Sam Bennett out of Tour de France, Aleksandr Vlasov leads BORA - hansgrohe with multi-talented lineup

Aleksandr Vlasov will be leading the BORA - hansgrohe lineup at the Tour de France, as Sam Bennett is left out after a season where he's failed to reach his best form - with Danny van Poppel stepping up to a leadership position in the sprints.

The Irishman's absence comes as a surprise, however the season has been very complicated for Bennett who returned from a knee injury earlier in the year, but has failed to have the form to convince the team into putting full focus on his ambitions for the Tour. His leadout remains, as Danny van Poppel will now be heading this side of the squad, which will count on Nils Politt and Marco Haller aswell for support in the sprints and breakaways.

Aleksandr Vlasov will be leading the mountain side of the team. Although Vlasov has not hinted at a winning goal, he will be a leading candidate in the fight for the podium, although the German team will largely focus on stage wins.

Lennard Kämna is back to racing at the Grand Tours and he will be looking for more success in breakaways surely. The remaining three riders of the team have very similar profiles, ideal for the hilly and mountainous stages where they can bring stage wins: double Austrian champion Felix Grossschartner, Max Schachmann who's back at a very high level and Patrick Konrad.

BORA - hansgrohe for Tour de France: Aleksandr Vlasov, Nils Politt, Lennard Kämna, Max Schachmann, Felix Grossschartner, Patrick Konrad, Marco Haller and Danny van Poppel.