After nine days of racing at the 2026 Tour de France, we have a pretty good idea of who came into the race hot, and who came in ... not. Even with only a handful of real mountain climbs, a few GC specialists have stood out, including the very obvious pre-Tour favorite, while the main action has been among the stagehunters, where a few sprinters and rouleurs have grabbed our attention, whether en route to victories or not. Indeed, it's the ones who have not yet won anything that are worth mentioning most of all.
Given what we saw on the journey from Barcelona to Ussel, we have some confidence that those overachievers will be ones to watch as the race continues. With that in mind, here are a few of the riders who have exceeded expectations thus far at the sport's biggest race ...
Biniam Girmay
The former green jersey winner has not yet won a stage at this year's Tour, but his performances have nevertheless been extremely encouraging after a very frustrating stretch since his brilliant 2024 Tour. Girmay (NSN) is at his best on the slightly lumpier stages that drop purer sprinters like Olav Kooij and Tim Merlier. We have not yet had any of those more selective sprints in this Tour, and yet Girmay has already finished third and second one time each, on stages 7 and 8.
On both occasions, Merlier was faster, but Girmay topped some big names, including outkicking stage 5 winner Kooij on stage 8, where he very much came from way, way behind just like stage winner Merlier. Even without wins, Girmay has emerged as a top challenger to Mads Pedersen for the points jersey. He will have several more opportunities in the days to come to take on the strongest sprinters, and stage 12 might present enough challengers for those riders to bring Girmay to the fore in the end.
Huub Artz
Like Girmay, Artz is not quite at that top tier of pure sprinters; he is, in fact, quite a bit further down in general esteem than Girmay. And yet he was in the frame both in stage 5 and in stage 7, doing his best to fill in as Lotto-Intermarché's sprinter after the original option, Arnaud De Lie, left the race just days after starting with an illness.
Artz has a big engine, but being in the mix for sprints in WorldTour races, let alone the Tour de France, is just not something we've really seen from him yet in his young career. He may not have the speed to actually win anything on a stage this big, but he has certainly earned his spot in a list of riders who have outperformed expectations so far in the race.
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