Team DSM keeps Søren Kragh Andersen out of the selection for the Tour de France. The Dane, who won two stages in 2020, announced on Wednesday that he will leave the Dutch team. Nils Eekhoff and Martijn Tusveld will be present in France.
“We’ve seen in the past how important it is to have full commitment to the big goals,” DSM tells VeloNews† “The team we have selected is motivated to go for the same goal. We still have ambitions with Søren for the rest of the season.”
The passing of Kragh Andersen resembles the situation of Michael Matthews two years ago at DSM, which was then still called Sunweb. The Australian winner of the green jersey in the 2017 Tour was not selected for the Tour de France at the time, because it was clear that he was going to leave the team.
It is also not yet known where 27-year-old Kragh Andersen will drive next year, although the 27-year-old is linked to Alpecin-Deceuninck by various media. The winner of Paris-Tours in 2018 drove for DSM for no less than seven years, although the team changed names regularly last season.
Søren Kragh Andersen celebrates his win in the nineteenth stage of the Tour of 2020.
Søren Kragh Andersen celebrates his win in the nineteenth stage of the Tour of 2020.
Photo: Getty Images
Eekhof and Tusveld do go to Tour
The 24-year-old Eekhoff and the four-year-older Tusveld do have a place in the DSM selection. For Eekhoff it will be his second participation in the Tour. Tusveld has never been at the start of the Tour de France before.
With the two Dutchmen, Team DSM is betting on day successes in the Tour. The squad is completed by Romain Bardet, Alberto Dainese, John Degenkolb, Chris Hamilton, Andreas Leknessund and Kevin Vermaerke.
AG2R Citroën also announced the selection on Thursday. The French team is aiming for a good classification with Ben O’Connor, who finished fourth last year. He is assisted by Stan Dewulf, Oliver Naesen, Geoffrey Bouchard, Benoît Cosnefroy, Mickael Cherel, Bob Jungels and Aurélien Paret-Peintre. This means that two-time stage winner Greg Van Avermaet will not be featured in the Tour for the first time since 2013.
The 109th edition of the Tour de France starts on Friday 1 July with a time trial over 13 kilometers through the streets of Copenhagen. The round ends in Paris on 24 July.
Read all about the Tour de France on our special page
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