostiou #JordanJegat #AndersHallandJohannessen #StianFredheim
#TDF2025 BIG TOUR PREVIEW - Part III
The (im)famous teams analysis. Same format as always and nice addition to Part I en II of the Big Tour Preview:
UAE Emirates
GC: Pogacar
Sprint: none
Break: none
All in for Pogacar's 4th title. Solo favourite, at least 4 stage wins and Almeida with a serious shot at podium.
Visma LAB
GC: Vingegaard
Sprint: van Aert
Break: none
All in for Vingegaard. Will be very hard, he needs two incredible TT's and some luck. Normally riding for 2nd place. Wout van Aert to target some stages. We need more information about his chances for Green, if free to go then the route couldn't be better to have a go.
Soudal Quick Step
GC: Evenepoel
Sprint: Merlier
Break: none
Team build around Evenepoel and Merlier. Remco will love the first punchy stages/finals (2,4,6) and I still think he will be the best of the rest and will podium. Yellow after the TT stage 5. If not, I hope he'll lose a lot of time and go for stages and KoM like in the Vuelta two years ago. Merlier to win a stage but not a green jersey contender at all for me.
EF
GC: none
Sprint: van den Berg
Break: Healy, Powless, Baudin
Not official yet but we give it a go! With or without Carapaz, it was already stage hunting galore. Powless for the first 10 days, Healy will like stages 6, 10, 11, 15 and 20 and maybe a shot at KoM.
Decathlon
GC: Gall
Sprint: none
Break: Tronchon, Berthet
Decathlon didn't bring any of their fast/punchy men. Strange with this route. Gall for GC, top 10. Bissegger and Armirail hope to surprise on stage 5.
RB Bora Hansgrohe
GC: Roglic, Lipowitz
Sprint: Meeus, van Poppel, Pithie
Break: none
They will have a shot at alle different stages, expect the break away days. Roglic is their number 1 but with Lipo as co-leader. If Roglic survives the first 10 days without crashes he is a podium contender. Meeus for the flat sprints, Van Poppel or Pithie for the harder ones.
Cofidis
GC: Buchmann
Sprint: Coquard, Renard, Aranburu
Break: none
A team with familiar names, but not in their prime anymore. Cant see any results. Think Alexis Renard looks the strongest for a surprise result.
Alpecin
GC: none
Sprint: Philipsen, van der Poel
Break: van der Poel
They want to win a lot of (sprint) stages and the green jersey with both Philipsen and van der Poel. Very strong lead out, very strong team to position van der Poel in the punchy, hectic finishes. If their was ever a moment in the career of van der Poel that he could win the green jersey, this is the year. He is in great form, made a lot of training hours in the heat of Spain, he has the freedom and the route suits him. I think he'll go for it!
Arkea
GC: none
Sprint: Démare, Venturini
Break: Vauquelin, Costiou
Vauquelin wisely decided that he goes for stages rather than a top 10. This route is very good for him to try and have some (podium) results in the punchy stages and the break away stages.
Ineos
GC: C. Rodriquez
Sprint: Ganna
Break: Arensman, Foss
Ineos do not have the favourite and I expect them to ride very attractive again with the likes of Arensman and Foss trying to go on the attack and win a stage. Ganna wil be the main man for the first 10 days. But Pippo doesn't look like Milano -San Remo Pippo. The TT of stage 5 will be his best chance for a result.
Intermarche-Wanty
GC: none
Sprint: Girmay
Break: Zimermann, Barré
Clear goals: sprinting with Bini, break with Zimmermann and Barré, both in really good form and looking for results in stages 6, 10, 15 and 20.
Lidl Trek
GC: Skjelmose
Sprint: Milan, Nys
Break: none
Skjelmose GC, Milan all sprints and try for green jersey, Nys the ones too hard for Milan. Easy. I would like to see Skjelmose switch to stage hunting, and maybe he will (even KoM) because top 10 will be very hard, also without any support.
Groupama - FDJ
GC: G. Martin
Sprint: Penhoet, Askey
Break: Gregoire, Madouas
Gregoire will like the look of the first 10 days with his punchy character, but winning will be hard.
Movistar
GC: Mas
Sprint: none
Break: Romeo, Romo
All in for GC Mas. They let Gaviria at home. Mas must survive the first 10 days to have a shot at top 10, that already will be very hard. But hey, this is his trainingcamp for the Vuelta after all! Watch Romeo, both in the TT of stage 5 as the break away stages. Boy is on fire.
PicNiC Post NL
GC: none
Sprint: Bittner, Lund
Break: van den Broek, Onley
Just like his Tour de Suisse compratiot Vauquelin, Oscar Onley lets GC go to focus on stage wins. Good decision! He will try to be in the mix in the punchy stages and the harder break away days.
Jayco
GC: Ben O'Connor
Sprint: Groenewegen
Break: Schmid
GC top 10 Ben, Dylan to sprint but not winning a stage and Mauro to win a stage out of a late attack or break away stage. He is flying.
Bahrein
GC: Buitrago
Sprint: Bauhaus
Break: Lenny Martinez, Mohoric
Allround team with Lenny Martinez going for stages (and KoM?) and Buitrago their main GC rider. Bauhaus for top 10's. Nothing special.
XDS Astana
GC: none
Sprint: Ballerini, Bol
Break: Tejada, Higuita, Champoussin, Velasco
Looks like they just had 8 random names out of a box to ride the Tour. Free for all. Hunting for points.
Lotto
GC: none
Sprint: de Lie
Break: van Eetvelt, Berckmoes
Not very high hopes. De Lie with some top 10's, but he is not at his normal level.
Israel Premier Tech
GC: None
Sprint: Ackermann, Stewart
Break: Lutsenko, Woods, Blackmore
Not very high hopes, part II. Sprints will be their best option to get some results.
Team Total Energies
GC: Cras
Sprint: Jeannière
Break: Jegat, Turgis, Burgaudeau
Not very high hopes, part III. Probably a lot of them are in early break aways.
Tudor
GC: none
Sprint: Dainese
Break: Alaphilippe, Hirschi, Storer
Very high hopes. With Dainese for the flat sprints, the punchy stages for Hirschi and Loulou (2,4,6,7) and the mountains for Storer break aways, they can enjoy themselfes.
Uno X
GC: Tobias Halland Johannessen
Sprint: Waerenskjold, Fredheim
Break: Cort, Abrahamsen, Leknessund
The Norwegian team will be very visibile, go can be sure about that! I think Abrahamsen will go for the early KoM again. Leknessund in great shape, he will like the look of stage 6. Waerenskjold is their designated sprinter, but he is not feeling good, Fredheim will sprint.
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4. My physical therapist coached me on these two exercises to strengthen posture muscles.
Exercise 1:
Note: it's pretty technical and took me time to learn the technique.
Keep your elbows back, your shoulders in this position, and weights in your hand. You want to bring your shoulders up and out.
Exercise 2:
With your hands on your forehead, resist the pressure of your hands pushing your head back.
When doing this, be very patient.
Watch this demo here:
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