JUMBO VISMA REVEALS STACKED TOUR DE FRANCE ROSTER

Primoz Roglic leads a stacked Jumbo Visma roster for La Grande Boucle ahead of multi-stage winner Wout van Aert and Steven Kruijswijk with 6 Grand Tour top-ten results. 26-year-old Sepp Kuss will ride for Roglic in the mountains as veterans Mike Teunissen, Robert Gesink and time-trial specialist Tony Martin will control the rest of the race.

Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard will make his Tour de France debut in June after being called into the Jumbo Visma team on Monday to replace Dutchman Tom Dumoulin who has stepped down. Jumbo said the 24-year-old would line up at the start in Brest alongside two team leaders in Primoz Roglic, who came second last year, and Steven Kruijswijk who finished third in 2019. This season Vingegaard has won a stage race in Italy, the Coppi-Bartali Week, and was second in the Tour of the Basque Country, won by Roglic.

“He has shown that he can play a crucial role in high mountains, in the Alps and in the Pyrenees,” said sporting director Grischa Niermann.

“In theory, Jonas may be a candidate for a grand tour himself… But he needs time.”

Dumoulin, 30, who was expected to be in the team, announced at the beginning of the year that he was taking a break in his career. Since then, the former Giro winner has not returned to competition.

So here we are, our eight riders for @LeTour ???????? pic.twitter.com/MDJ9AK0LJx

— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) April 26, 2021

Jumbo Visma team: Primoz Roglic, Steven Kruijswijk, Wout van Aert, Sepp Kuss, Tony Martin, Mike Teunissen, Robert Gesink, Jonas Vingegaard

RBA/AFP Photos: Bettini