The Rabobank team has announced its line up for next month’s Tour de France, which starts in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. As the only Netherlands’ team invited to the race, Rabobank will be taking 5 Dutch riders and 4 foreigners; Russian Denis Menchov and Dutchman Robert Gesink will both be riding for the overall classification, with Spanish three-time World champion Oscar Freire chasing stage wins.
Rabobank is the first team to announce its Tour roster, but there are reasons for posting the list so early, according to the team’s Technical Director Erik Breukink. "It is important that the riders know where they stand as early as possible, he said. “It’s good for their preparation and keeps the amount of stress to a minimum."
The selection has been a difficult one to make, with the decision of who not to take being one of the toughest parts. "Like every year it is difficult to leave riders out,” Breukink explained. “It is also not nice to tell guys that they are not in the list, but at some point you must make a decision."
"We have two strong leaders in Menchov and Gesink and also two young Dutch talents,” said Director Sportif Adri van Houwelingen, “supported by specialists in a particular area. Lars [Boom] and Robert [Gesink] have, after all, never seen Paris. I think that we have arrived at a very powerful combination."
"Koos [Moerenhout] would have ridden the Giro as preparation,” added Breukink, “but unfortunately that did not happen. He is fully recovered and we know what we if have to chose, he can be used in various fields. Maarten Tjallingii is a strong team player; he showed in last year's Giro what he can do if the situation requires extra effort around the leader. Maarten can physically do it."
2009 Giro d’Italia winner Menchov missed this year’s race to concentrate on the Tour; he rode well in the Tour de Romandie, finishing second (after the disqualification of Alejandro Valverde) but last week was forced by illness to abandon the Tour of Belgium in the early kilometres of the first stage. The team is not concerned about his fitness though.
"In Romandie, Denis rode at a very high level. That can not simply have gone," said Breukink. "We know he’s training hard and is doing very well. He starts in the Dauphine on Sunday and then comes another session of altitude training. Denis will soon be back to his best."
The team is also quick to dismiss the idea that starting the race with two leaders could cause conflict. "There are not many teams with two riders at this level going for the overall classification,” said Van Houwelingen. “In the Giro Liquigas has shown where it can lead with [Ivan] Basso and [Vincenzo] Nibali."
Rabobank team for the Tour de France:
Lars Boom, Oscar Freire, Juan Manuel Garate, Robert Gesink, Denis Menchov, Koos Moerenhout, Grischa Niermann, Laurens Ten Dam and Maarten Tjallingii.
Reserves:
Pieter Weening and Bram Tankink