Could this be the Team Ineos line-up for the 2019 Tour de France?

After much speculation, the eight riders who will be looking to deliver Ineos a fifth consecutive Tour de France title have been named.

Geraint Thomas is set to be accompanied by an impressively strong line-up, with Egan Bernal providing a back-up option for the general classification after a dominant win at the recent Tour de Suisse.

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According to Gazzetta Dello Sport, the other six riders who will travel to France are Michał Kwiatkowski, Gianni Moscon, Wout Poels, Dylan van Baarle, Luke Rowe and Jonathan Castroviejo.

Alongside Bernal, Wout Poels will be a key mountain domestique as Thomas looks to defend his Tour de France title. Michał Kwiatkowksi will ride his sixth Tour, and road captain Luke Rowe his fifth.

Gianni Moscon returns to the race he was chucked out of last year after punching Élie Gesbert (Arkéa-Samsic) during stage 15 and Jonathan Castroviejo will provide strength in the team time trial, with many teams bringing a competent time trial domestique to protect their GC riders on stage two.

Completing the line-up will be Dylan van Baarle, who won the final stage eight of the Critérium du Dauphiné.

The most notable absentee, who van Baarle has to thank for his inclusion, is Chris Froome. The four-time Tour winner will miss out on a tilt at a fifth title as he faces a lengthy period off the bike following a horrific crash at the Critérium du Dauphiné.

The 34-year-old was placed in intensive care after losing four pints of blood and suffering multiple fractures. After more than a week in hospital Froome was still not well enough to return home and faces six months off the bike as he recovers.

Losing one GC contender is bad enough but Ineos' fears were doubled when Geraint Thomas came down in a crash on stage four of the Tour de Suisse, abandoning the race.

Despite being taken to hospital, Thomas' injuries were minimal and the Welshman soon returned to training. His team-mate Egan Bernal went on to win the race and in his post-race interview that "if Geraint Thomas is better than me I will help him at the Tour de France".

However, the young Colombian continued to say that he doesn't have any problem helping Thomas to the victory as he is only 22 and has many Grand Tours ahead of him.