The talent-heavy roster of Andy Schleck, Fränk Schleck, Fabian Cancellara, Linus Gerdemann, Maxime Monfort, Jakob Fuglsang, Jens Voigt, Stuart O'Grady and Joost Posthuma had the support of hundreds of fans as the riders were farewelled before a flight to France.
"It is no secret that we go to the Tour to try to win it," said Team Manager Kim Andersen during the team presentation in the city of Luxembourg. "We have high ambitions for this team. We will target the overall and possibly even win some stages on the way to Paris."
The younger Schleck has now finished runner-up to Alberto Contador twice in as many years and this year, with the Spaniard having raced and won a particularly taxing Giro d'Italia in May, it's thought that 2011 may be Andy's best chance yet to take the top step on the podium.
"My brother and I speak for each other so the absolute dream would be for us both to be on the podium this year with Andy winning and me there too," Fränk recently told Procycling magazine.
Six of the team members rode for Contador's current team, Saxo Bank, during last year's Tour de France with Cancellara, Voigt, O'Grady and Fuglsang joining the Schlecks in their new project. Cancellara recently won the Swiss National Road Championship for the second time but it's expected he will be a major player for the yellow jersey in the Tour's first week before the focus switches to the Alps and the Pyrenees.
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