Richie Porte and Sky chase, Criterium du Dauphine 2012, stage five
Team Sky have today announced the nine-man squad that will ride the 2012 Tour de France in support of Bradley Wiggins' bid for overall victory.
Mark Cavendish unsurprisingly makes the cut although the remaining seven riders have been chosen with Wiggins in mind.
Edvald Boasson Hagen, Bernhard Eisel, Chris Froome, Christian Knees, Richie Porte, Michael Rogers and Kanstantsin Siutsou will complete the line-up at the opening stage in Liege on June 30.
The biggest name to miss out on selection is American Danny Pate who rode with Wiggins at the Criterium du Dauphine in early June.
"We believe we have picked a strong and balanced team though, and one which can cater for any eventuality," said Sky team manager Dave Brailsford.
"Our priority this year is the General Classification with Bradley but that doesn't mean we'll neglect the sprint stages, or Mark's bid for [the] green jersey."
Froome, Porte and Rogers will likely be Wiggins' 'mountain-men' capable of supporting him on the race's toughest climbing stages.
Siutsou and Knees should be there too but look to have also been chosen with one eye on the rolling terrain, and the numerous opportunities for Wiggins to be caught out, that feature in the opening stages of this year's race.
"I'm really proud to be part of such a strong unit going into the Tour de France. The team's preparation has been perfectly managed and our form this season gives us a great chance of being successful," said Wiggins.
"I've been waiting for this moment for a long time and I'll do everything I can to win the Tour de France."
For the first time in three years, Cavendish will be without a full leadout train for the Tour. His long-standing team-mate Eisel will accompany the World Champion in his hunt for stage wins while versatile Norwegian Boassan Hagen can support both Cavendish and Wiggins, as well as aiming for stage wins himself.
Related links
Who will be in Sky's Tour de France team?
Tour de France 2012: Cycling Weekly's coverage index
Reader comments
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Robbie Sargent
June 21 15:04
Easy to say with hindsight now the team has been confirmed, but it appears Wiggins will never get a better chance to win the Tour and Brailsford recognises that. Therefore, the team is strongly focused around Wiggins rather than Cav. Indeed, Cav's own quotes on the team selection suggest he is resigned to the fact this is a GC team, and not a sprinter's lead out train. Expect Cav to drop out and conserve energy for the Olympics.
dai bananas brother
June 21 15:30
Curiously, all three of the 'English' riders were born in other countries, so how much of a domestic team is this to support? Well it'll be miles better than watching the "World Jobsworth Championships" aka the Olympic Games. Dai's missus went up for the day yesterday and had a lucky escape from a platoon of men in hi-viz who wre practisng routines in a supermarket car park. Tickets for Box Hill anyone?
Terry Hammond
June 21 15:34
Thank you CW for getting Wiggo on the front cover this week, please keep the hot racing news at the front of the mag, please don't tuck the TdF news away at the back.
Ken Evans
June 21 17:42
Cav can sit on other riders for his lead-out, he has done it before and won. The Olympics are a bigger aim for him this year, than the Green Jersey.
borderfox
June 21 18:03
thinking has Cav slimmed down to go for points ahead of stage wins?
John
June 25 13:09
Re: Borderfox Cav has slimmed down to manage 9 ascents of box hill, if reports are to be beleived. May have impacted his sprint speed though.