Portugal’s Rui Costa (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) will appear on a bike for the 11th time in the Tour de France after a year’s absence, the team announced on Friday.
Aged 36, the 2013 long-distance world champion will return to compete in the Tour after lining up in the UAE Emirates in last year’s Tour of Italy.
Rui Costa has 10 appearances in the ‘Grande Boucle’, the last of which came in 2021 when he finished 77th, with a best result of 18th in 2012, with three stage wins, one in 2011 and two in 2013. This year he won the Trofeo Calvià and the Tour of the Valencian Community.
The 110th edition of the Tour de France will take place between July 1 and 23 between Bilbao, Spain and Paris.
“Our ambition for the 2023 Tour is to win our first stage and finish in the top 10 of the general classification. To achieve this, we have built a strong and experienced group around our leaders Biniam Girmay and Louis Meintjes,” said Aike. Visbeek, the team’s performance director.
In addition to Costa, the Eritrean Biniam Girmay and the South African Louis Meintjes, Intermarché-Circus-Wanty is completed with the French Lilian Calmejane and Adrien Petit, the New Zealander Dion Smith, the Dutchman Mike Teunissen and the German Georg Zimmermann.
Visbeek recalled the results achieved during the 2022 Tour to substantiate the objectives for the French race.
“Our leader in the general classification is Louis Meintjes. With a seventh place last year, he achieved the first top 10 in our history. He will have all the support to repeat this achievement. Biniam Girmay’s mission is to take a stage to the sprint (… ) and finish a three-week race for the first time in his career,” emphasized the person in charge.
Source: DN
