EF Education-EasyPost is preparing for an exciting challenge at the 2024 Tour de France with a strong team structure and high ambitions for stage wins. Team leader Richard Carapace is recovering from a crash in the Tour de Suisse, and the team is focused on its goal of winning a stage.

The team lineup also includes Alberto Bettiol, Stefan Bissegger, Rui Costa, Ben Healy, Nielson Powles, Sean Quinn, and Marline van den Bergh.

In preparation for the 2024 Tour de France, he won a stage at the Tour de Romandie at the end of April, which was highly anticipated, but he suffered more bad luck at the Tour de Suisse when he crashed on stage 4 and suffered a cut on his face that required stitches. He retired the next day.

"After the crash in Switzerland, I fell ill," he said. But I will do my best in this Tour de France."

The American team invested heavily in Carapace as a Grand Tour contender when they signed him for 2023, but he injured his knee in a stage one crash and was forced to pull out of the race.

Tour de France favorite Tadej Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) and rivals Jonas Vingegaard (Wisma-Ries-a-Bike), Primoš Roglic (Bora-Hansgrohe), and Remko Evenepoel (Srdal-Quick Step ) may not be able to compete, but Kalapas is confident that he can impress on the individual stage, as he did in 2023.

"Last year was tough. I had to go home. This year I will do my best again. Everyone around us knows how much we have prepared for this. We have a strong and versatile team. We can win on any terrain."

"The first week will be very hard, but we will get through it as best we can. Winning a stage is super important. In the last competition I was so close. So winning is very important, not only for me, but also for the team and everyone who has prepared for that moment."

The 2024 Tour de France will start not in France but in Florence, Italy, because Paris is hosting the Olympics. The Grande Pearl will be held in Bettiol's hometown and will be his first race in the Italian champion's jersey.

"It will be a very special race," Bettiol said in a team announcement. "I know the road well. I want to win a stage in the Tour. I've won before and I know I can do it."

"This is a really important year for me. I'm not young anymore. I'm not young anymore. My goal was to win the Italian championships, and my other goal is to win a stage in the Tour de France. Winning this jersey means a lot to me."

"Winning the Tour is different from winning other races, so you always have to prepare and fight. Especially for an all-rounder like me, it is doubly difficult to win a stage at the Tour. I think the team is making a smart choice by going for the stages. It will be a fun and really exciting race."

Healy will make his Tour de France debut with a stage win at the 2023 Giro d'Italia. He is eyeing the first stage with its elevation gain.

"I want to try for a stage win," Healy said. "I need a hard finish. The first stage feels really good for me, but there are a few more at the end of the second week."

"Since the Ardennes, I've had a steady diet of high altitude camps and some good races. The preparation is going well. I'm excited to start taking chances."

Paules came close to winning a stage at the 2022 Tour de France, coming within four seconds of taking the maillot jaune. This year he suffered a knee injury that kept him out of competition for two months.

"I think this year has been the hardest year I've ever had, with injuries and illnesses. I've had the hardest year I've ever had, with injuries and illnesses, and I think I have the stamina for it.

"Stage wins are my number one goal, and I think I have the fitness to do it.

"I think everyone on the team wants to make their shot. Each and every one of us wants to prove something. We haven't had the most successful spring as a team, and we're all eager to make up for it."

Following his victory in the Portuguese Championships, Costa is also looking for a stage win after a tough spring. He fell at the Volta Ao Algarve in February and suffered concussion along with a broken collarbone and scapula.

"I went through a lot after my fall this spring. I worked hard to get to the Tour and to be selected for the Tour. In the end it worked out and I am very grateful to have been selected and for the team's belief in me," Costa said. 'I will do my best to fight for the stages, to fight as a team, and to help the team win. I believe we will win. We will get one big win this year."