Besides Chris Froome, who else can win the Tour de France?

Chris Froome, as of now, will not be riding in the 2018 Tour de France after the race announced it would bar him from the start line while his doping investigation is ongoing. [Update: SIKE. HE’S BACK]

But don’t get too distracted. Even before Froome’s ban, there was good reason to get excited about this year’s group of general classification challengers. While Froome was still the favorite to win, he is coming off a Giro d’Italia title just last May, and is no doubt still feeling the effects. It’s not just bad luck that no rider has completed the Giro-Tour double in 20 years.

Even if Froome races, we still have a good chance to see a never-before Tour champion (though Vincenzo Nibali waves). If you don’t follow cycling very closely, you may not be familiar with some of the other yellow jersey favorites. That’s OK. Consider this a cheat sheet to the non-Froome world.

Team: AG2R

Why he can win: OK, so Bardet is probably not the betting favorite, but he’s close. And he’s my favorite to win, and it’s my list so I’m putting him first. Deal with it, nerds.

Bardet is a pure climber, and knowing that, Tour organizers seemingly put together a course tailored for the 27-year-old to become France’s first champion since Bernard Hinault in 1985. The course features punchy mountain stages on which Bardet is known to attack, and deemphasizes time trials, which nearly cost him his podium place last year.

Why he can’t win: Bardet’s time trialling ability may be that bad. He is also on a relatively weak team. Compared to Nairo Quintana and Mikel Landa on Movistar, or Geraint Thomas on Team Sky, Bardet is going to have to do so much more work by himself to make sure he can stay ahead of the peloton.

Team: Sky

Why he can win: Thomas is ostensibly Team Sky’s next man up, except to say that might be a disservice to him. Thomas won the Criterium du Dauphine in June, a race that is considered to be a predictor for Tour success, and he’ll have by far the strongest team in France.

Thomas had already said that he wanted to challenge Froome as the team leader. Now there’s no question he’ll be Sky’s prize rider.

Why he can’t win: Thomas has yet to be team leader, and he hasn’t finished higher than 15th in a grand tour. That’s not a result of youth, either — he recently turned 32 years old. Thomas has been an excellent domestique throughout his career. Whether that can translate into something more has yet to be seen.

Team: Sunweb

Why he can win: Dumoulin is one of the few riders who has actually won a grand tour before, winning the 2017 Giro d’Italia’s pink jersey. He is probably the best all-around rider in the Tour, as well. Dumoulin excels at time trials and Classics-style courses, and has steadily improved as a climber throughout his career.

Why he can’t win: Dumoulin might be the favorite in another year, but this year’s course is particularly mountains-heavy. And as good as he has looked at times in grand tours, he has never really looked dominant? It’s hard to say what the problem is with Dumoulin — he does everything well — and yet he doesn’t seem to be rider who can take over a race, either. This is admittedly very feelings-y analysis, and I should say, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see him win the yellow jersey.

Team: Movistar

Why he can win: Quintana has won two grand tours — one Giro d’Italia, one Vuelta a Espana — and podium’d six times. For a while it appeared he would be Froome’s top annual rival in France, and it’s hard to say he has really lost a step. An on-form Quintana may be the best climber in the world, and this course rewards that.

Why he can’t win: He finished 12th in the Tour last year, and it’s hard to tell if his form is better this year. He’s a preternaturally quiet rider, preferring to take on small races before he hitting the biggest ones. He did win a stage in the Tour de Suisse last month ... but he also finished third overall in the event behind Richie Porte and Jakob Fuglsang.

Team: BMC Racing

Why he can win: Porte is a perennial contender. He rides with a chip. He can time trial as well as climb. He has always done well in week-long stage races. One of these years it feels like it really ought to be his year.

Why he can’t win: It’s never his year. And at 33 years old, his window of opportunity is beginning to close. The most hopeful sign for him is that he was having fantastic season and strong Tour before suffering a brutal crash in Stage 9. But too often that seems to be the story with him. Somehow, something always goes wrong.

Team: Mitchelton-Scott

Why he can win: Yates is a Young Exciting Thing now rounding into his prime at 25 years old. He and his brother, Simon, have been on a trajectory for grand tour greatness should nothing interrupt the arc. Adam Yates finished fourth at the Tour in 2016, winning the young rider competition, and second at the Criterium du Dauphine this year behind Thomas. So why not?

Why he can’t win: There is no good reason, really, except youth, and the fact that Yates is dealing with a crowded field. It’d be great to see Yates break out and win the yellow jersey, but that’s a lot to ask a 25-year-old.

Team: Movistar

Why he can win: Landa moved to Movistar from Sky after last year’s Tour de France, ostensibly so he could finally shed domestique responsibilities and start to win grand tours on his own. He is also a mountains specialist, and he likely would have finished on the podium of last year’s Tour, at least, if he wasn’t also being Froome’s helper — he was just one second behind Bardet.

Why he can’t win: Landa is a genuinely exciting talent and climber. The big question is, as always: Will his team let him free? Landa may not have improved his situation much. With Movistar, he’ll be competing with Quintana and (an albeit aging) Alejandro Valverde for help. And there’s no guarantees that the three will work well together.

Team: Bahrain-Merida

Why he can win: Nibali is the only other Tour rider who has actually worn the yellow jersey in Paris (although he did it in 2014, after Froome had crashed out). He is a wily racer, and a master climber and technician on the bike. He has been on a grand tour podium 10 times in his career and is a good bet to make it 11.

Why he can’t win: Nibali is a masterful rider, but he may be outclassed physically by many of the riders above. I wouldn’t feel good about picking Nibali if Nibali didn’t always find a way to insert himself into every race.

Here is a brief run down of the other riders who could feasibly win this year’s Tour de France.

Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) — Brilliant all-around rider, but also Porte-ian in his ability to crash out of every long stage race somehow.

Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale) — I wouldn’t have though to give him a chance this year if he somehow didn’t almost win the damn thing last year.

Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) — Great all-arounder, helluva head of hair, a good candidate to be this year’s Uran.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) — Old as hell, but all he has to do is stay on Quintana’s or Landa’s wheel then throw them under at the proper time, right?

Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) — Excellent time trialist, and it’s his time at 28 years old. Yet he has never come close to doing anything significant in a grand tour general classification.

Egan Bernal (Team Sky) — He’s just 21 years old and already doing things like winning the Tour of California and Colombia’s time trial title. Him winning might actually make me like Team Sky.