The Alpecin-Deceuninck team of Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen will go to the Tour de France without Dutchman Oscar Riesebeek. Cees Bol and Mike Teunissen are among the eight-member selection of XDS-Astana.
Van der Poel and Philipsen are the leaders of Alpecin in this Tour. The duo must provide the team with daily success. Philipsen has sprinted to a stage victory nine times in the Tour so far. In 2023, the Belgian won the points classification.
The expectation was that Van der Poel and Philipsen would be assisted in France by Riesebeek, but he is missing from the selection. The 23-year-old Belgian Emiel Verstrynge, who is making his professional debut on the road this season, is surprisingly included.
Jonas Rickaert, Kaden Groves, Xandro Meurisse, Silvan Dillier and Gianni Vermeersch are the other Tour participants on behalf of Alpecin. The Tour starts next Saturday with a flat stage with Lille as the start and finish location.
XDS-Astana starts the Tour with Bol and Teunissen. Teunissen is participating for the sixth time. In 2019, he won the opening stage in Brussels while riding for Jumbo-Visma, after which he was allowed to wear the yellow jersey for two days.
Bol is also participating for the sixth time. Last year, he was the lead-out for Mark Cavendish. Wout Poels is also under contract with Astana, but is not going to the Tour. The Limburger did ride the Giro d’Italia this year, the only major tour in which he has not yet won a stage.
In addition to Bol and Teunissen, Davide Ballerini, Clément Champoussin, Yevgeniy Fedorov, Sergio Higuita, Harold Tejada and Simone Velasco have also been selected by Astana. Ballerini, together with the Dutchmen, seems to have to ensure success in the sprint stages. Champoussin, Higuita and Tajada are likely to focus on the mountain stages.
Eenkhoorn selected by Soudal Quick-Step
Soudal Quick-Step also announced its selection for the Tour de France on Tuesday. Remco Evenepoel, the number three from last year, is the leader of the Belgian formation.
Pascal Eenkhoorn is one of the riders who will assist him in the hunt for a new podium place. The Dutch champion of 2022 is preparing for his second Tour.
Mattia Cattaneo, Tim Merlier, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Maximilian Schachmann, Bert Van Lerberghe and Ilan Van Wilder. Merlier is Soudal’s trump card in the sprint stages.