The rider

Florian Vermeersch gives UAE the blunt-force classics power every Tour favourite needs before the road ever reaches the mountains. His spring podiums at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and E3 Saxo Classic confirmed that the move from Lotto has sharpened rather than softened him, and his gravel world champion pedigree tells the same story: he is comfortable when traction, wind and positioning matter as much as watts. That is exactly the skill set a GC team needs in the Tour's nervous opening act.

Vermeersch's famous Paris-Roubaix breakthrough, where he spent the day in the move and still sprinted onto the podium, remains the cleanest snapshot of his racing identity. He can suffer for hours, hold speed across bad surfaces, and keep decision-making intact when the race feels feral. For Pogačar, that means protection in the places where pure climbers hate spending energy: wide exposed roads, town-centre corners, sprint approaches and any stage where a crosswind turns the peloton into shards.

He is also central to the Barcelona team time trial. UAE do not want a ceremonial opening ride; they want to make the race lean in their direction immediately. Vermeersch's job is to add weight to that effort, then spend the first week making sure Pogačar never has to waste strength solving avoidable problems. If he does his work perfectly, television viewers may notice him only as a large Belgian shape on the front. That is often how Tour-winning foundations are built.