In anticipation of the 96th edition of the Tour de France that starts on Saturday July 4 in Monaco, the Cervélo TestTeam has announced a list of 14 riders, of which 9 will take part in the team’s first Tour.
“We have had a dream start to our inaugural season,” said Thomas Campana, Managing Director, Cervélo TestTeam. “The Men’s TestTeam already have 14 victories to their credit, including four stage wins at the Giro d’Italia. The Women’s TestTeam are also having a great season with 18 victories to date. We are looking forward to our first Tour de France and are particularly pleased to have the great Carlos Sastre riding for our team as the Tour’s defending champion. Carlos knows he has the entire team’s support to help him reach his goals. We would also like to win a couple of other stages on the way to Paris and with talents like our top sprinters Thor Hushovd and Heinrich Haussler anything is possible.”
With the start in the 2009 Tour de France, the team will have the unique situation of being a new team that also includes the race’s defending champion. In the Giro d’Italia Sastre showed the competition he has been working hard over the winter by winning two of the race’s mountain stages.
Pre-selection Cervélo TestTeam – Tour de France 2009
1 Inigo Cuesta ESP 03-06-1969
2 Xavier Florencio ESP 26-12-1979
3 Simon Gerrans AUS 16-05-1980
4 Volodymir Gustov UKR 15-02-1977
5 Heinrich Haussler GER 25-02-1984
6 Thor Hushovd NOR 18-01-1978
7 Andreas Klier GER 15-01-1976
8 Brett Lancaster AUS 15-11-1979
9 José Angel Gomez Marchante ESP 16-05-1980
10 Gabriel Rasch NOR 08-04-1976
11 Hayden Roulston NZL 10-01-1981
12 Carlos Sastre ESP 22-04-1975