Team HTC-Columbia have said in a press release that they are focusing on winning the Green and Yellow jersies in this year's Tour which starts in Rotterdam on July 3rd.
Selecting the team was very hard for us again this year," said Team Manager Rolf Aldag to his team's press office. "It was hard enough selecting a long list of 15, but to bring it down to only nine riders involved some very difficult decisions. In the end we have to leave at home several riders who also deserve a chance to ride the Tour.
"Our decisions were based on two goals," he added. "First, we wanted a strong team to support Mark Cavendish and winning the Green jersey. To win, we need to concentrate all points with one sprinter. As a result we have not included André Greipel in the roster. Mark won six stages of the Tour de France last year and we have faith that he will be highly successful in the 2010 Tour.
"Renshaw, Eisel, Grabsch and Hansen will be the main support for the sprint stages with of course the other riders also playing a part in the lead out train as well.
"Second, we wanted to field a team who can focus on the overall. Rogers has had the best season of his career to date and is very focused on contending in the general classification. Tony Martin comes off a very successful Tour de Suisse where he held the yellow jersey for the first part of the race and won the closing time trial, making him the first person to beat Fabian Cancellara in a time trial in three years.
"They will be supported by Maxime Monfort, who showed excellent form at Tour de Suisse, Adam Hansen, who won the Ster Elektro stage race last weekend and Kanstantsin Sivtsov who is a tireless worker on both flat and mountainous terrain."
"We are going into the race focused on our combined strength as a team and will exploit every chance for success- stage wins, jerseys and outstanding performances," said Team Owner Bob Stapleton.
The nine riders selected are Mark Cavendish, Bernhard Eisel, Bert Grabsch, Adam Hansen, Tony Martin, Maxime Monfort, Mark Renshaw, Michael Rogers and Kanstantsin Sivtsov.
Before that, Mark Cavendish is expected to ride in the British Road Championships at Nelson on Sunday.
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Kim Kirchen is out of an induced coma. The Katusha rider suffered a suspected heart-attack last week and was rushed to hospital in Zurich.
On Tuesday, the rider from Luxembourg came round and was able to recognise his wife Caroline and his father but could remember nothing about collapsing. A statement by Katusha said that Kirchen is not suffering any major heart or lung damage and will continue to undergo tests to discover the root of his problems.
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Cavendish picture copyright of Covsuport News Service. Credit CNS/KM
Kirchen picture copyright of HTC Colombia