Vincenzo Nibali, Ivan Basso and Peter Sagan to lead Team Liquigas-Cannondale at the Tour de France 2012
Team Liquigas-Cannondale announced its final roster for the biggest cycling race of the season, the Tour de France 2012.
Peter Sagan, Ivan Basso and Vincenzo Nibali will lead the team at the coming race and the trio is in supreme form to target the general classifications for the race.
The side is holding the third overall spot after the UCI World Tour team’s rankings with a total number of 657 UCI points.
Major contributions came through Vincenzo Nibali (272 points), Peter Sagan (253 points), Ivan Basso (88 points), Sylwester Szmyd (34 points) and Daniel Oss (10 points).
Team Sky is leading the category with 803 UCI points while Team Katusha is 87 points at the second positions.
Nibali is having a terrific season with numerous victories in his bag during the first half of the season.
He wins the first overall position at the Tirreno-Adriatico along with the point’s classifications and a stage 5 win at the race.
It achieved the second overall position at the Tour of Oman, third during the Milan-San Remo and finished second during the Liege-Bastogne-Liege 2012.
Vincenzo has appeared in eight Grand Tour races throughout his career including four Giro d’Italia, two Tour de France and one Vuelta a Espana participation under his belt.
He is holding the fourth position at the UCI World Tour Individual rankings with 272 UCI points in his back pocket.
Nibali’s team-mate Peter Sagan is also enjoying a superb season with a dozen stage wins in his bag during the first half of the season.
Team Sports Director Stefano Zanatta cited, "We are presenting a group determined and ready to support the aspirations of our captains".
"We will race the Tour de France firstly to accommodate the ambitions of Nibali and Sagan and we're well aware of the responsibilities that lie ahead”.
"We will aim for a place of honor in general classification, supporting Vincent until the last stage, and we will try to put Peter in the best position to win at least one stage”.
“In his (Sagan's) case, it is right to be ambitious but do not forget the difficulties and pressures of a race like the Tour”.
Final team squad for the Tour de France include, Ivan Basso (Ita), Federico Canuti (Ita), Kristijan Koren (Slo), Vincenzo Nibali (Ita), Dominik Nerz (Ger), Daniel Oss (Ita), Peter Sagan (Svk), Sylwester Szmyd (Pol), Alessandro Vanotti (Ita).
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