Team Sunweb have announced their long-list of thirteen riders for the 2017 edition of Le Tour de France.
Following his victory at the Giro d’Italia, Tom Dumoulin will not follow in the footsteps of Nairo Quintana and head to the Tour de France, choosing instead to take the reins of the Team Sunweb at the Vuelta a Espana.
This year’s Tour de France is a special edition for Sunweb as it starts on home soil in Düsseldorf, Germany. The 104th edition of the race is made up of nine flat stages, five hilly stages, five mountain stages and two individual time trials, the first of which comes on the opening day.
Team Sunweb heads to the Tour de France with the main focus on stage success and its nine-rider line-up will be forged to chase this goal. Two of the team’s riders that are confirmed in this early stage are Michael Matthews and his main lead-out man German Nikias Arndt.
Team Sunweb’s trainer Hendrik Werner said: “This year our goal is to go for stage results and this long-list will offer plenty of talent and opportunities to select a powerful line-up. A line-up not only to support Michael optimally on the sprint stages with a strong lead-out, but also one to create opportunities from breakaways that potentially make it to the finish, as well as the intermediate stages. We have spent time training at altitude together, along with the rest of the team, building further on a strong foundation from the first racing block of the season to prepare for a tough three-week-journey in France. The last couple of races ahead of the Tour have been and will be used to focus on coaching, cooperation and on the dynamics within the team and to fine-tune the sprint preparation process.”
Team Sunweb long-list for Tour de France: Søren Kragh Andersen, Nikias Arndt, Warren Barguil, Phil Bauhaus, Roy Curvers, Johannes Fröhlinger, Simon Geschke, Michael Matthews, Ramon Sinkeldam, Tom Stamsnijder, Laurens ten Dam, Mike Teunissen, Albert Timmer
