Irish cyclist Nicolas Roche has been named in the Team DSM line-up for Tour de la Provence, which gets underway in France on Thursday.
The French stage race will get Roche’s 17th full season
as a top flight professional underway. Indeed, 2021 marks his 18th year in the
pro peloton if his stagiaire with Cofidis for the final months of 2004 is
included in his tally.
Roche rode strongly in this race at the start of last season, saying at the time a longer than usual winter – due to his crash at La Vuelta in 2019 – meant he was well rested.
He will look to start the 2021 campaign strongly and his
team is taking a two-pronged approach to the race, with German fastman Max
Kanter for the sprints and British rider Mark Donovan for the hillier days.
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As well as Roche (36), Kanter (23) and Donovan (21), Team
DSM has also named Romain Combaud (29), Andreas Leknessund (21), Niklas Märkl
(21) and Jasha Sütterlin (28) for the four-stage race.
Michiel Elijzen, Team DSM coach, said the riders were
coming out of a very productive team camp and were excited to get a new season
underway.
“Over the four stages our goal is to go for day results
with a nice mix of riders; with Romain, Andreas and Niklas making their debut
for us,” he said.
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“The parcours looks demanding but we should get some
chances to go for a sprint on stages one and four, where we will work to set up
Max for those fast finishes.
“Mark will have the chance to test his legs on the famous Mont Ventoux climb and see how he goes there. Overall, we have four opportunities to go for a solid stage result and with some good teamwork throughout the race."
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