Jonathan Castroviejo
Signed from Movistar, where he helped Nairo Quintana in the Tour de France in 2015 and 2017, and already played an important role in Team Sky in helping Geraint Thomas win the Critérium du Dauphiné in June. If anything his efforts in the Tour were even more impressive: lending Froome his wheel when he had a puncture on stage 10 and helping Thomas win up the Alpe d’Huez by providing much of the grunt work on the climb. Also valuable in the Pyrenees – when Mikel Landa broke away up the Tournalet on stage 19 and got to within 80 seconds on virtual classification. It was the Italian who did much of the work to chase him down.
Final general classification position: 70th (out of 145 finishers)
Luke Rowe
A longtime friend of Thomas, having first met at him at Maindy Flyers Youth Cycling Club as a seven‑year‑old. “We used to mess around on the street on our BMXs together and we’ve kind of slowly but surely gone through the ranks together,” Rowe said. “He is three or four years older than me, so he was always that one step ahead.” On the Tour Rowe was Team Sky’s road captain at the 2018 Tour de France, usually on the front of the Sky train during the early stages of every mountain stage, setting a tempo that discouraged attacks. Also snatched a “Sky go home” banner out of a spectator’s hands earlier on the Tour.
Final GC position: 128th
Chris Froome
When the Tour began the 33-year-old, the four-times champion, was aiming to back up his Giro win and the undisputed team leader to be protected. But as the race wore on into the final week, he struggled in the Alps and then failed to rally in the Pyrenees so threw his own support behind Thomas. He said: “It was clear from the first mountain-top finish that ‘G’ was the stronger rider and getting behind him was the natural thing for me to do.”
Final GC position: third
Wout Poels
Uber-domestique who was the only member of Team Sky’s Giro d’Italia group to follow Froome to the Tour and perhaps was not quite as impressive as normal in France as a result of heavy legs. He was scarcely seen in the opening fortnight but chased down a move from Katusha‑Alpecin on stage 16 and helped Team Sky in the crucial Pyrenees stages, especially the brutal 65km from Bagnères‑de‑Luchon to Saint‑Lary‑Soulan Col du Portet on the final Wednesday and Friday’s 200.5km epic through the mountains from Lourdes to Laruns.
Final GC position: 58th
Egan Bernal
The tiny Colombian is only 21 and started the Tour as the youngest rider in the peloton. Yet he ended it with the look of a Grand Tour winner in the making. Beforehand the Team Sky principal, Dave Brailsford, was worried he might succumb to the pressure of three weeks at the Tour de France; instead he was a giant in the mountains, chasing down attacks and somehow dragging Froome back into the elite group of riders when he was struggling on Friday’s 19th stage. It should also be noticed that he finished Saturday’s time trial in 25th out of 145 riders – he is clearly far more than a mountain goat.
Final GC position: 15th
Michal Kwiatkowski
A key member of Team Sky – when Froome posts his training rides on social media it is often the Pole, along with Poels, who accompanies him on training rides. Played a big part in the team time trial on stage three, in the cobbles, and in the Alpe d’Huez. He was the world champion in 2014 and is clearly still improving. Given he has just turned 28, some believe he could yet be a future Grand Tour contender.
Final GC position: 49th
Gianni Moscon (not pictured)
Praised by Thomas after the race, even though he lasted only the first two weeks of the Tour – having been thrown off the race after punching Élie Gesbert on stage 15. Brailsford says he will consider the 24-year-old Italian’s future in the coming days – no one doubts he is talented but he is also volatile, as he showed again in France.
Final GC position: N/A (DNF).
