Dimension Data announces roster for Tour de France, absence of Mark Cavendish stands out
Jul 02 2019 08:22 pm CET
Team Dimension Data
Dimension Data has chosen its eight riders that will start in the Tour de France. Sprinter Mark Cavendish hasn't been selected to be in the French grand tour.
The only African team of the WorldTour has chosen eight strong men that can tackle every terrain in the French grand tour. Edvald Boasson Hagen -who has already won three stages in the race- will be starting in the Tour de France for the sixth time of his career and comes to it with a good form and three wins in the current season.
Sprinter Giacomo Nizzolo -who has already started in seven editions of the Giro d'Italia- will make his debut in the race with a renewed confidence after taking the victory in the final stage of the Tour of Slovenia. "I’m very excited to be at the Grand Depart for the very first time," commented the Italian. "So at the moment I’m really looking forward to that opportunity and to enjoy the experience as it will be without a doubt one of my career highlights."
Another rider that has his eye on the fast stages that include hilly parts is South African Reinardt Janse van Rensburg, a rider who made his debut in the race in 2015. "I’m really looking forward to starting another Tour de France, it will be my fifth Tour this year," he expressed. "I think that we’ve got a good team to target for stage wins and there are some good stages that suit me. So I’m really looking forward to this year’s tour again, three weeks of racing in the heat so I’m just completing my final preparations for that at the moment."
The winner of two stages of La Grande Boucle, Stephen Cummings is looking forward to trying his luck once more and will aim to take more victories in his sixth appearance at the race. "I was pleasantly surprised about the Tour selection, I wasn’t expecting that," said the Briton.
"I’m very grateful to the team again for the opportunity to go to the Tour and I’m looking forward to the challenge. I think it’s a pretty open Tour, there are a lot of chances to be aggressive and I think it suits the team that we have very well and I hope that we can have a great July and everyone can be proud of us."
Cavendish, who has already taken 30 victories in the French grand tour, is not part of the selection of the African race as he is still returning to his best shape after struggling with the Epstein-Barr virus.
Dimension Data's roster for the Tour de France (6th to 28th of July):
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Stephen Cummings
Reinardt Janse van Rensburg
Michael Valgren
Roman Kreuziger
Giacomo Nizzolo
Ben King
Lars Bak
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