UAE Team Emirates announced the peloton of riders for their squad as the crème de la crème descended on Nice for cycling’s piece de resistance – Tour de France.

A delayed Tour de France will get under way on Saturday. The showpiece cycling event was postponed in the wake of the coronavirus.

After a very promising start to the season, in which the team has claimed 18 victories, the squad will be hopeful of building on that success.

The team will call on the experience of Fabio Aru, who will go into the race as co-leader along with Tadej Pogačar, who will make his Tour de France debut.

Aru comes into the race with growing form and with a previous win at the Tour to his palmares. While Pogačar will head in with confidence after a strong showing in his Grand Tour debut in 2019 at the Vuelta España where he won 3 stages and finished 3rd overall.

The pair will be supported in the hills by the experienced climbing trio of Davide Formolo, Jan Polanc and David De La Cruz. Kristoff will look for opportunities in the sprints, while road captain Marco Marcato and Vegard Stake Laengen will prove vital on the flatter roads.

The team will be led by Team Manager Joxean Matxin Fernandez (Spa) along with Sports Directors Allan Peiper (Aus) , Simone Pedrazzini (Swi) and John Wakefield (RSA).

Allan Peiper (Sports Director) said: “We are confident at UAE Team Emirates that we have selected the best possible team for the Tour de France 2020 to support our leaders for the General Classification, Pogačar and Aru.

“Kristoff will have opportunities in the sprints but is prepared to change roles and support our GC leaders if necessary. We are all excited and motivated to be able to participate in this years Tour de France.”

Pogačar said: “ I’m a little nervous but mostly excited for my first Tour. At the Dauphine we showed what we could do as a team.

“We were consistently strong all week : Formolo won a stage, De La Cruz took the mountains jersey and I was high on GC. It was really good preparation for the Tour de France and a sign of what we can do. We know that the Tour will be another step-up but we are confident if all goes well that we can do good things. ”

“ Manager Fernandez said: ”The Tour de France is vital for everybody this year. After the season was re-scheduled and the confinement period, the Tour has grown to be a key event – for riders, teams, sponsors and organisers. We’ve had some races on the run-in to the Tour and are privileged to have had a number of wins and successes during that preparation period.

For this Tour we have a well-balanced team. Aru goes in with the responsibility as joint leader along with Pogačar.

Tadej will take it day by day and though we have a lot of confidence in him he will go in without any big pressure on his shoulders.

It’s his first Tour and it will be a big experience for him. Between the leaders along with Polanc, Formolo and De La Cruz we have five riders who can do very well in the hills.

For the flatter days we have Laengen, Kristoff and Marcato who will add strength and experience in the hectic moments that arise during any Tour de France. Kristoff will play a versatile role but will have his chances in the sprints, starting with stage 1.”

Meanwhile, Tour de France ‘Grand Depart’ host city Nice scrambled to impose tighter health protocols on Thursday as the region was reclassified as a Covid-19 red zone.

With the gathering contenders mulling the likely sprint finish on the Mediterranean city’s celebrated seafront Promenade des Anglais, it was announced only a few dozen fans could get to see the race start on Saturday.

Authorities in the chic seaside town decided Thursday’s team parade and fan park could only host 1,000 spectators.

Fines of 135 euros were dished out to anyone without a protective face mask in Nice’s terrace-lined squares and along the beachfront walkways.

The Alpes-Maritimes region where Nice is situated was reclassified as a Covid-19 red zone, along with 18 other French departments in a decision from French Prime Minister Jean Castex.

There was an “undeniable resurgence” of the Covid-19 epidemic throughout France, Castex told a press conference, with 39 positive tests per 100,000 population -- four times the level of a month ago, and rising in all age groups.

“We knew it was coming,” regional prefect Bernard Gonzalez said.

“We are shifting from tight conditions, to very tight conditions,” he said, flanked by Nice mayor Christian Estrosi and Tour de France organiser Christian Prudhomme.

The Promenade des Anglais start line will allow just 100 spectators, reserved for municipality staff “who worked so hard to get this to happen” Gonzalez said.

There will also be no camper vans or pop-up villages on the summits in the mountains behind Nice on stage two.

“People should stay home and watch on television,” Gonzalez said, without going as far as banning people from gathering by the roadside for an event generally witnessed by 10 million fans a year.

Agencies