Tour de France - Liquigas is ready
With eleven days to go until the 95th Tour de France begins, Team Liquigas has officially announced the line-up that will be starting in Brest. «Weve put together a competitive team that should do well on the different routes in the Tour, » said directeur sportif Stefano Zanatta, «Were aiming to win as many stages as possible, and weve got the right men to accomplish this goal. » Following the orders of Zanatta and Dario Mariuzzo is Filippo Pozzato, the jewel in the teams crown who will try to repeat last years success in the Chablis-Autun stage. Hell be assisted by Manuel Quinziato, the teams benchmark for the time trials, as well as Frederik Willems from Belgium and Aliaksandr Kuchynski from Belarus.
Battling it out on the races 19 hilly stretches will be the Spanish rider Manuel Beltran, a Liquigas veteran who is ready to offer his years of experience to help the two new boys to the Tour, Vincenzo Nibali and Roman Kreuziger, Roman has just won a superb victory at the Tour of Switzerland.
Murilo Fischer and Francesco Chicchi are the sprinters to watch out for: its their job to capitalise on the sprint finishes and fill in for Daniele Bennati. Daniele will be sorely missed at this years Tour de France, but hes out of action due to an Achilles peritendinitis to his left ankle that flared up in the last stage of the Giro d'Italia. «Im really gutted to miss the race, » said the Arrezzo rider. «Unfortunately the strain of the Giro has caused my left leg to suffer, which is the one that had slightly less training because I injured it at the start of the year. Ive spoken with the team and we all agree that its better to rest now and not risk the end of the season. » But Bennati aims to be back in form for his next big outing on 30th August: the start of the Vuelta.
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