Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay has become the fourth African confirmed to ride this year's Tour de France.
The Ethiopian has been named in Trek-Segafredo's squad for the French Grand Tour starting on 7 July, joining Mitchelton-Scott's Daryl Impey as well as his fellow South Africans Reinardt Janse van Rensburg and Jay Thomson from Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka .
Much like his continental compatriots, Tsgabu will ride in support of a more senior rider in the team. In his case, as a climber, he will do so as a domestique of Bauke Mollema. The Dutchman has three top-10 finishes at Le Tour, with a best finish of 6th in 2013 and will rely on Tsgabu, Austria's Michael Gogl, Latvian Tomas Skuijns and Julien Bernard of France during mountain stages.
Thank you for the faith in me @TrekSegafredo. I can't wait to start my third @LeTour. Proud to represent my country 🇪🇹 and so great to have @Garmin to help me track every stage. Thanks for being a great fan of the team @GosuSM #TourDeTFS #TDF2018 https://t.co/d7DHmNtdDF
— Tsgabu Grmay (@TsgabuG) June 29, 2018
The versatile duo of Skuijns and Bernard (both capable of wins from breakaways) will be making their Tour de France debuts, but the remainder of the Trek-Segafredo line-up are well-versed in what is needed through the three-week event.
Belgian Jasper Stuyven has undoubtedly been picked for his expertise in cobbled classics which are a feature of the possibly crucial Stage 9 of this year's Tour; while he will also be a second helper alongside the Dutch veteran Koen de Koert for Germany's John Degenkolb in sprint stages (the secondary target of Tsgabu's team).