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There were 24 Australian rider eligible to start the 2017 Tour de France. Announcements from teams overnight confirm that nine of them will contest the race that begins on Saturday 1 July.

 

Photos: Yuzuru Sunada

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Most of the 22 teams that will take part in the 2017 Tour de France have announced their roster of nine riders.

Overnight, there was confirmation of the Dimension Data team that will include Mark Cavendish, the winner of 30 stages in the past nine years. In 2016 the Manxman won four stages (and wore the yellow jersey); if he repeats that effort, he will equal the record total of 34 stage wins set by Eddy Merckx.

One of the key riders for Cavendish’s 2017 campaign – which has been hindered in the lead up to the 104th Tour by issues with the Epstein Barr virus – will be lead-out specialist, Mark Renshaw.

Renshaw will be contesting the Tour for the ninth time.

It was possible that compatriot Nathan Haas would also make the selection for Dimension Data but his team confirmed overnight that the rider from Canberra will skip the Tour this July.

From the list of 24 Australians who race on teams that will particpate in the 2017 Tour de France, nine are confirmed as starters. (They are listed below in alphabetical order.)

 

  • Simon Clarke (Vic) Cannondale-Drapac
  • Luke Durbridge (WA) Orica-Scott
  • Adam Hansen (Qld) Lotto-Soudal
  • Mathew Hayman (ACT) Orica-Scott
  • Damien Howson (SA) Orica-Scott
  • Michael Matthews (ACT) Sunweb
  • Jay McCarthy (Qld) Bora-Hansgrohe
  • Richie Porte (Tas) BMC Racing Team
  • Mark Renshaw (NSW) Dimension Data

 

Of the nine Australian starters, two will make their debut in the Tour this year: Damien Howson and Jay McCarthy.

Two of the nine have previously won a stage: Michael Matthews in Revel last year, and Simon Clarke (who was part of the Orica-GreenEdge line-up in 2013 when it set the record for the fastest average speed for a team time trial at the Tour).

Perhaps the least surprising – but most inspiring – news from the team selection is that Adam Hansen will, of course, return to the Tour. The rider who turned 36 during the Giro d’Italia in May this year will contest his 18th successive Grand Tour and eclipse his own record of continual starts in the Giro/Tour/Vuelta trilogy.

The Australian who is arguably poised to generate the biggest headlines this July, however, is Richie Porte. The Tasmanian is one of the favourites for the title after a stunning start to the season that has included overall victories in two WorldTour stage races – the Tour Down Under in January and the Tour de Romandie in May. He finished second overall in the recent Criterium du Dauphiné in France.

Porte was fifth overall in the 2016 Tour de France and this year he is the outright leader of the BMC Racing Team.

 

 

 

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Michael Matthews wins a stage of the 2017 Tour de Suisse earlier this month (above). The rider from Team Sunweb is the most recent Australian stage winner at the Tour de France. He will be targeting the green jersey in 2017.

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