The German professional cycling team Bora-hansgrohe relies on two German riders at the 110th Tour de France (July 1st to 23rd).
In addition to mountain specialist Emanuel Buchmann (Ravensburg), the squad announced on Thursday (06/22/2023) also includes all-rounder Nils Politt (Cologne). Jai Hindley is leading the team, which is competing in the Tour of France for the tenth time. The Australian Giro winner of 2022 should ensure a top result in the overall standings.
book man “Our absolute key when it comes to getting Jai Hindley onto the podium in the high mountains”, said sporting director Rolf Aldag. Nevertheless, Buchmann does not have to give up his own ambitions entirely: “There will be stages where people say that there are opportunities for him to shine and shine.”
Nils Politt “simply brutally strong”
Politt should play off his versatility and support the climbers in addition to the sprint preparation. “And he certainly has at least two stages where he can try to get in a breakaway.”said Aldag: “It sounds like a lot of work, but Nils is just brutally strong.”
The squad is completed by Marco Haller (Austria), Bob Jungels (Luxembourg), Danny van Poppel (Netherlands) and Jordi Meeus (Belgium). Meeus, who should ensure success on the flat stages, was surprisingly preferred to Irishman Sam Bennett. The eighth and last squad place is still open and should be occupied by another climbing specialist. German drivers Maximilian Schachmann and Lennard Kämna are not options.
Degenkolb the only active German stage winner at the start
John Degenkolb from Gera is part of the eight-man squad of the DSM team and is about to start his ninth time in the Tour de France. The 34-year-old Degenkolb, who celebrated his tour premiere in 2013 and only failed to reach the finish in Paris in 2020, is to lead the Dutch team through the race as “Road Captain” like last year. In 2018 he had won the stage to Roubaix.
In addition to Kämna, Degenkolb is the only active German Tour stage winner. Captain at DSM is French mountain specialist Romain Bardet, who has finished the Tour in the top 10 six times and was on the podium in 2016 (second) and 2017 (third). The Australians Matt Dinham, Alex Edmondson, Chris Hamilton and Sam Welsford as well as Nils Eekhoff (Netherlands) and Kevin Vermaerke (USA) are also traveling to the tour.