Storer sets sights on mountain stages at 2026 Tour de France

Australian Michael Storer admits the gap between him and the yellow jersey favourites remains hard to bridge, but it won’t stop him from attacking in the mountains in search of a stage win at his third Tour de France starting this weekend.

Storer enters the Tour after a career-best seventh overall in the Giro d’Italia in May, but says he won’t be targeting a general classification finish this month.

“The two guys I see for the yellow jersey Jonas (Vingegaard) and Tadej (Pogacar), to them the gap is quite large, and doesn’t seem to get any smaller,” said Storer, who rides for Tudor Pro Cycling.

“I take one step forward and they also seem to take one step forward as well, so it seems to be a pretty constant factor there that that gap remains, which is just how it is.

“To the other GC contenders, it depends. At the Giro I wasn’t so far off third place and in the end it wasn’t a huge time gap, so looking to the others I am right there in the mix and it’s just small differences that could push me to a super result on the GC or a top 10.

“Maybe in the future I would come back and have a go at it (GC at the Tour de France), maybe a year I don’t do the Giro beforehand so I can have the best possible preparation for this race.”

The 29-year-old says it can be a delicate balance managing fatigue and fitness racing the Giro/Tour double.

“It’s the Tour de France, the biggest race in the world so I’m really excited for it, it’s a dream to do well in this race, so I’m happy to be here even though it is tough doing the Giro and then coming to the Tour,” he said.

“It’s definitely challenging to manage the month in between well. A month sounds like a lot of time but it’s really not, you need to rest and recover but not too much because then you lose too much shape.

“It’s a really hard balance to strike. I think we did well last year because I did the same race program and that experience will help to manage it better this year.”

The Tour begins in Barcelona with a teams time trial on Saturday night Australian time, and Storer is one of 11 Aussies on the start line.

Storer said his ambitions for the Tour de France would be targeting select stages throughout the three weeks.

“The more hilly, mountain stages are best for me. I won’t be going in breakaways or the attack on the flat stages, I just don’t have the big motor on the flat like some others do to have a chance on those days, but looking for opportunities on others,” he said.

“The polkadot jersey is difficult because it depends how many times the peloton goes for the victory on a mountain top finish, which could be quite a few times, and then points get eaten up there and it’s hard to get enough.

“I’d like to win it but it’s quite challenging at the same time. Maybe it needs to be the sole focus instead of sacrificing going for a stage, because you need to pick up every single point possible.”

The full list of Aussies in the 2026 Tour de France

Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling)
Robert Stannard (Bahrain Victorious)
Sebastian Berwick (Caja Rural-Seguros)
Ben O’Connor (Jayco-AlUla)
Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla)
Luke Durbridge (Jayco-AlUla)
Kelland O’Brien (Jayco-AlUla)
Michael Matthews (Jayco-AlUla)
Chris Harper (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling)
Damien Howson (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling)
Jai Hindley (Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe)