PARIS (AFP) — Alberto Contador will have two powerful climbers alongside him as he targets a third Tour de France title, 10 years after his first. An international Trek-Segafredo Tour team was unveiled on Friday.
In the mountains, the 34-year-old can count on Colombian Jarlinson Pantano, winner of stage 15 in last year’s race. Dutchman Bauke Mollema will also support the Spaniard. Mollema, 30, shelved his own Tour ambitions this year and rode the Giro d’Italia instead. There, the Dutchman finished seventh overall.
The Trek team also features John Degenkolb, who was recruited in the off-season. He won both Milano-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix in 2015. However, a terrible crash in January 2016 set back his career. The German appears to be rediscovering his old form, finishing top-10 in three monument classics this spring — Milano-Sanremo, Tour of Flanders, and Paris-Roubaix.
Contador has two stage wins at the Tour de France. Degenkolb, 28, has never won a stage on the Tour in his three times competing, but he has 10 stage wins at the Vuelta a España to his credit.
The U.S.-registered team’s international lineup includes riders of seven different nations.
Trek-Segafredo team for the 2017 Tour de France
Andre Cardoso (Por)
Alberto Contador (Sp)
John Degenkolb (G)
Koen De Kort (Nl)
Fabio Felline (I)
Michael Gogl (A)
Markel Irizar (Sp)
Bauke Mollema (Nl)
Jarlinson Pantano (Col)
The post Contador, Degenkolb headline Trek-Segafredo Tour team appeared first on VeloNews.com.