There appears to be some daylight between Tom Dumoulin's ambitions for this year's Tour de France and Team Sunweb's expectations for the race.
In an interview with De Telegraaf last month, the 2017 Giro d'Italia winner said he's "full-on for the overall" when the Tour starts on July 7 in Noirmoutier-en-l'Ile. His team, on the other hand, made it quite clear in their roster announcement that this year's Tour was more of a fact-finding mission in service of future full-on Dumoulin GC efforts.
The difference may reflect the gap between youthful enthusiasm and managerial pragmatism, or it may simply be the case of team directors playing down expectations for their dark-horse contender. It's also possible that both are true: while Dumoulin pours himself full bore into going for a top overall result, the team will be accumulating data points and formulating future plans.
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Either way, the riders aren't going to be suffering any less because their three weeks in France are a sweaty learning experience for the team. They're going to suffer, so they're going to try to win. Recognising this, Team Sunweb have put together a roster to support Dumoulin's general classification ambitions – now and in the future – while setting themselves up for daily opportunities.
Dumoulin will be joined in France by Søren Kragh Andersen, Nikias Arndt, Simon Geschke, Chad Haga, Michael Matthews and Edward Theuns. Wilco Kelderman was scratched at the last minute because of a recurring shoulder injury and has been replaced by Laurens ten Dam.
Matthews won the green jersey last year after perennial winner Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) was disqualified, but, assuming Sagan makes it to the finish in Paris this time, that jersey might be out of reach for Matthews this year, so the team is built mostly around Dumoulin.
Team Sunweb's Tour de France roster
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/all-in-for-dumoulin-analysing-sunwebs-roster-for-the-tour-de-france
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