Wilco Kelderman and Robert Gesink have been named as co-leaders of the LottoNL-Jumbo line-up for the Tour de France, which gets underway in Utrecht on July 4. The Dutch team is the first to announce its roster for the Tour, and the composition of the nine-man roster reflects the mountainous nature of the parcours.
Gesink, 5th overall in 2010, and Tour debutant Kelderman are joined in the squad by Laurens ten Dam, who finished 9th overall at last year’s Tour, and Steven Kruijswijk, who impressed in finishing 7th overall at the recent Giro d’Italia.
Sep Vanmarcke will lead the line for LottoNL-Jumbo on stage 4 over the cobbles to Cambrai. Bram Tankink, Tom Leezer, Jos van Emden and Paul Martens are also included, but there is no place for sprinter Moreno Hofland.
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"Facing the profile, we didn’t target the bunch sprints as much as before. This year, we’re starting with more climbers. Robert and Wilco are our front men, but also Laurens and Steven proved themselves in big tours already," directeur sportif Nico Verhoeven said.
Perhaps mindful of how early crashes ruined Gesink’s hopes in 2009 and 2012, Verhoeven acknowledged that the team was hedging its bets somewhat by including four riders all with the potential to finish in the top 10 overall in Paris.
"With this group of four, we have less of a risk of losing our general classifications ambitions completely after the first part. We’re able to spread out our chances. That means that we’re not focusing on just one team leader," he said.
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