The rider

Alex Baudin gives EF a French stage-hunting card with form, local stakes and exactly the right kind of restlessness. His June win on the opening stage of the rebranded Dauphiné was not just a result; it was a template. Get in the right break, commit before the favourites care, and use punchy climbing to turn a medium-mountain day into something much larger. Coming into his second Tour, Baudin no longer feels like a speculative pick. He feels like a rider with a route map.

His path has been about rebuilding momentum. After his AG2R years, EF offers a setting that rewards opportunism rather than asking every rider to fit a conservative pattern. Baudin's puncheur-climber profile suits French roads that never quite become pure GC mountains but are too hard for the sprinters. Those are the stages where the Tour often produces emotional home victories, and where a rider with legs and nerve can turn national pressure into fuel.

Within EF, Baudin does not have to carry the biggest tactical burden. Carapaz and Healy will draw attention, Asgreen brings horsepower, and Quinn and Steinhauser can work or attack depending on the day. That gives Baudin room to pick moments. His best Tour would not require daily visibility. It would require one perfectly judged day where the break survives, the climbs are short enough to keep him sharp, and the finish rewards a rider willing to believe slightly earlier than everyone else.