Wilco Kelderman and Robert Gesink will lead Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s GC ambitions at the Tour de France.

Kelderman, 24, was crowned best young rider at the Volta a Catalunya and will make his Tour de France debut, having finished seventh at last year’s Giro d’Italia.

Gesink, meanwhile, starts his first Grand Tour since having to abandon last year’s Vuelta a Espana before stage 18 as his pregnant wife underwent surgery, having been sat seventh overall at the time.

With a Dutch start for the Tour, the WorldTour’s only Dutch-sponsored team have named seven riders from the Netherlands in their starting line-up, with Gesink and Kelderman backed by Laurens ten Dam and Steven Kruijswijk.

Kruijswijk was seventh at the Giro d’Italia, thanks in no small part to a stunning ride on the Mortirolo, while ten Dam was ninth at last year’s Tour de France.

Bram Tankink, Tom Leezer and Jos van Emden will also fly the Dutch flag in their home country, with Belgian classics ace Sep Vanmarcke and Germany’s Paul Martens completing the line-up.

By including four potential GC contenders, directeur sportif Nico Verhoeven hopes the team will be able to target a strong showing overall.

He said: “Facing the profile, we didn’t target the bunch sprints as much as before. This year, we’re starting with more climbers.

“Robert and Wilco are our front men, but also Laurens and Steven proved themselves in big tours already.

“It’s obvious that a lot can happen in the first ten days of the Tour de France. With this group of four, we have less of a risk of losing our general classifications ambitions completely after the first part.

“We’re able to spread out our chances. That means that we’re not focusing on just one team leader. The main part of the race is in the second half, so when that period starts, we still have to be in good position.”

And Kelderman, who could rival Nairo Quintana and British twins Adam and Simon Yates for the white jersey, is relishing his Tour debut, adding: “I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve been preparing specifically for the Tour de France the last five weeks. I’ve had a training camp at altitude and rode the Criterium du Dauphiné as preparation.

“I’m looking forward to the start in Utrecht and to the stage to Alpe d’Huez the most. The next week and a half, I’m going to do some specific training on my time trial bike and rest so that I will be fresh at the start.”

The team have also revealed the limited-edition jersey they will wear for the race, having joined Tinkoff-Saxo in swapping their predominantly yellow jerseys to avoid a clash with the maillot jaune.

LottoNL-Jumbo team for the 2015 Tour de France

Robert Gesink (NED)
Wilco Kelderman (NED)
Laurens ten Dam (NED)
Steven Kruijswijk (NED)
Sep Vanmarcke (BEL)
Bram Tankink (NED)
Tom Leezer (NED)
Jos van Emden (NED)
Paul Martens (GER)