Jumbo-Visma have announced their eight-man squad for the Tour de France, ten days before the race begins in Copenhagen. As expected, the team will be lead by Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard in the general classification battle, while Wout van Aert will aim to capture the green jersey.
Rohan Dennis has failed to make the Tour team in his first year with the Dutch team, after he came down with illness during last week's Tour de Suisse. The whole squad left the race after a Covid outbreak.
In his place is Sepp Kuss, the American coming in to ride his third consecutive Tour de France for Jumbo-Visma. The remaining four are Steven Kruijswijk, Nathan Van Hooydonck, Tiesj Benoot, and Christophe Laporte.
The eight names were released on Tuesday morning, with the squad a bit of a balancing act between the team's yellow and green jersey ambitions.
Kuss and Kruijswijk are the riders who will be expected to support Roglič and Vingegaard in the mountains, while Benoot and Laporte in particular will be there to help Van Aert in the hunt for stage wins and points.
Benoot, Laporte and Van Aert are the trio who combined so well at the early season Classics races, form they will hope to recapture at the Tour next month.
“We have several ambitions, so we have chosen riders who are the best at different terrains," one of the team's directeur sportifs, Merijn Zeeman, explained in a statement.
"We have to guide our leaders safely through the first hectic week but also be able to make it difficult for the other Tour favourites in the mountain," he continued. “Wout also deserves sufficient support in his hunt for stage victories and the green jersey. This squad is fit and, in our view, capable of pursuing our ambitions in the best way possible.”
Roglič won the Critérium du Dauphiné a fortnight ago, in a race where his teammate Vingegaard came second. Across the same week, Van Aert also won the green jersey. This yellow/green combination was also seen at Paris-Nice earlier this year, in what could be seen as a good omen for Jumbo.
Other riders who were in the mix for the Tour squad who have not made it include Robert Gesink and Mike Teunissen.
Jumbo-Visma Tour de France lineup
Primož Roglič (Slovenia)
Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark)
Wout van Aert (Belgium)
Sepp Kuss (USA)
Steven Kruijswijk (Netherlands)
Nathan van Hooydonck (Belgium)
Tiesj Benoot (Belgium)
Christophe Laporte (France)
