Alaphilippe, Asgreen and Cavendish lead Deceuninck-Quick-Step in Tour de France
Jun 22 2021 10:27 am CET
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Deceuninck-Quick-Step has presented its roster for the Tour de France in which Julian Alaphilippe, Kasper Asgreen and Mark Cavendish are the leaders.
The Belgian formation will have three leaders in the French grand tour. Alaphilippe is ready to go through the roads of his country wearing the Rainbow Jersey and two years after he wore Yellow for 14 days. Next to him will be Cavendish, who with 30 stage victories is the most successful sprinter in the history of the race.
The Briton will be replacing Sam Bennett, who can't defend the points classification jersey he took in the last edition of the race, due to a knee injury. "I am delighted to be going back to the Tour de France with Deceuninck-Quick-Step," said Cavendish. "Obviously, the circumstances with Sam could be better – he had a special Tour last year and I am sad for him not being able to defend his green jersey.
"But at the same time, I am excited to be going back to a race that I have such an affinity with and where I have so much history. It is the biggest bike race in the world, and I am going to do all I can to grab this opportunity with both hands."
"Our team is a balanced one," explained Deceuninck-Quick-Step's sports director Tom Steels. "Julian came well out of the Tour de Suisse and the opening weekend suits him, so we'll support him in his quest for a stage victory. Mark returns to the Tour, and it's great to have someone with his history and experience on the team. He will have a superb lead-out with Ballerini and Morkov, and the plan is to take it day by day and see how things go.
"Kasper will also be one to watch, as there are a couple of stages where he can go in the breakaway, without mentioning the two individual time trials, where he can do something nice. Tim is one of the best helpers in the peloton, while Mattia and Dries will help Julian in the mountains and on the uphill finishes. We are confident and hopeful for a good three weeks."
Deceuninck-Quick-Step's roster for the Tour de France (June 26-July 18):
Julian Alaphilippe (FRA)
Kasper Asgreen (DEN)
Davide Ballerini (ITA)
Mattia Cattaneo (ITA)
Mark Cavendish (GBR)
Tim Declercq (BEL)
Dries Devenyns (BEL)
Michael Mørkøv (DEN)
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