Lampre-MERIDA has arrived at the Tour de France in a climate that is characterized by very high temperatures in the whole of Europe.

All 9 riders of the team (Rui Costa, Bono, Cimolai, Durasek, Oliveira, Plaza, Pozzato, Serpa and Valls) devoted Wednesday to check the fourse for the 4th stage, Seraing-Cambrai scheduled for Tuesday July 7th. 

It will be marked by the seven sectors of pavé, studied yesterday by the blue-green riders during a workout which covered the last 130 km of the stage.

On Wednesday evening, the group then reached their hotel in Soestduinen, suburb of Utrecht.

Two and a half hours of training are planned for Thursday morning to finalize the details ahead of the official start of the Tour de France which will take place on Saturday in Utrecht with an individual time trial over a distance of 13.8 kilometers.

Tonight the riders will be part of the official teams presentation. The riders will ride through the centre of Utrecht.