SA team plans for ‘something special’ at Tour de France

It took the toughest of decisions to choose the team for what Team Dimension Data founder Doug Ryder believes is the toughest Tour de France in some years.

Ryder on Tuesday announced an eight-man squad that will be without British superstar Mark Cavendish and Louis Meintjes, the SA star-in-waiting, for the 106th Tour, which starts in Brussels on Saturday.

Cavendish has been struggling to find form this season, a legacy of his struggles with the Epstein-Barr virus over the past few years, while Meintjes has not recovered sufficiently from breaking his wrist at the Tour of California in May.

The team has an all-around look to it for La Grande Boucle, with a sprinkling of classics riders and with an eye on stage wins. The two stand-outs in the squad could be Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen, the three-time Tour stage winner, and Czech Roman Kreuziger, the latter having four top-10 finishes on general classification (GC) to his name.

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