Bretagne-Séché confirm two more riders for Tour de France
Wilcard team selects Brice Feillu and Jean Marc Bideau
Having previously announced five riders for its debut Tour de France appearance, Bretagne - Séché Environnement have added Brice Feillu and Jean Marc Bideau to its nine-man team for the French grand tour which starts on July 5 in Yorkshire.
Bideau and Feillu join Eduardo Sepulveda, Armindo Fonseca, Florian Vachon, Anthony Delaplace and Arnaud Gerard in the team.
Handed entry to the race as a wildcard team, the team French pro-Continental team will name the last two riders for the Tour on the evening of the French national championships on June 29.
Prior to the championships, the majority of the Tour team will fine tune its preparation at the three day UCI 2.1 Route du Sud - la Dépêche du Midi from June 20-22.
In his debut Tour in 2009, Brice Feillu won a stage which remains his only professional win and his signing was key to Bretagne-Séché's Tour de France wildcard. The selection of Feillu's brother, Romain, who has worn the yellow jersey, is yet to be decided.
"I've waited since the beginning of the season to be named as a starter for the Tour," said Feillu who is looking to add a second stage win to his palmarès.
"In July, it will not be that I have forgotten my temperament to attack for a stage victory, but initially I will focus on the general classification. I aim to place within the top-15 when we arrive in Paris but after one week, I will assess my aims and what is realistic."
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Bideau makes his grand tour debut in July and the 30-year-old who has been a professional since said it was the "chance of a lifetime."
"This has been difficult to achieve and it will be a success just to arrive in Leeds," Bideau said. "This will be special for me, as a Breton who lives in Quimper, to wear the colours of Brittany [at the Tour.]"
Bideau overcame an interrupted start to the season which included doubt over whether he would recover from two separate injuries to earn his place.
"I did not necessarily expect be accepted," Bideau said. "My goal for the year was to ride the Tour and with my inflammation of the heel in February and my broken collarbone in March, it had me questioning if I could make it."
"For some weeks, I felt I'll be back though and I think the team counts on me for my fighting qualities and to show the jersey at the front of the peloton and to protect our leaders."
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