Menchov to lead Rabobank at Tour

Russian Denis Menchov, one of the pre-race favorites, has been named as team leader for the nine-man Rabobank squad for the July 5-27 Tour de France, the Dutch team announced in the Netherlands on Tuesday.

Menchov is a double winner of the Vuelta a España who finished fifth in the 2006 Tour de France. The team will also be in the hunt for stage wins, and perhaps the Tour’s points jersey, with the addition of Oscar Freire, the Spaniard who is a triple world road race champion (1999, 2001 and 2004).

Freire won the Gent-Wevelgem ProTour one-day classic in April and is
considered a likely stage winner during the three-week event.

Dutch rider Thomas Dekker failed to make the line-up due to poor form.

Rabobank team for Tour de France
Laurens ten Dam (Nl)
Pieter Weening (Nl)
Sebastian Langeveld (Nl)
Koos Moerenhout (Nl)
Bram Tankink (Nl)
Joost Posthuma (Nl)
Denis Menchov (RUS)
Oscar Freire (Sp)
Juan Antonio Flecha (Sp)

FILED UNDER: Road / Tour de France TAGS: Tour de France