Best of the rest
Though not every team has confirmed their line-ups for this year’s race, a strong field is expected with the leading candidates also joined by the likes of Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma-Quickstep). Consecutive top-ten finishes for Team Sky in 2011 and 2012 show the Colombian’s calibre in this race.
One rider definitely racing is Wilco Kelderman (Belkin) meanwhile, who proved he can step up to the plate and lead the Dutch team at Paris-Nice. Only a late crash denied him a strong overall finish after he stayed in contention, and it will be interesting to see if he can perform similarly well on the bigger climbs. Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) meanwhile withdrew from Paris-Nice through illness and will no doubt want to make up for lost time should he be picked in Spain.
