Irish sprinter Sam Bennett has been included in the nine man team named by German professional cycling team BORA – ARGON 18 for the 102nd edition of the Tour de France
Bora Argon have been given a wild card entry into the race by organisers A.S.O and will give a Grand Tour debut to Bennett, who was born in Wervik, Belgium where his father Michael played professional football for Eendracht Wervik but returned to Ireland aged four, has been in good form this season with stage wins in the Tour Of Qatar and the Bayern Rundfahrt.
"We currently see a very high performance level of the entire team. Accordingly, it was a close decision to name the final places in the tour squad. Ultimately, we decided for an experienced team that supports our dual leadership with Sam Bennett and Dominik Nerz at its best. For this year's profile of the Tour de France, we appointed a good balance of classic specialists and climbers", Ralph Denk, Team Manager of BORA – ARGON 18, said.
"We have proven in the past three years, what we are capable of at Grand Tours thanks to a perfect team performance and very high motivation: attacks until the last kilometer, podiums, stage wins and top placings in the GC. This year, we want to use the biggest event in our sport again to convince with results – at best, of course, with a stage win."
Line-up:
Jan Barta (30, CZE), Sam Bennett (24, IRL), Emanuel Buchmann (22, GER), Zakkari Dempster (27, AUS), Bartosz Huzarski (34, POL), Jose Mendes (30, POR), Dominik Nerz (25, GER), Andreas Schillinger (31, GER), Paul Voss (29, GER)
Reserve: Patrick Konrad (23, AUT), Cesare Benedetti (27, ITA)
Team Manager: Ralph Denk (41, GER)
Sport Directors: Enrico Poitschke (45, GER), Christian Pömer (37, AUT)