Trek reveal first six names of Tour de France team

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Trek Factory Racing have revealed the first six names of its nine-man team for the 101st Tour de France. Via its Twitter account, the WorldTour tour team announced that Fabian Cancellara, Gregory Rast, Danny van Poppel, Markel Irizar, Haimar Zubeldia and Matthew Busche will be riding the French grand tour. Cancellara makes his return to the Tour having skipped the 2013 edition while Matthew Busche is given his first start for the French grand tour.

Absent from the list is veteran Jens Voigt who ridden the Tour every year since 1998. If selected, Voigt would join Stuart O'Grady and George Hincapie with a record 17 participations in the race.

Also missing from the list is 2010 champion, Andy Schleck, who was riding the Tour de Suisse to earn his place in the Tour team.

The place of Fränk Schleck on the team is also unsure as he abandoned Tour de Suisse after suffering concussion after a fall on the descent of the Grimselpass, the final climb on stage two, which was shrouded in a heavy fog.

The names of the three riders who will complete the team will be announced from 1pm Central European Time time on Wednesday, "out of respect to our European fans (who have likely gone to sleep)," read the team's Twitter account.