Team Sky have confirmed their interest in signing Steven Kruijswijk, according to Dutch newspaper de Telegraaf, who say the British team are looking to sign the Dutchman for the next two seasons.
Kruijswijk’s current contract with LottoNL-Jumbo is set to finish at the end of this season.
Kruijswijk impressed earlier this year with a strong performance at the Giro d’Italia. The 29-year-old spent five days in the pink jersey and looked set to take the overall victory until an unfortunate crash on the descent of the Colle dell’Agnello on stage 19.
Rolland gets custom Cannondale for the Tour
Pierre Rolland is the latest rider to get a special paint job for his bike at the Tour de France. The Frenchman, who joined the team this winter, is due to lead the Cannondale-Drapac team at the Tour this month and he’ll be doing it on a newly painted Cannondale SuperSix.
Cannondale published a video of the bike on Twitter, which features a multi-tone green paintjob with a jade stone painted on the top tube in honour of his daughter of the same name.
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Groenewegen sick but still hopes to ride
As the riders descended on Sainte-Mere-Eglise for Thursday evening’s team presentation there was one rider that was missing from the rollcall. LottoNL-Jumbo sprinter Dylan Groenewegen was holed up in his hotel room, suffering with intestinal problems.
His team is still holding out hope that the 23-year-old will be able to line up in Mont-Saint-Michel on Saturday for his debut Tour de France. The young sprinter has had a strong season up until this point, with victories in Valencia, Yorkshire and Rund um Koln. He recently beat Wouter Wippert to victory to take his first Dutch national road race title.
Lotto-Soudal coins of hope
The Lotto-Soudal team has partnered with Child Focus and their coins of hope programme. Child Focus is the European Center for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children and is based in Belgium.
The coins of hope look to raise awareness of missing children around the world. Each coin features the face of missing child Liam Vanden Brande, who went missing in 1996. Lotto-Soudal posted a photo of their Tour de France squad, each rider holding one of these coins.
