TORONTO — Canadian Svein Tuft will be making his Tour de France debut later this month.
The 36-year-old cyclist from Langley, B.C., was named on his Australia-based WorldTour squad Orica-GreenEdge’s Tour start list Wednesday.
Tuft is an eight-time Canadian time trial champion and recently won the Tour of Slovenia’s prologue chrono.
Matt White, Orica-GreenEdge’s sports director, said Tuft will be crucial for the team’s time trial ambitions.
“Svein is a world class time trialer,” White said in a statement on the team’s website. “He’ll be crucial for our team time trial ambitions. He’s a strong guy with a huge amount of power to chase breakaways or look after the sprint train. We can use him in a lot of ways. I’m really looking forward to taking him to his first Tour de France.”
Tuft will join compatriot David Veilleux (Europcar) on the start line in Corsica on June 29.
Veilleux, 25, of Cap-Rouge, Que., will become the first Quebec-born cyclist to race the Tour De France.
Victoria’s Ryder Hesjedal will likely be added to the mix when Garmin-Sharp announces its team, provided he has recovered from a crash in the Tour de Suisse.