Bendigo cyclist Chris Hamilton to ride in first Tour de France

BENDIGO cyclist Chris Hamilton will ride in his first Tour de France after being named one of eight riders for Team DSM.

The 109^th edition of the Tour de France will be held from July 1 to 24, with Team DSM among 22 teams competing.

Hamilton joins Romain Bardet, Alberto Dainese, John Defenkolb, Nils Eekhoff, Andreas Leknessund, Martin Tusveld and Kevin Vermaerke in representing Team DSM.

"We're all looking forward to the 2022 Tour de France," Team DSM coach Matt Winston said.

"We have a really motivated group of guys who are full of ambition as we look to compete in the sprint stages and in the more mountainous days as well.

"Our main goal for the three weeks is to go for stage results."

Hamilton finished 39^th in the general classification in the recent Giro d'Italia.

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