By Rebecca Reza

The 2020 Tour de France route is one of the most mountainous in recent history, with only one individual time trial that ends with an uphill finish. After a lumpy  stage one, the Tour will dive straight into the mountains, testing the rider’s fitness after only a few weeks of racing in their legs. 

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As is the case every year, many of the best climbers in the Tour will not contest the KOM competition as they work for either personal GC ambitions or that of their teams. This opens the door for more open and dynamic racing across the 2020 route's many summits.  

Below are a few riders to watch in the coming weeks, hunting points in order to arrive in Paris wearing the iconic polka dots jersey. 

Davide Formolo

Formolo returned from lockdown shooting straight out of the blocks. The 2019 Italian Champion just missed out on a big win at Strade Bianche to Wout van Aert. His form however only continued to improve. He spent many days in the break at the Criterium du Dauphiné, emphatically winning stage 3, outrunning the GC contenders with a brave solo escape in the mountains. 

In recent seasons Formolo has favored the one-day Classics but has three top ten finishes in grand tours between the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España. Formolo will be one to watch if he is given free reign to fight for points outside his duties backing up Fabio Aru and Tadej Pogačar for the GC. 

Tiesj Benoot

An all-around talent, Tiesj Benoot finished second at Paris Nice, winning the points classification and second in the king of the mountains.  The Belgian press has their eyes set on him for the GC, but Benoot downplayed the reports. Speaking to sporza.be in July, Benoot stated he will be one of several stage win options for an opportunistic Subweb roster that is prioritizing stage wins and breakaways. His versatility and strength could easily land him in polka dots when the race finishes in Paris.

Toms Skujinš

The Trek-Segafredo rider and fan favorite will be lining up for his third Tour de France on Saturday. The Latvian is in his final year of his contract with the team, and will be looking to make a mark in this super condensed season. Skujinš earned the most combative award on stage 5 of his Tour debut in 2018, which earned him several stages in polka dots for the effort. He experienced a rough Grand Départ in 2019 with gastro intestinal issues plaguing him. After several days racing as the lanterne rouge, Skujinš would bounce back to earn most combative, again on stage 5.  

Romain Bardet

The French have won the mountains classification for the past three years.  Bardet won the classification last season. He had intended to skip the 2020 Tour until COVID-19 hit, forcing him to re-evaluate his season goals. The 29-year-old recently announced a surprise move to Sunweb in 2021, after spending his entire career thus far with AG2R. 

Bardet has seemingly grown restless at AG2R where he has struggled to replicate or improve upon his second place overall at the 2016 Tour. Should his GC ambitions fall flat again this year, expect to see him in the hunt for a second, consecutive polka dot jersey. 

Emanuel Buchmann

Buchmann's start at this year's Tour de France looked to be in doubt after after crashing at the Criterium du Dauphiné. The German has been cleared to race, but the bruising and hematomas he sustained has forced him to skip several crucial training days prior in the final buildup to the Tour, according a team press release. 

Buchmann turned heads with a fourth place overall at the 2019 Tour de France and had been one of the strongest contenders in the mountainous Dauphiné prior to crashing. 

The race route is wasting no time, hitting the mountains on the second day of the race. The challenging start may not bode well for Buchmann’s GC ambitions, but we expect to see him in full flight in the mountains well before the race reaches Paris.  

Warren Barguil

Barguil will be reproduce some of the magic of his 2017 Tour de France where he finished 10th on GC, securing two stage wins and the King of the Mountain classification in the process. After two unremarkable years of racing, the Frenchman may be back on track to do just that. 

His transition from Sunweb to Arkea Samsic was not an easy one. Barguil threatened to quit cycling last season before winning the French national road championships. The team has since transitioned to a Colombian heavy squad, led by Nairo Quintana. Barguil should be a powerful ally for Quintana in the mountains, but team Director Emmanuel Hubert noted in a team statement that Barguil will have freelance options on certain stages should the opportunities present themselves.