Sam Bennett is out of Bora-Hansgrohe's Tour de France lineup for the second year in a row, and Jordi Meeus has been selected as the team's sprint option for July.

Beulah Hansgrohe announced the first seven selections on Thursday morning, adding that the eighth and final one would be "another climber to be decided over the weekend."

Sporza suggested that Sian Uitdebroeks, the 20-year-old Belgian who finished seventh overall in the Tour de Suisse, could fill the last position.

2022 Giro d'Italia winner Jai Hindley will lead the team's overall classification challenge, with Emmanuel Buchmann, Marco Haller, Bob Jungels, Danny van Poppel, and Nils Pollitt also in the final lineup.

Bennett left Quick Step, where he won two stages and the green jersey at the 2020 Tour de France, to rejoin Bora-Hansgrohe at the start of the 2022 season.

The Irish-born Bennett was left out of the Bora-Hansgrohe team last season after a lack of results in the Tour, but finished the season strong with two stage wins at the Vuelta a España.

Bennett was again included in Bora's Tour plans at the beginning of the 2023 season, winning the opening stage of the Vuelta a San Juan in January to start the campaign on a high note. However, he narrowly missed out on wins at the UAE Tour and Paris-Nice, and a crash in Milan-San Remo forced him to abandon the challenge.

He finished second behind Christophe Laporte on stage 3 of the Criterium du Dauphiné.

In early June, Dan Rolland, Bora-Hansgrohe's head of performance, suggested that Bennett was likely to compete in the Tour.

"Sam is doing well. If Sam stays healthy and doesn't have any major cracks [in form] at the Dauphiné, he will be part of the Tour team," Rolland told the Irish Times.

Instead, Bora Hansgrohe used Mies for his Tour debut without explaining why Bennett was not selected. The Belgian's only victory this year came at the Charleroi Wallonie circuit in May. He finished second in the Heilen Vastgård Heist Pile and third in the Brussels Cycling Classic in early June, but could only manage sixth in the sprint stage of the Tour de Suisse.

This is the third time Bennett has missed the Tour since he was sidelined by injury in 2021. He also missed the Tour in Peter Sagan's last three seasons with Bora-Hansgrohe.

Bennett's omission means that Ryan Mullen, who was a key part of his lead-out train, will not have a Tour slot, further raising doubts about Bennett's chances of remaining with Beulah-Hansgrohe when his contract expires at the end of this year.

Thursday morning's Wielerflits newspaper suggested that DSM sprinter Sam Welsford will move to Bora-Hansgrohe for the 2024 season.