Here is the stacked Deceuninck - Quick-Step squad for the Tour de France 2020 

In the 2019 Tour de France Deceuninck - Quick-Step took a collection of stage wins and led the race for two weeks with Julian Alaphilippe.

This year the dominant Belgian WorldTour team are back with another stacked line-up. 

Having been the most successful team in cycling last year, with 68 UCI wins, Deceuninck are taking eight of their biggest talents to the 2020 Tour, which kicks off in Nice on Saturday (August 29). 

The team will be split between the leadership of both Julian Alaphilippe and Sam Bennett, who will be targeting their own stages.

Sports director Tom Steels said: “For Julian it will be very difficult to repeat last year’s Tour, but at the same time, it’s not necessary to do it. We will take it with him day by day and see what happens. There are some nice opportunities for him, but I can tell you we aren’t thinking of a scenario similar to that of the previous Tour. 

“In Sam, we have a contender for the bunch sprints, which won’t be so straightforward as in the past, the route being one of the toughest in recent memory. I think there are maximum four clear stages for sprinters spread over the three weeks.”

Bennett and Alaphilippe will be supported by Bob Jungels, Zdenek Štybar, and Kasper Asgreen, with Michael Mørkøv riding as the last man for Bennett in the sprint lead-out.   

Dries Devenyns and Tim Decelerq will complete the team.

But a notable omission from the team is Shane Archbold, Bennett’s most faithful lead-out rider who has not been selected despite racing alongside the Irishman for much of 2020 after he joined the team at the start of the year. 

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Steels added: “Michael will be Sam’s last man and will guide him through those hectic final kilometres, but also Kasper and Styby will play an important role in his lead-out train, while at the same time keeping an eye on breakaway opportunities. Bob and Dries are both riders who can support Julian, they have a lot of experience and can help him in the finale. 

“Last but not least, Tim will do what he does best: control the race. He is a world-class domestique and has the power and knowledge to do it.”

Deceuninck - Quick-Step squad for the Tour de France 2020  

Julian Alaphilippe (Fra)

Sam Bennett (Irl) 

Bob Jungels (Lux) 

Kasper Asgreen (Den) 

Zdenek Stybar (Cze) 

Tim Declerq (Bel) 

Dries Devenyns (Bel) 

Michael Morkov (Den)