There is always much wheeling and dealing at and around the Tour de France, as rider agents make contact with various teams. Even riders not in the race can get caught up in the deals and planning for the future, with the newest report being that Tom Boonen may be heading to LottoNl-Jumbo for his apparently final season. At any rate, the Dutch team is interested in the former World Champion, according to telesport.nl.
Boonen is out of contract this year at Etixx-QuickStep, and the 35-year-old has said he would like to ride another year. LottoNL-Jumbo has been in touch with his agent.
The team is also eager to re-sign Sep Vanmarcke, but as telesportf.nl noted, “there is still a significant disagreement about salary requirements.”
Meanwhile, they have extended their contract with Robert Wagner for two more years.The 33-year-old German, who has been with the team since 2012, is currently contesting the Tour.
Tour of Poland video
The Tour of Poland started yesterday, and you can check out the action in their video from the first stage. Martial music, cloudy skies and rain, and numerous fans accompany the riders along the 138 km from Radzymin to Warsaw. And you can share the joy of winner Davide Martinelli (Etixx-QuickStep), who took the victory by jumping with 500 metes to go to avoid the bunch sprint.
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Mother Greipel concerned
Andre Greipel has sprinted four times so far in the Tour de France and only once has he finished as high as second. Last year he won four stages. He is not the only one who wonders what has changed. So has his mother.
“My mother called,” he told HLN. be. “Even she is worried. She asks how my self-confidence is.”
“This Tour is not successful,” the Lotto-Soudal sprinter admitted. So I can’t say I’m happy. I’m disappointed.” Still, he says, “Physically I’m good. I’ve already forgotten the mountains. I was amazed that I felt so good on the rest day because the first week was tough.”
The German now has three more chances to win a bunch sprint in this year’s Tour, including today’s stage to Montpelier.
Bora’s Bennett with broken finger
The sprints in the Tour are hard enough when the riders are healthy and uninjured. Sam Bennett of Bora-Argon 18 is struggling with the additional difficulty of a broken little finger.
Bennett was amongst those who crashed with only 250 meters to go in the first stage. At the time, hospital examinations showed no fractures, and he was able to continue on. However, further examinations on Monday’s rest day showed the fracture.
The Irish rider has been fitted with a splint. “He feels well again and is ready for the upcoming stages,” the team reported – including today’s expected sprint finale.
