Will Poels get a shot in three-leader Tour team, including that trump card who robbed Evenepoel of his KOM?

Now 60 years old, Stephens himself was no insignificant racer. Far from it, as he even managed to win a stage in the Tour de France in 1997. Bahrain Victorious is heading to the 2024 Tour with much higher ambitions than just stage wins. With Santiago Buitrago as the leader for the general classification, Jack Haig and Pello Bilbao as established names in his shadow, and Fred Wright as a true all-rounder.

Ahead of the Dauphiné, the team laid the foundation for a good summer at altitude in Tenerife, after Bahrain Victorious, and Antonio Tiberi in particular, achieved a surprising fifth place in the general classification of the Giro d'Italia. "I wasn't there myself, but I heard from the team managers who were that everything went according to plan," Stephens clarified about the training camp. "The guys who are here at the Dauphiné definitely had a good training camp. They are in good shape, which is nice."

The Middle Eastern outfit is certainly feeling confident. "We went to the Dauphiné with a lot of confidence. The same applies to the Tour of Switzerland, and I assume it will be no different heading towards the Tour, and also those three weeks in between. In recent days, we had some meetings with the staff, and based on those, I could tell that everything is going according to plan. I myself will not be at the Tour, but the signals are all looking good. I couldn't really draw any other conclusions."

In short, everything seems to be running smoothly for Bahrain Victorious. One man might stand out even more in this regard: Santiago Buitrago, who was in Tenerife before heading to the Dauphiné. On the well-known Teide climb, the Colombian was a whopping 1.20 minutes (!) faster than Remco Evenepoel, who had held the KOM there for some time. Buitrago's performance, at an average power of 5.9 W/kg, which he sustained for 55 minutes, was assessed by Strava's systems in such a way that it was excluded from the rankings, but the very least we can say is that the Colombian was in good form.

"Santi is indeed in good form, you could definitely say that," Stephens agreed, though he wanted to put that into perspective. "That applies to all the other riders on the team, but especially to him. I must say, though, that I don't find it very important how he performs on Strava, haha! I see that app more as something for fun. For all we know, countless riders could be completing great training rides, but they simply don't post them on Strava. Yet, I can't deny that it does give us a bit of extra confidence about his form, although it's not a crystal clear indicator. This morning I even beat this guy on Strava!" he pointed out, laughing, to a staff member at least twenty years his junior. "It's nice, but it's not a game changer."

Dutchman Wout Poels saw his Giro d'Italia dream – he only needed a stage win there to join the illustrious trio of riders with stage victories in all three grand tours – shatter into thousands of pieces last May. Consequently, the veteran had to focus on the Tour of Hungary, where he indeed took sportive revenge with a stage win. "Wout is definitely on the long list for the Tour," Stephens believes. "That's beyond question. Personally, I think he is a fantastic rider."

"Whether Wout goes to the Tour or not is not necessarily my decision," the team manager continued. "But I must certainly say that I have enjoyed working with him immensely over the past few years. I have also seen him achieve great victories. And even if he doesn't win, he shows beautiful things. I also suspect that Wout is in good shape. And should he not go to the Tour unexpectedly, that would be nice for me, because then he would come to the Vuelta with me," the man from Oceania showed his sense of humor again.

We just mentioned it already: Bahrain Victorious has lots of great riders in its ranks, and there are still quite a few to discuss. Matej Mohoric, for instance, is a formidable contender for success in the Tour, as the past has already shown. Last week, however, we saw the Slovenian – who became the world champion in gravel racing in October – competing in the grueling gravel race Unbound, where a mechanical problem threw a wrench in the works. But still: first Unbound, then back to focusing on the Tour. Isn't that a tricky transition, especially with the Tour approaching so soon? Stephens could see our point when we confronted him. "I think you're right in principle, if you were talking about any other rider. But Matej is a very special guy."

"Many riders would indeed have a lot of trouble with that, but not Matej. He's kind of a freak, capable of achieving great things in all sorts of ways," he reinforced his argument in a praising manner. "I followed the Unbound race a little. His metrics also showed that he was doing very well physically. So, he was in good form. However, bad luck did spoil things for him, which is of course very unfortunate. And what was also special: shortly after Unbound ended, we had a group discussion about the Tour de France. Matej joined that too. Of course, he was a bit disappointed, but there was always a smile on his face. I think he rode about 175 kilometers in America. That's a tough effort, but not of the kind that it will cost him anything in the Tour. Not even in his preparations."

Bilbao, who was sixth last year in La Grande Boucle and scored a beautiful stage win, is someone we haven't even mentioned yet in this whole story. Could such a large group of potential captains also be a problem? "In itself, that's definitely not a problem, especially not with us," Stephens is clear. "It might even be a good 'problem' to have. I think in that context, the harmony within the team is the most important aspect. We're not a team with one rider who stands out, like Tadej Pogacar or Jonas Vingegaard. They are the born leaders, who naturally draw the leadership role to themselves. We also have strong riders, but perhaps our strength lies more in the number of potential captains. In my opinion, that's exactly where the strength of our team lies. I hope that unity will take us far in the Tour."

You guessed it: we haven't covered all the climbing aces yet. Haig also deserves a mention, since he has already finished third in the Vuelta. He also spoke with several cycling journalists, including IDLProcycling.com's man on the ground. "What exactly have I been doing these past weeks? I bought a fast car, I bought a motorcycle, I switched wives... Just kidding! I've spent the past weeks at altitude, in Tenerife to be exact," the 30-year-old Australian begun, immediately getting the audience to laugh.

"This Dauphiné is going to be very important again," said Haig. "That's always the case. It's just a kind of baby Tour de France. Everyone comes here to see how the preparations are going or how they have panned out. Many guys took a break for altitude training after the races in April and May. This is the moment to see how far they have come, also with an eye on the Tour de France. After this, there are still a few weeks to tweak a few small things, although generally, if you're in form here, you will be in the Tour as well."

Haig frequently emphasized how important the Dauphiné, a race he has often ridden, really is these days. "It's the big test for the Tour de France. This year the course is also exceptionally tough, especially due to that grueling final weekend. The total elevation is remarkably high, while the time trial is very long. Add to that a very strong field of participants and you can definitely say it's a good gauge for the Tour. I myself will also need to aim for a result here, especially since this season hasn't really been my season yet. I haven't achieved any noteworthy results, so that needs to change."

Based on past results – although these offer no guarantees for the future – Haig should be capable of great things in France, as he himself is also aware. "Normally, this race suits me very well, considering I've finished fifth three times in a row. Two more times in fifth place and I have my own version of the strive for five, haha! If it indeed goes well again, that will definitely give me confidence heading into the Tour. I definitely need that."

Coincidentally, in the conversation with Haig, that in-form man from Colombia came up again. "For Santiago, it will be his first Tour de France. That's a test in itself. I'm very curious how he will mix in with all the other world-class riders. Here in the Dauphiné, we can already get a taste of that," he said, clearly enthusiastic about a potential upcoming Tour surprise (or is it not a surprise anymore?).