The French AG2r La Mondiale team will go into the 2009 Tour de France with Russian Vladimir Efimkin and Frenchman Cyril Dessel as their leaders for the race. Efimkin, 27, won the 9th Stage in last year’s edition, and Dessel took the 16th stage.
Irishman Nicolas Roche and Italian Rinaldo Nocentini both have a turn of speed that could see them threaten out of a breakaway.
39-year-old Frenchman Stéphane Goubert and Spaniard Jose Luis Arrieta, 38, will bring experience to the team and be two of the oldest riders participating in the race.
AG2r for the Tour:
Vladimir Efimkin, Cyril Dessel, Nicolas Roche, José Luis Arrieta, Rinaldo Nocentini, Hubert Dupont, Stéphane Goubert, Lloyd Mondory, Christophe Riblon