UPDATE: Patrick Konrad completes BORA - hansgrohe lineup for Tour de France

BORA - hansgrohe have revealed 7 out of their 8 riders for the upcoming Tour de France, and coming as a big surprise they do not include Sam Bennett. The Irishman is set to miss out on the Grand Boucle for a second year in a row.

The circumstances are not clear, but it is believed form would be the answer. Although he performed at the recent Criterium du Dauphiné, finishing second - but then relegated - on the race's sole bunch sprint, he raced on despite having no chances to succeed on his own, instead working on his form. Having shown better results than the same period throughout last year, it comes as a shock. Jordi Meeus will instead be filling in as lead sprinter, but Bennett's leadout remains.

Danny van Poppel could also get an opportunity of his own but he will be protecting Meeus mainly, and both Marco Haller and Nils Politt will provide further support in the flat finishes. On the other side of the lineup the lead is taken by Jai Hindley who has recently finished fourth in the Criterium du Dauphiné and is aiming for the podium here.

Emanuel Buchmann and Bob Jungels complete the lineup for now as they look to ride strongly in the mountains, the German team wrote that the eighth rider would be chosen this weekend taking into consideration the results in the national championships. This would be a climber, and it is visible the absence of Sergio Higuita who was planning to ride here but showed poor form over the Tour de Suisse. Aleksandr Vlasov will not race the Tour either.

UPDATE: The lineup has since been completed by Patrick Konrad.

BORA - hansgrohe for Tour de France:

Emanuel Buchmann, Marco Haller, Jai Hindley, Bob Jungels, Jordi Meeus, Nils Politt and Danny van Poppel and Patrick Konrad.