Canadian pro rider posts photo of impressive ‘Tour de France legs’ – but misses out on selection

Antoine Duchesne‏ evidently put in a lot of effort to physically prepare for potential ride in the Tour de France, but was not selected by his Direct Energie team
Nigel Wynn

Canadian pro rider Antoine Duchesne‏ posted a photo of his extremely toned legs on social media, confirming the effort that he had put in to getting ready for a potential ride in the 2017 Tour de France.

Unfortunately for the 25-year-old from Quebec, however, he was looked over for selection for the Tour by his Direct Energie team.

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Duchesne‏ posted the photo of his veined, fat-free legs on Twitter and Instagram after the French Direct Energie had confirmed its roster for the Tour. “When you were preparing for the Tour and finally you lost 5kg…” he wrote, followed by a poo emoji.

Duchesne had withdrawn from the Tour de Suisse earlier in June due to illness – a race seen as a key warm-up race for the Tour – and put his selection in doubt. When French sprinter Bryan Coquard was also not selected by the team, this seemed to seal Duchesne’s fate, as the Canadian often works as Coquard’s key lead-out man.

Direct Energie is instead backing Frenchman Thomas Voeckler in his final appearance at the Tour prior to retirement.

>>> Bryan Coquard omitted from Direct Energie Tour de France squad after contract snub

This year’s Tour would have been Duchesne’s second appearance, after he made his debut in 2016. It’s the first time in ten years that there has been no Canadian rider in the Tour.

The 2017 Tour de France starts in Düsseldorf, Germany, on Saturday July 1 and concludes three weeks later in Paris on Sunday, July 23.