Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) was battling for a Tour de France podium spot in 2016 when a crash on the way to Mont Blanc during stage 19 sunk his chances and eventually saw him drop him out of the top 10.
Mollema obviously has unfinished business with the Tour, but the 31-year-old Dutchman had to defer that reckoning last year when Trek-Segafredo brought on two-time winner Alberto Contador and Mollema was relegated to a super-domestique role.
With Contador's retirement in the off-season, Mollema is back behind the reins of Trek-Segafredo and is hoping to rekindle his drive for the podium. There are plenty of riders he'll have to top along with way, not the least of whom are four-time winner Chris Froome (Team Sky, EF Education First-Drapac's Rigoberto Uran, Movistar's triumvirate of Nario Quintana, Mikel Landa and Alejandro Valverde, AG2R's Romain Bardet, BMC Racing's Richie Porte, Mitchelton-Scott's Adam Yates and Bahrain-Merida's Vincenzo Nibali.
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A crowd is already forming around the podium before the race has even started, so Trek-Segafredo are hoping they've brought the right mix of riders to help Mollema break through. The seven riders Mollema will be looking to for support in July are Julien Bernard, John Degenkolb, Koen de Kort, Michael Gogl, Tsgabu Grmay, Toms Skujins and Jasper Stuyven.
In Stuyven, de Kort, Gogl and Skujins, Trek-Segafredo have brought riders who can ably guide Mollema through the tricky first third of the race, including leaving him in good standing after the stage 3 team time trial. Degenkolb, Stuyven and de Kort will also be handy during the stage 9 day on the cobbles, with maybe enough reources left over to expend some energy in the breakaways.
None of the other teams in the race stack up well against the climbing squads Movistar and Team Sky will bring to the race, but Mollema will be able to count on Grmay, a proven pure climber, while Bernard will be eager to prove himself during his debut in his home tour.
Trek-Segafredo's Tour de France roster
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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