Two more teams have announced their rosters for the Tour of Austria. Held in parallel to the first week of the Tour de France, this race will take the riders over some of the hardest climbs the Alpine country has to offer.
RadioShack-Leopard brings a mixture of riders to the Austrian race: While Fabian Cancellara, Nelson Oliveira and Jesse Sergent are very unlikely to feature in the general classification, they will give the stage 7 ITT around Podersdorf am Neusiedler See a proper go. Along with Ben King and George Bennett, they will do their best to support the team’s climbers and might go for a stage win if the opportunity offers itself.
Meanwhile, Matthew Busche, Robert Kiserlovski and Yaroslav Popovych all have chances to stay with the front group on the climbs of the Kühtai or the Kitzbüheler Horn on the opening stages, and later on the Großglockner, to challenge for the overall victory.
Russian team Katusha send six Russian and two German-speaking riders to the start in Innsbruck. Marco Haller and Rüdiger Selig will find a few sprinting opportunities nestled within the mountains, and Haller especially will be highly motivated to achieve a result in his homeland.
Vladimir Isaychev will wear his newly-won Russian champion’s jersey for the first time. Together with his countrymen Mikhail Ignatyev, Vyacheslav Kuznetsov, and Dmitry Kozonchuk, he will support Sergey Chernetskiy and Petr Ignatenko, who at first sight look most likely to do well in the mountains: Chernetskiy was 4th in the 2012 Tour de l’Avenir, while Ignatenko won the prestigious U23 race Giro della Valle d’Aosta Mont Blanc in 2010 and scored a respectable 40th place in his Grand Tour debut at this year’s Giro d’Italia.
RadioShack-Leopard line-up for the Tour of Austria:
George Bennett, Matthew Busche, Fabian Cancellara, Ben King, Robert Kiserlovski, Nelson Oliveira, Yaroslav Popovych, and Jesse Sergent.
Katusha Team line-up for the Tour of Austria:
Vladimir Isaychev, Sergey Chernetskiy, Marco Haller, Petr Ignatenko, Mikhail Ignatyev, Vyacheslav Kuznetsov, Dmitry Kozonchuk, and Rüdiger Selig.
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