Promising climber Di Gregorio yet to earn his spot
Marc Madiot is close to completing his nine man roster for the 2009 Tour de France (Image credit: AFP)
French team La Francaise des Jeux has almost finalised its roster for the upcoming Tour de France. Team manager Marc Madiot has put together a list of eight riders, with the ninth spot still available.
Sandy Casar will lead the team for a good placing on the general classification as well as a stage victory, and Anthony Geslin will be the team's hope when it comes to mass sprints. The two riders will be supported by Jérôme Coppel, Yauheni Hutarovich, Sébastien Joly, Christophe Le Mével, Benoît Vaugrenard and Jussi Veikkanen. The other main task for the riders will be to establish their presence in breakaways.
A stage win will be the squad's main goal at the race, certainly the most important event of the season for a French team. Francaise des Jeux last won a stage of the Tour in 2007, when Sandy Casar took victory on stage 18 in Angoulême.
Rémy Di Gregorio, winner of the 2007 Dauphiné Libéré mountains jersey, is not yet sure of his participation. The climber, who has tried to stand out at the Dauphiné Libéré and the Route du Sud, is notably up against 2008 Paris-Nice stage winner Jérémy Roy.
The team will finalise the Tour de France roster early next week, after the French national championships in Saint-Brieuc this weekend.
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