Tom Dumoulin, Warren Barguil and John Degenkolb have all been named in Giant-Alpecin’s team for the Tour de France, which gets underway in Mont-Saint-Michel on Saturday July 2.
Barguil placed 14th overall on his Tour debut last year despite sustaining a fractured kneecap in a crash on stage 10 and he will lead Giant-Alpecin’s general classification again this year. The Breton showed his form by placing third overall at the recent Tour de Suisse, though the team is reluctant to set too lofty a target for the 24-year-old at this juncture.
“We have made a long-term plan with him, aiming to develop his general classification performance over the next few years,” Giant-Alpecin coach Aike Visbeek said.
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“This will be his second appearance in his home Grand Tour, and we believe a top-15 is again a realistic target for him.”
Dumoulin lines out at the Tour chiefly as preparation for the time trial at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, his principal target of the 2016 season. He led the Giro d’Italia for much of the opening week but was forced out of the race on stage 11 due to the effects of a saddle sore. It had initially been anticipated that Dumoulin would race the Tour de Pologne as part of his Olympic build-up, but his early departure from the Giro prompted a rethink of his plans.
Degenkolb was among the riders injured in the mass crash at Giant-Alpecin’s training camp in Calpe in January and the German was forced to miss the entire spring Classics campaign as a result. After beginning his season at the Tour of California in May, Degenkolb completed the recent Critérium du Dauphiné and will ride the Tour as Giant-Alpecin’s designated sprinter, following Marcel Kittel’s depature for Etixx-QuickStep during the off-season.
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