Cofidis chooses four Tour de France newcomers

Sylvain Chavanel was picked by his French Cofidis team for a leadership role at the Tour de France starting July 5. In addition to the 28 year-old Chavanel, the team will draw strength from four racers new to the French Grand Tour. Seven of the nine selected team members are French - only Leonardo Duque (Colombia) and Maxime Monfort (Belgium) are not.

"It is a young team with four riders who will be discovering the Tour de France for the first time," said team manager Eric Boyer according to AFP. "Some will say this is too much but I think they are ready and that they will handle the fact that the Tour has another dimension than other courses. They will not be perturbed by that."

The team has no GC aspirations, but instead it will target stage wins.

Cofidis for the Tour de France: Sylvain Chavanel, Stephane Auge, Florent Brard, Herve Duclos-Lassalle, Samuel Dumoulin, Leonardo Duque, David Moncoutie, Amael Moinard, Maxime Monfort.