Quadruple Tour de France 2013 stage winner Marcel Kittel will make his return to UCI competition when he lines out in next week’s Eneco Tour. Morale on a high after a highly successful Tour de France, the German and his team want to continue their strong performances in the WorldTour race.
“We have a very strong team, with most of the guys that rode the Tour de France,” directeur sportif Rudi Kemna pointed out, talking about the quality of the selection for the event.
“We have four time Tour stage winner Kittel for the flat sprints and [John] Degenkolb for the more difficult finishes. Youngster and Tour revelation Tom Dumoulin will be aiming to finish well overall. This stage race suits him very well with the time trial and the hillier stages. I am looking forward to trying to repeat the success that was the Tour de France here.”
Also on the squad are Dutchmen Roy Curvers, Albert Timmer, Koen de Kort and Tom Veelers, plus Francois Parisien of Canada.
The WorldTour race begins on Monday with a 175.3 kilometre race from Koksijde to Ardooie.
Meanwhile the Dutch team is also planning a strong campaign in the new Arctic Race of Norway. It begins on Saturday with a stage starting and finishing in Bodø and will feature four flat stages which point towards bunch sprint finishes.
Because of that, the selected team draws on riders suited to those demands, as directeur sportif Jorn Knops explained. “This is the first time that the race will be held so that means that we will have to see how it will pan out.
“The stages are ideal for sprinters in Norway. We have a strong line-up for this situation with sprinters like Nikias Arndt, Jonas Ahlstrand and Ramon Sinkeldam [from Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands respectively – ed]. Alongside these guys, we also have riders who can put in long, sustained efforts in the breaks or on the front. We will decide the final tactics day-by-day.”
Arndt, Ahlstrand and Sinkeldam will be joined by the Frenchman Thierry Hupont, Sweden’s Tobias Ludvigsson and Tom Stamsnijder of the Netherlands.
Argos Shimano for the Arctic Race of Norway (August 8th to 11th):
Jonas Ahlstrand (SWE)
Nikias Arndt (GER)
Thierry Hupont (FRA)
Tobias Ludvigsson (SWE)
Ramon Sinkeldam (NED)
Tom Stamsnijder (NED)
Argos Shimano for Eneco Tour (August 12 – 18th):
Roy Curvers (NED)
John Degenkolb (GER)
Tom Dumoulin (NED)
Marcel Kittel (GER)
Koen de Kort (NED)
Francois Parisien (FRA)
Albert Timmer (NED)
Tom Veelers (NED)