The organisers of the Tour of Britain have announced that Bradley Wiggins is down to ride the race for his pro team, Garmin.
London, 24 August 2009 – SweetSpot Group Ltd, organisers of The Tour of Britain, have announced the names of four more professional cycling teams that have confirmed they will be taking part in Britain’s biggest free to attend sporting event, The Tour of Britian taking place from the 12th to 19th of September.
Cervelo Test Team (http://www.cervelo.com/)
The new team for 2009 built around 2008 Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre have a had a tremendously successful first season, winning four stages at the Giro d’Italia and further stages at the Tour de France, Tour of California, Paris – Nice and several other important stage races. The multi-national squad also contains seven other nationalities, among them Thor Hushovd, who beat Mark Cavendish to the Tour de France’s Green Jersey. The Norwegian also won the stage into Barcelona, while Heinrich Haussler won the wet stage to Colmar.
The team riding The Tour of Britain are: Davide Appollonio, Philip Deignan, Dan Fleeman, Roger Hammond, Jeremy Hunt and Martin Reimer
Euskaltel – Euskadi (http://www.fundacioneuskadi.com/)
The Basque Euskaltel team make their Tour of Britain debut, but they’ll already be familiar to UK cycling fans thanks to their exploits in the mountains of the Tour de France in their distinctive orange jerseys. The team have been in existence since the mid-1990s, and are now managed by former Tour de France leader Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano. Among the team’s stars is Samuel Sanchez, the current road race Olympic champion and Egoi Martinez, who impressed in the mountains during the recent Tour de France as he briefly wore the climber’s jersey.
The team riding The Tour of Britain are: Javier Aramendia, Koldo Fernandez De Larrea, Ivan Velasco, Sergio De Lis, Josu Agirre, and Jorge Azanza.
Garmin Slipstream Pro Cycling Team (http://www.slipstreamsports.com/)
Garmin are one of the most popular teams in Britain, thanks to the presence of Bradley Wiggins, David Millar and Irish youngster Dan Martin, a former British Junior Road race champion. Wiggins came fourth at the Tour de France, equalling the best ever result in the race by a British rider, while Irishman Martin is one of the sports up-and-coming stars, who recorded an excellent result in last year’s Tour of Britain where he was 4th.
This year Garmin will be sending a very strong team, with several riders capable of stage wins or more, indeed Wiggins already has one win on British roads this summer, having dominated the Beaumont Trophy round of the Premier Calendar. On the sprinting front both Julian Dean and Chris Sutton were mixing it in the sprints of The Tour of Britain in 2008. Expect the Kiwi Dean to also be in the running for The Prostate Cancer Charity Points Jersey, a competition he won in 2004 and finished second in last year.
The team riding The Tour of Britain are: Bradley Wiggins, Huub Duijn, Trent Lowe, Tom Peterson, Chris Sutton, and Ricardo Van der Velde.
Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team (http://www.vacansoleilprocyclingteam.com/)
The new Vacansoleil team may be riding their first Tour of Britain, but several riders are already familiar to the race. Frederik Veuchelen brings the experience of having twice finished in the top ten of The Tour while riding for the Belgian Topsport Vlaanderen team. Dutchman Vierhouten is another familiar name having done well in the more technical sprints in 2006, so watch out for him in Stoke-on-Trent or Newcastle where it isn’t a flat or straightforward drag strip to the finish line. Of course there is also another fine sprinter in the shape of Tour de France stage winner and 2003 Green Jersey Baden Cooke.
With several of the riders, like Bobbie Traksel, being strong performers in tough one-day ‘Classics’, then some of the tough, hilly stages of The Tour of Britain could prove to be a happy hunting ground for the team.
The team riding The Tour of Britain are: Rob Ruijgh, Thomas Berkhout, Martin Mortensen, Baden Cooke, Reinier Honig, Wouter Mol
Teams Announced for The Tour of Britain
July 23, 2009
The Tour of Britain today announced the names of nine out of the 16 teams that have confirmed they will be taking part in Britain’s biggest free to attend sporting event.
The teams confirmed to take part in this year’s event are:
• AG2R La Mondiale
• Agritubel
• Barloworld
• CandiTV – Marshalls Pasta
• Team Columbia – HTC
• CSF Navigare
• Team Halfords Bikehut
• Rapha – Condor
• Topsport Vlaanderen
"This year’s Tour of Britain will be fielding the best and strongest set of teams ever to take part in the event. By having such high profile teams, of which some are currently taking part in the Tour de France, spectators to this year’s Tour of Britain will be guaranteed to see the highest calibre of cycle racing ever to take place on British soil," said Mick Bennett, Technical Director for The Tour of Britain.
"It has always been our desire to include domestic teams on The Tour of Britain, as we see these emerging cycling teams playing an essential part in helping to develop the sport in this country. As a British-based team, it’s great to be racing against some of the best teams in the world on home turf," said Phil Griffiths, Team Manager for CandiTV – Marshalls Pasta. "Thanks to The Tour of Britain, our team now has the chance to prove ourselves to an international audience and hope to inspire the younger generation to take up cycle racing."
The names of the individual riders taking part in The Tour of Britain from each team will be announced closer to the event in September.
RELATED LINK -- TOUR OF BRITAIN LAUNCHED
