Bauke Mollema and Richie Porte will co-lead Trek-Segafredo at the re-scheduled 2020 Tour de France, which will start in Nice on 29th August and finish in Paris on 20th September.
The two experienced climbers will share leadership at the 107th Tour de France and will be supported by World Champion Mads Pedersen (DEN), Kenny Elissonde (FRA), Niklas Eg (DEN), Toms Skujins (LAT), Jasper Stuyven (BEL) and Edward Theuns (BEL).
Trek-Segafredo explained, “Our line-up is a blend of youth and experience. We will be fielding three Tour de France debutants, Pedersen, Elissonde and Eg, all eager to get their maiden Tour underway. Meanwhile, Porte and Mollema are starting the Grand Boucle for the 10th occasion.”
Sport Director Kim Andersen outlined the team objectives and his thoughts on the Parcours:
“The objective of our team is to go for the GC with Bauke Mollema and Richie Porte. But our other main goal is to win one or more stages. We will try to keep at least one of the captains up there for GC, and otherwise go full for stage wins.
“In the team, we have some strong, fast guys like Jasper Stuyven, Mads Pedersen and Edward Theuns. I think there will be many stages with breakaways, and we can try to put them in there. They will also be good to protect the leaders. In the second week, we can give a lot of freedom to the Classics riders.
Big big news. Proud to again be selected by @TrekSegafredo for a lap around France. Can’t wait for @LeTour 2020. Can you guess the other riders joining me? pic.twitter.com/TKp70lCiBC
— Toms Skujiņš (@Tomashuuns) August 24, 2020
“I have been to the Alps to see the final stages and I can see that it will be a really hard last week. I think that it will be a very difficult Tour de France because you need to be ready at the start of the Tour, as you already have mountains in the early stages, but also fresh enough for the tough final week. I like the Parcours very much, I think we will have a lot of exciting bike racing.”
Bauke Mollema: “I’m really looking forward to the Tour de France. Hopefully, I can be up there fighting for the GC and simultaneously looking for stages. In this Tour, we will have some mountain stages already in the first week, so if I’m at a good level I think there will be opportunities to go for a stage win as well. In this strange year I think we have to seize every opportunity you can.
“I’ve done quite a bit of recon, so I know the course pretty well. I’ve looked closely at eight stages and I know this will be a very hard Tour, especially the last week when the race will be decided. However, the first week will already be extremely hard so you must be ready from the start. I’ve prepared well, the training has been good for the last months and I think I’ve shown to be on a good level in the races I did, specifically Occitanie, Tour de L’Ain and Il Lombardia. They went really well so hopefully, I can build on that and show a good level in the Tour as well.”
Richie Porte: “The objective for me is to go for a good GC result, which aligns with the team objective, along with taking a stage along the way. Last year we had Ciccone take a stage which was really good for morale in the team. It would be nice to go out and have a good Tour like that.
“This year the Tour has a really hard start. I know the roads around Nice well, I think the first day will be tricky and stressful like it always is. The second stage is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I think it’s really going to be a decisive stage, tactically I don’t really know what to expect. Some of the stages, especially in the Alps, look pretty good for me. We just have to see what happens.”
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Trek-Segafredo lineup for the 107th Tour de France
- Niklas Eg (DEN)
- Kenny Elissonde (FRA)
- Bauke Mollema (NED)
- Mads Pedersen (DEN)
- Richie Porte (AUS)
- Toms Skujins (LAT)
- Jasper Stuyven (BEL)
- Edward Theuns (BEL)
Photo – Getty Images
