Luke Rowe

 (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

 (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Nationality: British

Date of birth: March 10, 1990

Height: 185cm

Weight: 72kg

Team: Team Ineos

Twitter: @LukeRowe1990

Luke Rowe has proven himself a loyal and tactically astute domestique over the years, helping Chris Froome to his Tour de France victories in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Moreover, Rowe has developed into the squad's team captain which means he'll be making many of the crucial mid-race decisions for the team.

A fellow product of the British Cycling academy along with team-mates Geraint Thomas, Peter Kennaugh and Ian Stannard, Rowe's career has yet to produce a flourish of personal success that might have been expected by a rider of his talent after eight years with Team Sky.

But he's shown his potential to grow into one of Britain's most successful Classics riders. In 2016, he headed the Sky team at Monuments Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix alongside Stannard, recording a fifth place at Flanders to add to an eighth place finish at Roubaix he achieved in 2015.

Rowe started 2017 strongly, taking his first win since 2012 on stage two of the Herald Sun Tour. This was followed by a solid show on the opening weekend of the cobbled classics, with sixth in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and third in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. He also gained the noble title of 'lanterne rouge', given to the last finishing rider at the Tour de France. Luckily, teammate Froome finished in polar opposite first position.

Ill fortune struck late in the season when he fractured his tibia and fibula whilst whitewater rafting at his brothers stag party. Disproving doctors expectations, he returned to cycling in February of 2018. However, another two seasons of average classics performances awaited. The Welshman still believes the form is there, so only time will tell.

Another notable moment occurred in the 2019 TdF, when Luke Rowe and Tony Martin were expelled from the race on stage 17 due to Martin swerving in-front of Rowe, followed by Rowe placing his hands on the German.

Alongside his commitments as a professional riders, Rowe wrote a weekly column for Cycling Weekly magazine, hosts a podcast with Geraint Thomas and enjoys watching ice hockey in his spare time.

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