The EF Pro Cycling Team has released their 2020 Tour de France Roster which will include the following riders – Rigoberto Urán, Sergio Higuita, Dani Martínez, Jens Keukeleire, Tejay van Garderen, Neilson Powless, Hugh Carthy, and Alberto Bettiol.
EF Pro Cycling announced:
The EF Pro Cycling team for the 2020 Tour de France is as dynamic as it is charismatic. We bring a strong group with general classification ambitions as well as riders who can look at stages opportunistically, given race situations. We travel to Nice with seasoned Tour riders and several Tour rookies. We’re a balance of experience and opportunity. And we’re absolutely ready to go.
Hear from each of our Tour riders below.
Rigoberto Urán
I’m super happy to be in the team for the Tour de France. It gives you a lot of motivation because it’s always a race that has something really special about it, especially when you have stood on the podium before. There’s always a part of you that wants to do your best there, to try and get a good result, to be up there with the best.
To be there with the team also really motivates me, working alongside those guys is something really special, to work hard together. We are all together now, waiting for the race to start, but you know me, it’s all about taking it day-by-day, and hoping that we’re going to have a good one.
Sergio Higuita, First Tour de France
This is going to be my first Tour de France and I can honestly say I’ve never been so excited to be racing. To be going to the Tour is a huge goal for many cyclists and for me it’s incredible to think that in a few days I’ll be there achieving one of my biggest life goals, to line up on that startline. Also to be doing it wearing the Colombian national champion jersey makes it all the more special.
To be lining up alongside riders who for many years I’ve watched race on the television also makes it really special. I am really pumped to be going, and want to have the best race possible, going out there fighting every day. There will be great moments and there will be hard moments, but just facing them and enjoying being there — I can’t wait.
Dani Martínez
For me it’s another proud moment to be chosen for the Tour de France team. It’s one of the most beautiful races that I absolutely love, it’s a race that I’ve always wanted to do. We have a really great team with a high level and to line up alongside them and be a part of it is something really huge for me.
Tejay van Garderen
It’s a huge honour to have been selected for the 2020 Tour de France, it’ll be my 9th start in the Tour, and every time I line up it always brings such huge satisfaction, it’s living the childhood dream from when I used to watch the Tour. Especially with the team we’re bringing this year, we’ve just had such huge success in the Dauphiné with Martínez, and then having a young guy like Higuita who can really shine in his first Tour as well.
There’s another young American, Neilson Powless, who is racing his first Tour, and Hugh Carthy is another young talent who is racing his first Tour. Hopefully I can give a little bit of my experience and help these guys along and just do whatever I can to help the team. Hopefully we can make this 2020 Tour a huge success.
Hugh Carthy, First Tour de France
I’m really excited to do my first Tour, it’s the biggest cycling event and one of the biggest sporting events in the world so it’s a big, big deal.
Ahead of my first one, I’m feeling nervous and excited in equal measure. I’m going to try and enjoy it, and hopefully get something out of it and help us put in the best team performance we can.
Jens Keukeleire
This will be my fifth Tour de France, so I think I know a little bit about what I’m in for, but still in this season I think it’s going to feel a little different to other years. It’s the biggest race of the year. It’s something you remember from when you were a little kid, especially for me as we always used to go to the Tour and watch a stage, maybe even multiple stages in the Alps when we were on holiday with the family, so being able to do it one day, that was a dream that already came true, and now I’m here for the fifth one — it’s still something that is really special.
I’m really looking forward to doing it with this team. Though I’m new on the team, I’m super excited to be able to do the biggest race of the year. I’ve had some experience now at the Dauphiné of racing with the Colombians, I hadn’t raced with them before, but I think it all went well, especially if you look at the result, but also for me I think we had a good feeling during the race between us all, and we hope to do something similar at the Tour.
Alberto Bettiol
The Tour de France of course is the most important race in the whole calendar, and this is going to be my third Tour de France and every time it’s a huge emotion; it’s a goal for every cyclist to be selected for the Tour.
It’s a unique race, it’s one of the biggest events in the world, and for me it means to have reached one goal of the season and it’s a big motivation to help the team to do its best. So to have the opportunity to show this jersey to the whole of the world and to spend a month with my second family is a huge privilege. I’m super happy to have been selected and am looking forward to doing my best to help the team and hopefully celebrate with them.
Neilson Powless, First Tour de France
Right now I have feelings of excitement and motivation to perform in the Tour, but I think that for every cyclist the Tour de France is their dream and for most people it’s the reason why they get involved in cycling, with the hope to one day race in this race.
I couldn’t be more thankful to the team for this incredible opportunity, that I finally get the chance to realize my dream and race the Tour de France, and racing the Tour de France on an American team is a super special feeling. I think that we’re also bringing a really strong team and that too is really motivating. With Dani just coming off of the Dauphiné win that’s incredibly motivating for me and the rest of the team. I think that everyone is really ready to race for 21 days and I’m certainly prepared to do whatever I can to help the team. It’s a pretty surreal feeling right now to be finally realizing my dream. I can’t wait to see what these next 21 days bring.
Photo Credit: Ashley Gruber & Jered Gruber | Gruber Images
