No Australians named in Mitchelton-Scott team for Tour de France

Australian-based WorldTour cycling team Mitchelton-Scott will enter this month’s Tour de France without an Australian rider for the first time in it’s eight-year history.

Team director Matt White will fly the Australian flag for the outfit, kept alive by owner Gerry Ryan when a messy takeover bid by a mystery Spanish organisation fell through earlier this year.

Ryan terminated the deal to protect the team’s Australian roots – Simon Gerrans, Baden Cooke, Mat Hayman, Michael Matthews and Stuart O’Grady are among the domestic stars to have worn their colours in the sport’s biggest race.

But there were no Australians in an eight-man team named on Thursday night filled with “opportunists”, White declaring his intention to chase stage wins rather than overall honours.

Luke Durbridge, who has raced every Tour de France since 2014, and fellow Grand Tour veteran and compatriot Damien Howson were two notable exclusions. Durbridge set the early pace at the recent Czech Tour before Howson – a renowned mountain domestique – took the overall spoils.

Up-and-coming Australian climber Lucas Hamilton, 25th at last year’s Giro d’Italia, was another to miss out although he is among seven Australians in the mix to ride for the team in Italy again in October.

Instead last year’s stage winner Daryl Impey and former top-four finishers Adam Yates and Esteban Chaves will lead the charge.

The Tour de France will begin on 29 August, with riders finishing in Paris on 20 September as part of a packed 25-event schedule crammed into three months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The overlap – or at least a short turnaround – between events may have counted against Howson and Durbridge, while the lack of a flat-road time trial at this year’s event may also have counted against the powerful Durbridge.

If, where and when the world road championships – originally set for September – are held is still to be determined, while Durbridge is also targeting a string of one-day races in October.

“This year has not been a normal one by any stretch of the imagination but the team is focused and ready for the challenge,” White said. “We are very happy with the mix of experience and talent we have available for this year’s race … this is a very complete group across all terrains.

“Last year was an incredible race for the team [with four stage wins] and we will continue in the same vein of targeting stage wins throughout.”

source: theguardian.com