Barguil returns from fractured pelvis at Criterium du Dauphine
Team Sunweb aiming for sprint wins with Phil Bauhaus
Warren Barguil makes his return to racing with Team Sunweb from a fractured pelvis at the Criterium du Dauphine this week while Phil Bauhaus leads the team aspirations in the sprints. Barguil crashed out of the Tour de Romandie on stage 2 after a solid Ardennes campaign which saw him finish sixth in La Flèche Wallonne.
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Having helped Tom Dumoulin to overall Giro d'Italia victory, Chad Haga lines out for the team and will be a key man for Barguil in the high mountains. Having been pulled from the Giro due to fatigue, Bauhaus has been passed fit by the team with coach Morten Bennekou confident the 22-year-old can improve upon his three to-ten results from the Italian Grand Tour.
"We are looking forward to some exciting, challenging stages at Critérium du Dauphiné," Bennekou said. "We are happy with the return of Warren after his hard crash, the fact he is back so quickly after such an injury is already a victory so he will be there primarily to gain racing rhythm. We will aim for stage results with Phil in the sprints, he showed at the Giro that he is able to compete with the best and we will give all of our efforts to continue this upward line into Dauphiné."
Barguil made his debut at the Critérium du Dauphiné in 2013, his first year as a professional, but has since opted to race the Tour de Suisse. Last year the 25-year-old finished third overall in Switzerland. In 2017, Dumoulin leads the Tour de Suisse squad allowing Barguil free to race the key Tour de France warm-up event. In 2017, Barguil has registered just 25 days of racing with eighth place overall at Paris-Nice his best stage race result of the season.
The bulk of the squad come across from America where Johannes Fröhlinger, Chris Hamilton, Lennard Hofstede and Sam Oomen raced the Tour of California. Completing the team and making just his second stage race appearance of 2017 is Bert De Backer.
Cyclingnews will have daily live coverage start to finish of each of the eight stages.
Team Sunweb for the Critérium du Dauphiné: Warren Barguil (Fra), Phil Bauhaus (Ger), Bert De Backer (Bel), Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger), Chad Haga (USA), Chris Hamilton (Aus), Lennard Hofstede (Ned) and Sam Oomen (Ned)
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