SLIPSTREAM NAME TOUR DE FRANCE TEAM

Slipstream has announced the names of the nine riders who ride this year?s Tour de France in the teams.

As expected David Millar will be one of the key riders in the team that will officially start the Tour de France on July 5 as Team Garmin following the recent announcement of their three-year sponsorship deal with the sat-nav maker.

Adopted Welshman Magnus Backstedt will also ride, as will Christian Vande Velde, Kiwi sprinter Julian Dean and classics revelation Martijn Maaskant of Holland.

Dave Zabriskie is not riding after fracturing a vertebrae in the Giro d?Italia and there is no place for Tom Danielson.

Completing the team are: Will Frischkorn, Ryder Hesjedal, Danny Pate and climber Trent Lowe.

Dave Millar returned from a training camp at altitude in the Pyrenees the day before the team was announced and is enthusiastic about his own and the team's chances in the Tour de France.

"I think were going to have a very strong team in the Tour de France," Millar told Cycling Weekly.

"Everybody has been working hard at altitude if they haven?t been racing and we?re all going very well. I think we?ve got chances of stage wins but our biggest aim is to be in the race and be visible,?

"I?m going into the Tour wanting to get a stage win for sure and then we see what else we can do. The first week could be pretty good for me."

Team manager Jonathan Vaughters and the directuers sportives in the team decided the final starting nine after meeting in Gerona on Tuesday.

?Bringing a team to the Tour de France has always been our vision,? Vaughters said in a statement announcing the team.

?The riders on and off this list have worked incredibly hard for this. As a team, we are dedicated to giving our fans ? and the world ? something to cheer for at the Tour.?