Svein Tuft to race third Tour de France for Orica-GreenEdge

Australian WorldTour team Orica-GreenEdge was the final Tour de France to team to release its nine-man line-up Tuesday, with Canadian Svein Tuft getting selected for his third consecutive Grande Boucle. Tuft famously finished in last place–the Red Lantern–in the 2013 edition.

Tuft missed this year’s Giro d’Italia through injury after he broke his wrist and hurt his chest in a crash during the second stage of the Tour de Romandie.

Orica-GreenEdge named two-time stage winner Michael Matthews (Australia) to the squad as the designated sprinter. Adam Yates (Great Britain) gets his Tour debut while twin brother Simon will be Orica’s GC man. Simon recently took fifth in the Critérium du Dauphiné.

There are plenty of riders in the team who are capable of stage wins or high GC placings: 2013 yellow jersey wearer Daryl Impey (South Africa), double stage-winner and 2013 yellow jersey wearer Simon Gerrans (Australia), Michael Albasini (Switzerland), Luke Durbridge (Australia) and 2005 stage-winner Pieter Weening (The Netherlands).

The squad has designs on winning Stage 9’s team time trial; it has won the past two Giro team chronos and the 2013 Tour team time trial.