David Millar To Spearhead Team Garmin’s Tour de France Bid
PARIS, June 26, 2008 (AFP) - Former stage winner David Millar of Scotland
will spearhead the Garmin (ex-Slipstream) team’s bid for glory on the July
5-27 Tour de France.
Millar recently came close to winning a stage on the Giro d’Italia, where
a late mechanical cost him any chance of victory, and the British rider will
be desperate to make amends.
Alongside Millar, the team will look to Americain Christian Vande Velde,
who wore the pink jersey at the Giro last month for a day, to provide some
experience and, like Millar, a top finish in the race’s two time trials.
Sweden’s Magnus Backstedt, also a former stage winner at the Tour, will
be expected to provide some sparks on the tougher but flatter stages while Kiwi Julian Dean is a contender for a first Tour stage victory in the sprints.
A big absence for the team which is managed by American Jonathan
Vaughters is his compatriot David Zabriskie, who is still recovering from a crash at
the three-week Giro.
Formerly known as Slipstream, the team will run as Garmin from the start
of the Tour de France in Brest, Brittany.
Garmin team for the Tour de France:
Magnus Backstedt (SWE), Julian Dean (NZL), Will Frischkorn (USA), Ryder
Hesjedal (CAN), Trent Lowe (AUS), Martijn Maaskant (NED), David Millar
(GBR), Danny Pate (USA), Christian Vande Velde (USA)
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