Picnic-PostNL have named their squad for the upcoming Tour de France, with British rider Oscar Onley leading the eight-man selection as the Dutch squad aims to emulate their 2024 race and win a stage.
A year ago, Romain Bardet led Frank van den Broek home for a one-two on the opening day in Rimini, taking the yellow jersey in the process.
The veteran Frenchman is now retired following his final outing at the Critérium du Dauphiné, but the 24-year-old Dutchman is back in the squad for this year's Tour, which kicks off in Lille on July 5.
22-year-old GC racer Onley leads the team this summer. He made the breakaway on occasions last year, placing fifth on stage 17 to Superdévoluy.
Since then, he's taken second place at the Tour of Britain and has a string of top results at WorldTour level this season, including top-five placings at the Tour Down Under, UAE Tour, and Tour de Suisse. He won a stage in Switzerland, outpacing eventual race winner João Almeida to the line in Santa Maria in Calanca.
Two-time Tour stage winner, Warren Barguil, also makes the cut. The 33-year-old has twice finished 10th at his home Grand Tour, and he also won the mountain classification in 2017. Barguil will be racing his 10th Tour in a row.
Tobias Lund Andresen, the 22-year-old Danish fastman, will be the team's main option for the sprint finishes, which begin on day one. The Surf Coast Classic winner is paired with another 22-year-old who possesses a fast finish, 2024 Vuelta a España stage winner Pavel Bittner.
Dutchman Tim Naberman, Briton Sean Flynn, and German Niklas Märkl complete Picnic-PostNL's selection.
"We head to the Tour de France with some great memories from last year's campaign," said Picnic-PostNL coach Matt Winston. "We have a squad that has shown in recent races that they are performing well together as a group and picking up some really solid results along the way – so start the race with confidence."
Winston confirmed the team would primarily be taking aim at stage victories at this year's race, with Onley, Barguil, Van den Broeck and the sprint duo making up options for all terrains next month.
"Our main goal for the race will be to hunt for stage success," Winston. "Oscar showed recently at the Tour de Suisse that he is in great shape with some top results, so he will be one of our main finishing cards to play for the hilly and mountainous days.
"For those more rolling and intermediate type stages, Warren and Frank came out of Tour de Suisse in good shape too, so they provide us options there. In the faster finales, we have two good options in both Tobias and Pavel, who, with the support we have here, can be in the mix on different types of stages.
"Overall, we will take each stage as it comes and look for the opportunities that might suit us best over the course of the three weeks. If we continue to work well as a team, commit to each other and our objectives, then I am confident that we can contest for good results throughout the race, and hold our heads high as we cross the line in Paris."
Picnic-PostNL for the 2025 Tour de France
- Oscar Onley (GBr)
- Warren Barguil (Fra)
- Pavel Bittner (Cze)
- Sean Flynn (GBr)
- Tobias Lund Andresen (Den)
- Niklas Märkl (Ger)
- Tim Naberman (Ned)
- Frank van den Broek (Ned)
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