Bahrain Victorious wants to finish on the podium in the Tour de France with Jack Haig or Damiano Caruso. The cycling team presented the eight-man team for the Tour de France on Friday.
“Our goal is to achieve the podium for the first time in the Tour de France. We narrowly missed that in 2020 with Mikel Landa,” says sports director Gorazd Stangelj on the site from Bahrain Victorious. Landa, 32, finished fourth in Paris two years ago.
With Haig and Caruso, the cycling team makes another shot at the podium. Caruso, 34, finished fourth in the Critérium du Dauphiné this month, one place ahead of Haig, six years younger. The Italian was number two in the Giro d’Italia last year.
Haig was on the podium in the Vuelta a España (third) last year. The climber from Australia has ridden the Tour twice before. In 2018 he finished 38th and last year he gave up after a crash in the third stage.
“If I get to the top five in the general classification, I’ll be pretty happy,” said Haig, who won this year’s Tour of Sicily. “I now feel comfortable within the team. Last year I still had to prove that I am a good rider.”
Bahrain Victorious Tour Team
- Damiano Caruso (Ita), Kamil Gradek (Pol), Jack Haig (Aus), Matej Mohoric (Slv), Luis León Sánchez (Spa), Dylan Teuns (Bel), Jan Tratnik (Slo), Fred Wright (GB)
Mohoric goes for stage wins
The leaders Haig and Caruso receive help from the Belgian Dylan Teuns, the Slovenian time trial champion Jan Tratnik, the Pole Kamil Gradek, the Briton Fred Wright, routine Luis León Sánchez from Spain and the Slovenian Matej Mohoric.
Milan-San Remo winner Mohoric and Walloon Arrow winner Teuns are allowed to hunt for stage victories. “Stage five finishes in the Forest of Wallers-Arenberg. During Paris-Roubaix I was the first rider to arrive there. It would be nice if that could also be the case in that stage,” says Mohoric, who won two stages in the race last year. Tour.
At the previous edition of the Tour de France, Pello Bilbao was the highest placed rider of the team from Bahrain with a ninth place. The Spaniard rode the Tour of Italy last month and will not start in the Tour. The same applies to the Dutchman Wout Poels and the Spanish leader Landa.
The Tour de France starts next Friday with a time trial in Copenhagen. On July 24, the traditional last stage is with a sprint on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
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