The green jersey of the last edition, Mark Cavendish, and Tim Declercq, tested positive for Covid, will not participate in the Grande Boucle either. The team will be made up of Belgian Yves Lampaert, French Florian Sénéchal, Dutch Fabio Jakobsen, Italians Mattia Cattaneo and Andrea Bagioli as well as the Danish trio Kasper Asgreen, Mikkel Honoré and Michael Morkov.
“Not selecting Julian Alaphilippe was probably one of our most difficult decisions,” conceded Tom Steels. “We didn’t take him to Denmark to protect him from himself. The Tour de France is and remains the toughest stage race of the whole season. We wanted to make Julian shine in his rainbow jersey In his current state, he wouldn’t really be able to perform like we’re used to.”
Fabio Jakobsen will replace Cavendish in the sprint. “I saw Fabio progressing more and more,” said Tom Steels. “At some point we knew he was our man for the 2022 Tour. He’s one of the fastest riders, he always manages to get into place, he has real instincts and isn’t anxious. “
