Menchov, Gesink co-leaders for GC

With the Tour de France one month away from its start, the Rabobank team announced its roster for the season’s biggest stage race.

The Rabobank Tour team will include two main General Classification leaders and a host of potential stage winners. The team’s GC hopes will lie with Denis Menchov, the veteran Russian who won the Giro d’Italia last year and finished third at the 2008 Tour de France; and 24-year-old Robert Gesink of The Netherlands, who ran into bad luck at his first Tour de France last year when he broke his wrist and had to abandon in the first week.

Joining the two GC leaders is a strong supporting cast: Lars Boom, a stage winner at the 2009 Vuelta a España, Spaniard Juan Manuel Garate, who won a Tour stage at Mont Ventoux last year, and Oscar Freire, the three-time World Champion, are all threats for individual stage wins. Rounding out the team are Koos Moerenhout, Laurens ten Dam, Maarten Tjallingii and Grischa Niermann.

Rabobank Team Director Erik Breukink said it was important to select and announce the team early so the riders could focus on their preparation without the pressure of having to score results in the weeks leading up to the Tour.

Menchov, who suffered through a bout with bronchitis in May, will race the June 6-13 Dauphiné-Libéré stage race in France as preparation for the Tour. Tjallingii and Moerenhout will also race the Dauphiné, which includes some difficult climbing stages including one on the Alpe d’Huez, and is considered the ideal warm-up for Tour de France contenders.

Some of the other Rabobank riders, including Gesink, Ten Dam, Niermann, Garate and Freire, will ride another common Tour de France tune-up, the Tour of Switzerland.

Stay tuned as the Rabobank gets ready to ride the biggest race of the season on their Giant TCR Advanced SL road bikes and Trinity Advanced SL TT bikes.

RABOBANK 2010 TOUR DE FRANCE ROSTER
Robert Gesink (Ned)
Denis Menchov (Rus)
Juan Manuel Garate (Spa)
Oscar Freire (Spa)
Lars Boom (Ned)
Laurens ten Dam (Ned)
Koos Moerenhout (Ned)
Maarten Tjallingi (Ned)
Grischa Niermann (Ger)

RESERVES
Pieter Weening (Ned)
Bram Tankink (Ned)