Yesterday Lotto-Belisol became the latest team to announce its nine-man roster for the forthcoming Tour de France and will be one of the few teams with solid ambitions in both the sprint stages and the general classification with both André Greipel and Jurgen Van Den Broeck named as leaders.

Greipel will be looking to improve on his total of four stage wins in the Tour thus far - with three of those won in last year’s edition - while Van Den Broeck will be hoping to finally make it onto the podium in Paris after finishing fourth overall in 2010 and 2012.

“Our nine riders are ready for it,” said team manager Marc Sergeant. “From [Lars] Bak to [Frederik] Willems they are all guys in whom we have confidence that they will perform their task very well for three weeks and they’ll represent Lotto Belisol in the best way possible. All riders have the necessary experience to mingle themselves in the bustle of three weeks Tour de France.”

Whereas the majority of teams at the Tour will be focusing on a single leader, the Belgian team risk being split between the hunt for stage wins for Greipel and the podium ambitions of Van Den Broeck. While potentially a delicate situation, it was a combination that worked well in 2012, however, and Sergeant remains confident that it can work out once more.

“Considering that our core is almost identical to that of last year also our Tour selection doesn’t differ much from previous edition,’ Sergeant explained. “André Greipel and Jurgen Van den Broeck are still our main leaders. Last year the team has proved it is possible to pursue two goals. André of course has his train to support him: Greg Henderson, Jürgen Roelandts and Marcel Sieberg. The past few months we worked on the automatisms, with a number of victories as a result, but at the start of the Tour all fast guys begin as equals. The competition in the finishing straight will be big, but of course our goal is to lead André to a stage win.”

Greipel has claimed nine wins so far this season, whereas Van Den Broeck’s preparations for the Tour have run less smoothly, but Sergeant is certain that his rider’s build up to the race matches those of previous years.

“Jurgen Van den Broeck only has brought some small changes to his Tour preparation; The Tour de Romandie instead of the Walloon Classics, an extra week of rest after the Volta a Cataluña, Vuelta al País Vasco and the Tour de Romandie, but for the rest it was a passionate and meticulous drawn preparation just like the previous years,” Sergeant said. “We know the cause of the two difficult days in the Dauphiné, but I think it was clear immediately that this hasn’t affected his focus and goal. It’s still his ultimate goal to make a bid for the Tour podium, but there aren’t few candidates for a place in top ten. For our country it’s a unique fact to have a rider who can have those kinds of ambitions.

“Jurgen will be able to rely on the support of among other Bart De Clercq, who makes his début, and Fredrik Willems. It’s still only the third season as a pro for Bart and he’s developing year after year as a rider who excels in mountainous terrain. Frederik Willems had a difficult year in 2012 but showed the past few months that’s he’s back. Guys like Lars Bak and Adam Hansen are invaluable, as well for André as for Jurgen, and perform much invisible work.”

Lotto-Belisol line-up for the Tour de France:
Lars Bak, Bart De Clercq, André Greipel, Adam Hansen, Greg Henderson, Jürgen Roelandts, Marcel Sieberg, Jurgen Van den Broeck and Frederik Willems.