Nicolas Roche in Team Sunweb Tour de France team: The Irish pro cyclist looks in good form and has some hard racing under his belt (Photo: Caroline Kerley)
Nicolas Roche has been named in the Team Sunweb line-up for the Tour de France, as expected.
While Roche went to the team with the intention of aiding Tom Dumoulin in the Tour, the Dutch rider is sideline with a knee injury.
And so Roche goes into the Tour de France in a team looking at a Plan B; to ride for stages rather than the overall.
It is a plan that can suit Roche if his form holds and he has a bit of luck on the road. The Irish rider already has two Vuelta stage wins, and a day in the leader's jersey, in his palmares.
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As well as Roche in the team, also selected are: Søren
Kragh Andersen, Nikias Arndt, Cees Bol, Chad Haga, Lennard Kämna, Wilco
Kelderman and Michael Matthews.
While Dumoulin’s absence had forced the team to re-shape
its approach to the race, team manager Aike Visbeek believes the riders can
take advantage and take results of their own.
“This year our focus at the Tour de France will be to go
for stage success throughout the race,”
he said.
“We have
been in this situation before when we have had to change from a GC goal to
focusing on stage results and I am confident we can do well again.
“We’ll have opportunities for good results with Michael in the sprint stages and reduced bunch sprints. Nikias will be our captain.
“And with Giro stage winner Chad, we bring extra power for the both the TTT and TT.
“With Wilco, Nicholas and Søren we aim for opportunities in the more difficult hilly and mountain stages.”
Team Sunweb Tour de France line-up
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