TOM PIDCOCK will make his Tour de France debut this summer as 2018 champion Geraint Thomas and Adam Yates join Dani Martinez in targeting the yellow jersey in the Ineos eight-man squad.

Olympic mountain bike champion Pidcock, 22, is ready to start only his second career grand tour less than two weeks after contracting Covid-19, which forced him to withdraw from the Tour de Suisse.

Yates, 29, also pulled out of that race with the virus but joins Thomas and Martinez in a group Ineos hope is strong enough to regain the yellow jersey the team won in seven out of eight tours before the emergence of Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, who has won the race in each of the past two years.

Time-trial specialist Filippo Ganna, Jonathan Castroviejo, Dylan van Baarle and long-standing road captain Luke Rowe complete the Ineos squad for the tour, which starts this year with an excursion to Denmark. 

Friday’s first stage, in Copenhagen, is an individual race against the clock, putting Ganna in with a good shout of taking the first yellow jersey of the race.

Thomas, 36, is hoping to recapture the form that brought him yellow four years ago.

Many expect Martinez, who has stepped up from a super-domestique role to be given a leadership opportunity, to be Ineos’ main contender, but Thomas reminded all of his credentials by winning the Tour de Suisse 10 days ago.

Team UAE Emirates’ Pogacar is the stand-out favourite to win yellow once again, with his Slovenian compatriot Primoz Roglic of Jumbo-Visma seen as his most likely challenger, but Ineos are hoping the numbers game works in their favour.

“We’ve got a really dynamic and versatile group of riders that are ready to go full gas and really take this race on,” deputy team principal Rod Ellingworth said.

“In Adam, Dani and Geraint we have three fantastic GC [general category] heavyweights who can mount a real challenge. They have proved their form across the season and are lining up in Copenhagen in great shape.”

Two-time world champion Julian Alaphilippe and ace sprinter Mark Cavendish are two big names that won’t be on the starting line.

Alaphilippe has not recovered enough in the two months since his horrific crash at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, his Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team said on Monday, when it unveiled its eight-man roster.

And Cavendish, who rides for the same team and last year matched Eddy Merckx’s all-time record of 34 Tour stage wins, also missed the cut but was named first reserve. “Cav” fans will be praying for a gentle mishap to befall one of Quick Step’s riders in the next day or two. 

On Monday, the French health minister advised that people should wear masks again in crowded areas, particularly if they are on public transport, to help tackle a new Covid-19 wave; 17,601 fresh infections in 24 hours were reported, the highest figure since mid April, fuelled by new variants.

Bearing in mind Covid’s recent decimation of the Tour de Suisse field, this could be the most open Tour de France for years: a surprise winner cannot be ruled out if another coronavirus outbreak hits the peloton.