On Saturday 4th July the 102nd Tour de France starts in Utrecht. Lotto Soudal has selected these nine riders: Lars Bak, Thomas De Gendt, Jens Debusschere, Tony Gallopin, André Greipel, Adam Hansen, Greg Henderson, Marcel Sieberg and Tim Wellens. Manager Marc Sergeant explains this choice.

“This choice is based on trust: in what they did for the team in the past, their current condition and the way we want to approach the next Tour. André Greipel remains one of the foundations of the team. Since 2011 he won at least one Tour stage each year, he got a confidence boost the past weeks in several races and with a good team around him we aim for another stage win. It’s true there are less sprint opportunities than previous years, but still this is our biggest chance of a stage win.

“Greg Henderson, Jens Debusschere and Marcel Sieberg will support André as good as possible to achieve our goal, but the other guys will do their part of the job as well. Just think of the hundreds of kilometres Lars Bak pulled at the front of the peloton last year or the experience and tranquillity of Adam Hansen in an exciting finale. With Greg Henderson we have one of the most experienced lead-outs of the peloton. André won his most important races with Greg. Jens Debusschere can take over the role of Jürgen Roelandts, if necessary he is fast as well and can have a go of his own in the stage over the cobblestones for example. He has grown a lot and is ready for his Tour début. Marcel Sieberg is indispensable in his role, he knows André very well and works together perfectly with the other guys.

“We want to continue our attractive way of racing of the first part of the season. We got lots of publicity and positive reactions. In each stage that won’t end with a bunch sprint our riders can attack. The fact that we don’t have a GC rider this year gives more freedom to this type of riders. Tony Gallopin, Tim Wellens, Thomas De Gendt and also Adam Hansen and Lars Bak can join a breakaway in stages that suit them. Except for Tim Wellens, for whom it’s the first Tour, they all proved they can win a stage in a Grand Tour. Tim can go the Tour without any pressure, like he raced in the Giro last year.”