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Wednesday, June 24, 2009 Cervélo TestTeam announces Tour lineup by VeloNation Press at 12:25 PM EST   comments Categories: Pro Cycling, Tour de France   Cervélo TestTeam has announced the final nine riders that will take the start line in the 2009 Tour de France. As a first year team, they have a unique situation where they are also responsible for defending Carlos Sastre's 2008 Tour title. The Team has chosen a mix of riders that includes sprinters, climbers and GC riders. Carlos Sastre, as the defending Tour champion and sprinter Thor Hushovd will serve as the team captains. "The decision for the final Tour de France Team was certainly not an easy one," said Thomas Campana, Managing Director, Cervélo TestTeam. "Though we are fortunate to have many excellent riders who are in good shape and ready for the Tour, in the end only nine riders per team are allowed to start. "The goal, for our first Tour de France, will be for a top result in the GC (General Classification) with defending champion Carlos Sastre. The team will provide Carlos with their full support to help him achieve this goal. Another major goal for us will be to help our sprint ace Thor Hushovd, win the green jersey. Thor won it in 2005 and we believe he can do it again with this team. We are ready and the Team is looking forward to an exciting three weeks of racing." Notably absent from the start list is Australian Simon Gerrans, who showed his good form in the mountains of the Giro d'Italia last month. Whether his omission from the list has anything to do with the fact that Sastre will be sitting out the Vuelta remains to be seen. Still, Sastre will have Volodymir Gustov, Iñigo Cuesta López and José Angel Gomez Marchante to help him when the road tilts upward. In a bold move, the team has opted to focus on both the overall and green jersey competitions. The core of their sprint team is Heinrich Haussler, Thor Hushovd, and Brett Lancaster. All of which are more than capable of stepping up to drive the peloton if needed to defend the team's bid for the overall win. Both subsets of Cervélo TestTeam will have the power of Andreas Klier and Hayden Roulston for driving on the flats or leading out the sprints. Selection Cervélo TestTeam - Tour de France 2009: 1 Iñigo Cuesta López ESP 03-06-1969 2 Volodymir Gustov UKR 15-02-1977 3 Heinrich Haussler GER 25-02-1984 4 Thor Hushovd NOR 18-01-1978 5 Andreas Klier GER 15-01-1976 6 Brett Lancaster AUS 15-11-1979 7 José Angel Gomez Marchante ESP 16-05-1980 8 Hayden Roulston NZL 10-01-1981 9 Carlos Sastre ESP 22-04-1975       comments Follow @Pro_Cycling Tweet Subscribe via RSS or daily email Contact the editor about this article