Lance Armstrong’s Team RadioShack selects squad for Tour Down Under

Armstrong’s team selected for Tour Down Under

ADELAIDE, Australia — Tour de France stage winners Yaroslav Popovych of the Ukraine and Belgium’s Gert Steegmans will ride for Lance Armstrong’s RadioShack team when it makes its world debut at the Tour Down Under cycle race in Adelaide in January.

Race director Mike Turtur on Wednesday confirmed the RadioShack team roster — headed by Armstrong, who will ride the tour for the second straight year — for the first ProTour event of the 2010 season.

“There’s no doubt that it’s great for the race and for South Australia that Lance is returning to the Santos Tour Down Under,” Turtur said. “While much of the media focus will be on Armstrong, he will be joined by a very strong RadioShack team who are all great riders in their own right.”

Popovych won the young rider classification at the 2005 Tour de France and was a stage winner in 2006. Steegmans has twice won a Tour de France stage, in 2007 and again in 2008 when he won the prestigious final stage down the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

“Yaroslav Popovych and Gert Steegmans will be key figures in RadioShack’s team in Adelaide,” Turtur said. “Popovych has been a loyal servant of Armstrong’s at Discovery Channel and Astana, and is a very capable rider himself. Our race gives him an opportunity to do well and will also suit Steegman’s sprinting skills.”

Team RadioShack also includes South Africa’s Daryl Impey, American Jason McCartney, Belgium’s Sebastien Rosseler and Tomas Vaitkus of Lithuania.

“Jason McCartney has shown that he’s a good climber, winning the mountain classification at this year’s Tour of California. I’d expect him to be a contender for coda King of the Mountain points here in Adelaide,” Turtur said.

“RadioShack will be very competitive from the word go. (Team director) Johan Bruyneel plays to win and the team racing in Adelaide next year is strong, tough and experienced, and will want to make their presence felt as the cycling world watches.”