The Katusha Team has announced the nine riders that it will be sending to the Tour de France, which starts in Rotterdam, Netherlands in a little over a week’s time. The Russian team will be riding for a high overall position for Spaniard Joaquin Rodriguez as well as stage wins, and a possible fourth points jersey for Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen.
31-year-old Rodriguez is enjoying his best season to date in his first year for the Russian team. He won the Volta a Catalunya in March and was third in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco in April; he could only manage 9th in last week’s Tour de Suisse, but is currently ranked 3rd in the UCI’s World Rankings and managed 7th place in last year’s Vuelta while riding for team leader Alejandro Valverde.
McEwen has won 12 stages of the Tour de France since taking his first one on the Champs-Elysées in 1999. The former Australian champion, who celebrated his 37th birthday yesterday, also took the green jersey in 2002, 2004 and 2006; he won those battling against other consistent finishers like Erik Zabel, Baden Cooke and Thor Hushovd. His 2009 season was ruined by a persistent knee injury and will be seeking retribution for it in the sprints of the Tour.
In support of Rodriguez will be Vladimir Karpets, whose battling 14th place in last month’s Giro d’Italia included a number of attacking cameos. The rest of the team should be enough to support the Rodriguez and McEwen, and can also be counted upon to get into breakaways where possible; Sergei Ivanov won the stage into Besançon last year when George Hincapie came so close to the yellow jersey.
Team Katusha for the Tour de France:
Pavel Brutt, Sergei Ivanov, Joaquin Rodriguez, Vladimir Karpets, Robbie McEwen, Alexander Kolobnev, Stijn Vandenbergh, Eduard Vorganov and Alexandr Pliuschin
Sport Directors: Serge Parsani, Dmtri Konychev