After he excellent showing in last year's Vuelta a Espana, Warren Barguil is hoping to make his Tour de France debut in 2014. Even though his team denies that a decision has been taken, the Frenchman fears that he will be left off his roster.

One year after winning the Tour de l'Avenir overall, Warren Barguil proved his talent on the professional scene when he won two stages in his debut grand tour at last year's Vuelta a Espana. Afterwards, the Frenchman made it clear that he hoped to make it onto the Giant-Shimano Tour de France roster in 2014.

Howver, the Frenchman may have to watch the race from the sidelines. Even though the selection has not yet been officially communicated, Barguil sees his exclusion as a formality.

Last year Marcel Kittel won four stages in the race and the team is set to be built around the strong German, meaning that much of the roster will be filled with lead-out riders. As John Degenkolb will be the second captain, targeting the harder sprint stages, there will not be much room for a climber like Barguil.

“Officially, on Saturday or Sunday I should know if I’m going to be part of the Tour team or not,” he told L’Équipe. “I really wanted to discover the Tour. I know that there is a team strategy in place but this Tour corresponds to my characteristics, and there isn’t much time trialling, less than at the Vuelta.”

Despite Barguil's concerns, manager Iwan Spekenbrink refuses that a decision has been made.

"We haven't made the final decision yet," he told Wielerflits. "We are working on the schedule for the upcoming races. We must decide which riders to bring to the Tour de France but also to the Vuelta and other races. With Warren, we have also discussed the possibilty of going to the Vuelta but the final decision is not made yet."

If Barguil misses out on Tour selection, his schedule is likely to be made up of the Tour de Suisse, the French championships, the Tour of Austria and the Tour de Pologne before he would return to the Vuelta. Barguil doesn't refuse the thought of doing the Spanish grand tour for the second year in a row.

“It’s a nice memory and of course I want to go back there. But if I go there, it won’t be to get a place in the top 20,” he said.

The future of the Giant-Shimano team is uncertain as Spekenbrink has still not found a sponsor to ensure the team's continuation. L'Equipe reports that Sky have shown interest in signing the Frenchman but for now he stays loyal towards his employer.

“It’s clear that everybody would like to have more news. But we need to have confidence in our manager,” Barguil said. “I’m not doing my head in with it.”

If he is left off the roster, however, Barguil could soon change his mind. If he decides to leave the team, he will be following in the footsteps of another talented French climber, Alexandre Geniez, who joined FDJ to avoid the dedicated focus on the sprint that has become the trademark of Giant-Shimano