Ryder Hesjedal will lead Garmin-Barracuda at the Tour de France less than one month after winning the Giro d’Italia, with British Tour veteran David Millar also named in the nine-man squad.
Hesjedal became the first Canadian to win a Grand Tour with Giro victory in May, beating Katusha rider Joaquim Rodriguez to the title by 16 seconds.
The 31-year-old now switches focus to the Tour and will be supported in the mountains by Tom Danielson, who finished in the top 10 last year, Christian Vande Velde and British-born Irishman Dan Martin, who is expected to challenge for the King of the Mountains jersey.
Millar, who was last week named in Great Britain’s initial squad for the Olympic road race, will start his 11th Tour de France and, along with David Zabriskie, will target the race’s two individual time trials, while Tyler Farrar will lead the team on sprint stages with the support of Robbie Hunter and 2010 Paris-Roubaix winner Johan Vansummeren.
“We have put together a well-balanced team with an emphasis on support for our leader, Ryder,” said Garmin-Barracuda director of competition Allan Peiper.
“We have Christian and Tom, both excellent climbers who each have had great GC rides in the Tour and have shown their strength in recent racing. Dan Martin, making his Tour debut, rounds out the climbers of the team.
“The climbers will have the support of TT specialists David Millar and David Zabriskie along with Johan Vansummeren, who will also be able to help out sprinters Farrar and Hunter in the quest for stage wins.”
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Garmin-Barracuda – 2012 Tour de France
Ryder Hesjedal (CAN)
Tom Danielson (USA)
Tyler Farrar (USA)
Robbie Hunter (RSA)
Dan Martin (IRL)
David Millar (GBR)
Christian Vande Velde (USA)
Johan Vansummeren (BEL)
David Zabriskie (USA)
