Five outsider picks for your 2026 Tour de France fantasy team

Our selections are based on our partner Cycling Fantasy, where players have a 5,000 credit budget to build a nine rider team.

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If you are looking for a rider with unfinished business, Lenny Martinez should be one of the first names you consider. The young French climber was heartbroken at the end of the 2025 Tour de France after losing the polka dot jersey due to controversial time penalties for holding on to team cars.

Martinez has responded with a strong 2026 season. He has been in excellent form throughout the spring, taking stage victories at both Paris Nice and the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

What makes Martinez particularly appealing as a fantasy asset is the tactical freedom he has been given by Bahrain Victorious. The team has decided to split its leadership between Martinez and Antonio Tiberi. While Tiberi focuses on the general classification, Martinez has the freedom to chase stages and target the mountains classification.

This year’s demanding route should give him plenty of opportunities to score points from breakaways and mountain finishes. At 1,000 credits, he could prove a valuable addition.

Mauro Schmid has become one of the most reliable breakaway specialists in the peloton, making him an attractive option at his current fantasy price.

The former Swiss national champion has made a strong start to the 2026 season, collecting four victories, including the overall classification at the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali and the Muscat Classic. He also finished second behind Paul Seixas at La Flèche Wallonne, showing that he has the speed to compete with the best puncheurs.

Jayco AlUla arrive at the Tour without a clear general classification leader and with a squad geared towards stage wins. Schmid should have plenty of freedom alongside Ben O’Connor, Luke Plapp and Michael Matthews. At 600 credits, he offers considerable value.

Anthony Turgis is a useful option for fantasy managers looking for a French stage hunter who can handle the medium mountains.

TotalEnergies secured one of the wildcard invitations for the 2026 race and arrive with a team built around Turgis and Jordan Jegat on the undulating stages. Turgis underlined his qualities in 2024 when he won the gravel stage into Troyes.

He has built a reputation as a rider who can survive attritional, rolling stages that eliminate the pure sprinters. With no general classification contender to protect, TotalEnergies should give him the freedom to attack whenever the terrain suits him.

Turgis sits at the lower end of the fantasy price range, making him a relatively inexpensive option with the potential to score heavily on the right day.

Few riders in the professional peloton are as dangerous from a long range breakaway as Ben Healy.

The Irishman lit up the 2025 Tour when he launched a 42 kilometre solo attack to win the stage into Vire Normandie. He later spent two days in the yellow jersey and was awarded the overall Super Combativity prize.

His 2026 campaign was disrupted by a fractured sacrum sustained in a crash at the Itzulia Basque Country in April, forcing him to miss several of his main spring targets.

EF Education EasyPost know how effective Healy can be when given the freedom to race aggressively. The undulating transition stages through Burgundy and Franche Comté appear well suited to his ability to sustain a long effort.

Once Healy gets up the road, he has the power to stay there. At 800 credits, he could be a strong pick for the hilly stages in the second week.

Finding affordable sprinters who can deliver points is difficult, but Pavel Bittner presents an interesting option.

Part of his appeal comes from Picnic PostNL’s position in the 2026 to 2028 UCI ranking cycle. The team is fighting to avoid the relegation zone, meaning every ranking point will matter.

Bittner does not have a lead out train to match those of Alpecin or Decathlon, but that could work in his favour on less controlled sprint stages. When the leading sprinters are caught out of position, he has the speed to take advantage.

At 800 credits, Bittner is an affordable option with genuine scoring potential.