all-rounder
Jonas Vingegaard | 26 points: Last year's winner with the biggest price tag. Actually won every race this year with ease. Only at Paris-Nice did he have to admit defeat to Pogacar.
Tadej Pogačar | 24 points: The other top favorite. 2 points better than Jonas, probably because he broke his hand at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. If I had to choose between the two, I would choose Tadej. He has a better start, the better team and is 2 points cheaper. Last year he scored 200 points more than Jonas despite finishing second.
Ben O'Connor | 14 points: The Dauphine was one of the last to keep up with Vingegaard before he drove away from everyone. Hot contender in the battle for 3rd-5th place.
Mattias Skjelmose | 14 points: recently won the Tour de Suisse. But there he has already shown one or the other weakness on steeper climbs. A risky pick for the price.
Enric Mas | 14 points: Mr. Reliable. Allegedly had diarrhea in the Dauphine and therefore did rather poorly there, but should be fit again now. In the last 8 Grand Tours he has been 6x at least 6th, twice on the podium.
Richard Carapaz | 12 points: 2nd in the Giro last year and three stage wins in the Vuelta. So far this year with his new team EF, he has not lived up to expectations, but at Velogames he is usually a guarantor of points.
Adam Yates | 12 points: Yates is a co-leader alongside Pogačar and in top form and could score a ton of points.
Pele Bilbao | 8 points: Is officially co-leader behind Landa, but has performed better lately. In addition, the first stages are made for him and also run through his homeland.
climbers
Jai Hindley | 16 points: Last year's Giro winner is probably the favorite for 3rd place. Only a short time trial suits him very well.
David Gaudi | 14 points: Finished fourth last year but has been in poor form lately. Only for the very brave.
Romain Bardet | 12 points: Solid pick, he also benefits from the few time trial kilometers. However, since most of the all-rounders have already spent a lot of points, it's not exactly the bargain you're looking for in the climber category.
Mikel Landa | 10 points: A little grab bag. He is the leader of Bahrain and certainly has what it takes to be in the top five. After a strong Tour of the Basque Country and Fleche Wallone in April, however, he has not shown particularly good performances. If he finds form in time he is a real snap.
Julian Alaphilippe | 10 points: After an absolute epidemic year in 2022, Loulou has been getting better and better lately. However, this year a few moderately difficult stages that suit him well. And even on these he has great competition (van der Poel, Pidcock etc.)
Simon Yates | 10 points: If you want to gamble, Simon Yates is the place for you. He dropped out of 3 of the last 4 Grand Tours prematurely, doesn't seem to be aiming for a classification either, but wants to win the stages in the mountains (and maybe also the mountain jersey).
Felix Gall | 8 points: Outstanding performance in the Tour de Suisse, but is officially O'Connor's helper.
Guillaume Martin | 8 points: Will fight for a good top 10 position again.
Esteban Chaves | 6 points: Indicated he wants to ride on the polka dot jersey. He hasn't been able to ride with the best for a long time, but a low-budget variant that could pay off.
Maxim van Gils | 6 points: Runs a strong year and is a bench on the intermediate stages.
sprinter
Wout Van Aert | 18 points: Made almost 3000 points last year. Should he show himself in a similar form, he's worth every penny. He also indicated that he didn't want to get involved in sprints, but also in mountainous stages. Small risk, however: his wife is heavily pregnant and there is a chance that he will leave the tour early.
Jasper Phillipsen | 14 points: Probably the best sprinter in the field at the moment. Can also get over smaller mountains in a relaxed manner.
Biniam Girmay | 12 points: He got noticed at the Giro last year, now his first Tour participation. It is questionable whether it will be enough to win a stage in a heavily occupied sprinter field.
Fabio Jakobsen | 12 points: Always good for a stage win, but whether 12 points will pay off for him after his last disappointing tour remains to be seen.
Dylan Groenewegen | 10 points: Still as fast as an arrow, but he hasn't really been able to convince in any GT so far. Strong starter Mezgec is there.
Caleb Ewan | 10 points: The 'Pocket Rocket' should also be treated with caution, as it always falls short of expectations on large tours.
Phil Bauhaus | 8 points: Has had some strong results this season. This year there will probably be about 7 sprint finishes, with constant performance you can hoard a lot of points even with a cheap driver.
Sam Welsford | 8 points: Has shown a few times that he can compete with the best, but this is his first GT.
Jordi Meeus | 8 points: With Danny van Poppel, he probably has the best starter in the field, but still risky, as there has been a lot of light and shade so far this season.
Alexander Kristoff | 6 points: Anyone who has already scored all points can try Kristoff. But you shouldn't expect more than a top 10 ranking from him.
Unclassed
Thomas Pidcock | 10 points: Achieved over 1000 points last year. This year he could get even more freedom thanks to weak GC drivers.
Mathieu Van der Poel | 10 points: He will also try to get the yellow jersey on the first stages this year. This year, however, there are fewer stages that suit him.
Valentin Madouas | 8 points: In great shape, should be given a lot of freedom with the French championship jersey.
Fred Wright | 8 points: He really cleaned up at the last Vuelta. In the mass sprints he will probably have to give preference to Bauhaus, but otherwise has all the freedom.
Christophe Laporte | 8 points: Officially he is only the starter for Van Aert, but he could also be counted on in the last sprint stages (especially if van Aert drops out early, he could pay off)
Matej Mohori č | 6 points: Good form, will certainly try his luck in the flood groups.
Victor Lafay | 6 points: Specialist for the uphill sprint, of which there are 2-3 again this year
Axel Zingle | 6 points: Sprinter, made for bumpy stages, but has Coquard in front of him.
Torstein Træen | 6 points: Will probably drive for Uno-X on GC. 8th in which to become the Dauphine. Also, cool name!
Clement Champoussin | 6 points: Has already placed in the top 10 in several WorldTour races this year.
Nan's Peters | 4 points: Has won a stage in the Tour before. Can always be found in escape groups.
Alex Kirsch | 4 points: 2nd and 8th place in the Giro when Pedersen dropped out early.
Vegard Stake Lengths | 4 points: Could pick up a bunch of assists for Pogačar, Yates and Trentin.
I'll let the brakes go on straight sections.
