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Team Sky announce Tour de France line-up

Geraint Thomas, Luke Rowe and Ian Stannard return from team that supported last year's victory...

Team Sky have announced the line-up that will support defending champion Chris Froome as he looks to win the Tour de France for the third time in four seasons.

Besides Froome, the team features four riders who helped him secure his second yellow jersey last year – Geraint Thomas, Ian Stannard, Luke Rowe and Wout Poels.

They will be joined on the starting line at Mont St-Michel a week on Saturday by Sergio Henao, Vasil Kiryienka, Mikel Nieve and Mikel Landa.

“The Tour de France will always be the pinnacle of our sport,” said Froome, who earlier this month won the Critérium du Dauphiné.

“I feel in good shape coming into the race this year and am fortunate to have a strong team around me – both on and off the bike.

"Every rider obviously starts every new Tour equal and what has gone before counts for nothing. This year I am hungrier than ever for success.

"We know how hard this race will be and how much we will have to give if we want to win it again.

"But we have trained hard,” he added. “We’re ready for the challenge and can’t wait to get back racing in front of the millions of people in France who make the race so special."

Thomas, who impressed at last year’s race, sitting fourth overall with just three stages remaining, comes to the 103rd edition of the Tour de France, his seventh participation, as Froome’s deputy in a season that has seen him win Paris-Nice.

Landa, who joined from Astana at the start of 2016, led Team Sky at last month’s Giro d’Italia but abandoned through illness, while Henao, given the all-clear to race by the UCI at the end of May after it examined his biological passport data, makes his Tour de France debut.

Riders who raced for Team Sky last year but miss out this time round include Peter Kennaugh, who broke his collarbone at the Tour of California last month, Leopold Konig, who has only just returned to racing following a knee injury, and Nicolas Roche.

Also missing is former world champion Michal Kwiatkowski, who joined Sky at the start of the season but has struggled with illness since the Critérium du Dauphiné.

Team Principal Sir Dave Brailsford said: “Every Tour is different, so that means choosing the team we believe is best equipped to deal with the many different challenges of this race.

"We have selected a talented group of riders with Chris as the leader once again. I know they will do everything they can to help him try to win yellow.

"We can take a lot of confidence as a team from what we have achieved already this year, but we know how much it takes to win the Tour.

“Of course there are a number of riders in other teams capable of putting in a challenge for overall victory,” Brailsford continued.

“That’s great news for cycling fans, who can look forward to seeing some really competitive racing.

"We are as excited as the fans about what’s to come and we’re looking forward to getting started next Saturday.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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11 comments

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Leviathan | 7 years ago
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Prediction from TheDoctor?

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Stumps | 7 years ago
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The only one i'm surprised with is Nieve after his efforts in this years Giro. Other than that its an immense team.

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df280 | 7 years ago
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Anyone else laughing at the fact G obviously missed the "look up and fold arms" message for the video?  Or is it just the OCD in me? 

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DaveE128 | 7 years ago
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Wonder what G's status is? Wasn't there talk last year of him potentially being a protected 2nd rider?

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stenmeister replied to DaveE128 | 7 years ago
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DaveE128 wrote:

Wonder what G's status is? Wasn't there talk last year of him potentially being a protected 2nd rider?

Probably not after his recent form.

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Gourmet Shot | 7 years ago
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I'm liking Stannard these days and Kiryienka is a Terminator !!!

 

 

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festina | 7 years ago
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Good to see Rowe in there, he was flying in the classics last year but haven't seen much of him this year (either that or I have a bad memory).

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NeilG83 replied to festina | 7 years ago
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festina wrote:

Good to see Rowe in there, he was flying in the classics last year but haven't seen much of him this year (either that or I have a bad memory).

 

You have a bad memory  1

He was 4th at Omloop, 5th in Tour of Flanders and did a fantastic ride to support Stannard at Paris-Roubaix.

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rjfrussell | 7 years ago
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i wonder what they would have done if Kennaugh,  Konig,  Roche and Kwiatkowski had all been fit.

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stenmeister replied to rjfrussell | 7 years ago
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rjfrussell wrote:

i wonder what they would have done if Kennaugh,  Konig,  Roche and Kwiatkowski had all been fit.

Personally, I would have been disappointed if they had selected Kennaugh et al ahead of those that they ended up with. I think it's the best team, reagardless of who could not be selected because of injuries.

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PaulBox | 7 years ago
1 like

That is one hell of a team.

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