Samuel Sánchez to lead Euskaltel-Euskadi at the 2011 Tour de France
Euskaltel-Euskadi for Tour de France:Samuel Sánchez (Sp)Egoi Martínez (Sp)Gorka Verdugo (Sp)Amets Txurruka (Sp)Rubén Pérez (Sp)Iván Velasco (Sp)Alan Pérez (Sp)Pablo Urtasun (Sp)Gorka Izagirre (Sp)
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Fourth overall last year, the reigning Olympic champion will lead the squad’s GC chances while hoping to reach the final top-3 podium.
“To win a stage is the main objective,” said team director Igor González de Galdeano. “Last year, we had one in our grip and this year we cannot let it slip away. We know that the Tour draws the top cyclists in the world and that there should be riders ahead of us, but we also dream of the podium. Last year, we were very close with Samuel and we’re very close to making the dream come true.”
Helping Sanchez in the ‘naranjas’ will be veterans Egoi Martínez, Gorka Verdugo and Amets Txurruka.
Giro stage-winner Igor Antón will skip the Tour to prepare for a run at the overall at the Vuelta a Espana in September.
Euskaltel-Euskadi for Tour de France:
- Samuel Sánchez (Sp)
- Egoi Martínez (Sp)
- Gorka Verdugo (Sp)
- Amets Txurruka (Sp)
- Rubén Pérez (Sp)
- Iván Velasco (Sp)
- Alan Pérez (Sp)
- Pablo Urtasun (Sp)
- Gorka Izagirre (Sp)