Dan Martin has been confirmed in Garmin-Sharp's line-up for the Tour de France starting on Saturday
Having hailed Irishman Dan Martin for his “breakout year” so far this season, Garmin-Sharp team manager Jonathan Vaughters has put his money where his mouth is and awarded the Liege-Bastogne-Liege winner with protected rider status within the team for the Tour de France.
The US-based WorldTour outfit has waited until today to confirm its roster for the three week Tour which begins in Corsica on Saturday.
However, there was no doubt Martin would be in the line-up to tackle the race for just the second time in his career as he tries to enhance his growing palmares and reputation.
The team is a really strong one and Martin will share his status as protected rider along with Tour debutant Andrew Talansky and last year’s Giro winner Ryder Hesjedal.
Advertisement
Also in the team for the 100th running of the race is two-time top-ten finisher Christian Vande Velde along with fellow top-ten finisher Tom Danielson, stage winner David Millar, recent Giro d’Italia stage winner Ramunas Navardausaks, and Tour new boys Jack Bauer and Rohan Dennis.
“We have a deep team with a lot of options as we head into the centennial Tour de France,” said Vaughters.
“Our goal is to animate the race and with an aggressive strategy, we will aim to place high in the general classification.”
“We have a few guys capable of achieving that – Ryder’s won a Grand Tour and placed in the top 10 of the Tour de France; Andrew is young and while it’s his first Tour de France, he is coming off a great season; and Dan Martin is having a breakout year with his wins in Catalunya and Liege-Bastogne-Liege."
He said those riders would be protected as the team's hope for the general classification as the race played out.
Related News
"Our approach is a little unconventional, but we’ve managed to come up with surprises every year at the Tour and we’re hoping for the same as we head into Corsica.”
“We have a good mix of guys with a lot of experience combined with young riders competing in their first Tour de France,” said Charly Wegelius, director sportif.
“We have options when it comes to general classification and we also have riders who are capable of stage wins, so we’ll be looking for those opportunities as well. It’s going to be an exciting three weeks.”
Team Garmin-Sharp 2013 Tour de France Roster
Andrew Talansky
Christian Vande Velde
Dan Martin
David Millar
Jack Bauer
Ramunas Navardauskas
Rohan Dennis
Ryder Hesjedal
Tom Danielson
Topics
