Miguel Angel Lopez's first Tour de France appearance was set last winter, but Astana's other Colombian debutant, Haroldo Tejada, who has been brilliant since the cycling season resumed in early August, joined the roster later.

The 23-year-old supported Aleksandr Vlasov in the Route d'Occitanie and contributed to Vlasov's victory and his own sixth place finish two days later in the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge.

Tejada was in the same vein a week later in Italy, with excellent performances in Il Lombardia and Giro delle Miglia, while Astana led Jakob Fuglsang and Vlasov to victory respectively.

Lopez will lead a strong Astana team at the Tour, including Gorka, Ion Izaguirre, Omar Freire, and Luis Leon Sanchez, but his most valuable mountain domestique may prove to be the neo-professional from Pitalito, southwest Colombia

"I am not a professional.

"Harold is in his first year as a professional and joined Astana this year. He clearly has great talent and we already know that he can be a great rider," Lopez said in a short pre-Tour video conference on Wednesday.

"In the few races this year, he was with me most of the time. In a few years he will be a big champion. He's on this tour to settle in, do his job, and be there for the big moments."

Tejada was part of the Medellín Continental team in 2019, with teammates Oscar Sevilla and Fabio Duarte. He began his campaign by winning the Colombian Championships under-23 road race and time trial, and had already agreed to a WorldTour move with Astana when he scored an Alpine victory at La Gietats in the Tour de l'Avignon.

"I am very happy to have been selected for the Tour de France," he said. I didn't expect it, but through my hard work, sacrifice, and results I was able to make my Grand Tour debut." In the mountains I will support Miguel Angel Lopez and of course the team 100%. I will see it day by day."

Lopez's Tour debut is his sixth professional season, but not without three weeks of racing experience: in 2018, he finished third overall in both the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España, but the year before, he finished seventh in Italy and fifth in Spain, each race where he had similar He struggled to make the same impact.

The 26-year-old's only race before the season was interrupted by a coronavirus pandemic was the Volta ao Algarve in February, where he took a stage win atop the Alto de Marjan. In his return race, the Occitanie route, he rode a modest race, but he returned to form in the Dauphiné Critics race, finishing fifth overall.

After winning Il Lombardia, Jacob Fuglsang ruled out the possibility of being appointed to the Tour de France and will lead Astana in the Giro, as he had planned from the beginning of the season.

"When you look at the level at the Dauphiné, I think we were good, considering our rivals," Lopez told Win Sports earlier this week.

"We had some accidents in the last race, a lot of things happened, but now we are healthy and in perfect condition, so we are calm.

The Astana team for the Tour also includes Hugo Houle, who tested positive for COVID-19 before Il Lombardia. The Canadian rider subsequently tested negative in two PCR tests and was also negative in an antigen test, according to Cycling News. He also underwent a stress test, EKG, and VO2max test to rule out damage to his myocardium.

All athletes competing in the Tour must have a negative PCR test to compete. ASO announced that if two riders or staff members test positive for COVID-19 within seven days, the team will be excluded from the race.

"I think it's a pretty delicate situation and I don't agree with it at all, but it's good to have a protocol like this for our health and to continue cycling," Lopez said Wednesday about PCR testing before the Tour. 'We just have to accept this reality.'