Team Barloworld for Tour de France

Team Barloworld has announced six of its nine riders that will start the Tour de France on July 7. Lining up for the British registered team, where the Tour will start this year, will be South Africa's Robert Hunter, Russia's Alex Efimkin, Britain's Geraint Thomas, Colombians Felix Cardenas and Mauricio Soler plus experienced Italian Fabrizio Guidi.

The other three places will be probably filled next week by three of the eight riders short listed by the team: Kanstantin Siutsou, Enrico Degano, Gianpaolo Cheula, Paolo Longo Borghini, Giosuè Bonomi, John Lee Augustyn, Hugo Sabido and Pedro Arreitunandia.

The final decision will be made after seeing how the riders perform in upcoming races in Spain, Switzerland and Germany.

On June 8, Pedro Arreitunandia, Ryan Cox, Alex Efimkin, Paolo Longo Borghini, James Perry and Hugo Sabido will take to the start of Euskal Bizikleta in Spain. Led by directeur sportif Valerio Tebaldi the team is hoping for a strong result in the hilly terrain of the Basque Country. Kanstantin Siutsou will also make his return to racing with the team after recovering from long-term injuries.

The following day on the other side of Europe, Barloworld will field a team consisting of Geraint Thomas, Giosuè Bonomi, Diego Caccia, Gianpaolo Cheula, Enrico Degano, Fabrizio Guidi and Robert Hunter in Germany's GP Triberg. Four of these riders Caccia, Cheula, Degano and Thomas will also contest the Sparkassen Cup race held just two days later on Monday June 11.