Florian Vermeersch to make Tour de France debut: "Got goosebumps on the podium at the team presentation"

The Tour de France begins on Friday, with Florian Vermeersch will making his Tour de France debut representing Lotto Soudal.

He will be supporting Caleb Ewan while gaining new experience in the race. "I'm proud of myself. It's a childhood dream come true," he said ahead of the race. "One of the reasons I ever started racing was to be able to ride the Tour de France. A special moment that I will now actually start. I got goosebumps on the podium at the team presentation.

Vermeersch has already featured on the podium of Paris-Roubaix so he'll be no stranger to the spotlight, however this will be a different challenge from all. "In our team, we have a home rider in Andreas Kron. The fact that he is loved here was very tangible. A goosebumps moment there are indeed opportunities, both for me personally and for the team," the Belgian added.

"I have already ticked off the cobbled stage, and with Caleb Ewan, we have a serious asset in the sprint stages," Vermeersch pointed out. With the fifth stage on the cobbles of northern France and no GC rider to protect, he will be having an opportunity to show his true colours on terrain that favours him.