Etixx-QuickStep rely on Kittel and De la Cruz, Dimension Data debut at Paris-Nice, Olheiser wins in Dominican Republic, 5 riders to watch at Tirreno-Adriatico
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Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Marcel Kittel (Etixx-QuickStep) celebrates his second win at the Volta ao Algarve(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
David de la Cruz (Etixx-Quick Step)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Giant-Alpecin’s Tom Dumoulin has a general goal of doing well in the overall classification at the upcoming Paris-Nice, set to start on Sunday with a short prologue. The outfit announced their roster for the eight-day WorldTour race with Dumoulin as their leader.
“My goal in Paris-Nice will be to go for a good general classification,” Dumoulin said in a press release. “We head to France with a strong team, both for the difficult flat stages and the mountains.”
Giant-Alpecin will also field Laurens ten Dam and Aike Visbeek. The race will start with a 6.1km prologue and will include a climb up Mont Ventoux on the fifth stage.
"I want to start with a strong result from the prologue and have a good starting position,” Dumoulin said. “From that we will take it day by day for the general classification. In the first stages, the wind could play a role, with other challenges as well, so I hope to tackle the first days in the best way possible.
"From past experiences, I've learned that March is always a challenging month for me to reach my top level, but we go for it."
Etixx-QuickStep to rely on Kittel for stage sprints and De la Cruz for the overall at Paris-Nice
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Etixx-QuickStep is looking to pick up more early-season victories at Paris-Nice with Marcel Kittel in the flatter stage sprints and David de la Cruz in the overall classification. The team is also hoping to use the eight-day race as preparation for the Spring Classics.
The tema’s line-up will also include multiple-time stage winner Tom Boonen, Nikolas Maes, Fabio Sabatini, Pieter Serry, Le Samyn winner Niki Terpstra and Stijn Vandenbergh.
The team is a staple on the podium at Paris-Nice having won 13 stages during the previous 12 editions.
“Paris-Nice is by nature a very demanding race, and things won’t be any different this year. There are many tough stages: a technical prologue, a stage with dirt roads and two uphill finishes. We have a very strong team and we hope to come out of the race with a stage victory,” sport director Tom Steels said in a team press release.
“Marcel is our main bet for this, while David will try to do a good general classification. The race will be very important also for our Classics riders, because it’s the last step towards the big one-day races of this spring. Hopefully, we’ll have good weather and a smooth race, so everything will go just fine with their preparation.”
Dimension Data to debut at Paris-Nice
Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka will make their debut at Paris-Nice on Sunday, and they will start with a versatile team that will contest the prologue, flat stages and uphill finishes.
Their line-up includes Jacques Janse van Rensburg, Serge Pauwels and Daniel Teklehaimanot, who will aim to do well in the mountains. Also on the team are Nathan Haas and Youcef Reguigui, who will aim for the punchy stages, and Tyler Farrar, Jay Thomson and Matt Brammeier, who will go for the sprint finishes and breakaways.
“I am excited to be racing my first Paris-Nice,” Janse van Rensburg said. “After some good racing in Oman and some promising training tests done in Lucca, I am confident that my form is quite good now and so I hope I am able to turn that into a result. We will have a really nice team at the race and it is a great opportunity to be a bit aggressive from our side.”
Lupus Racing's Olheiser wins penultimate stage in Dominican Republic
Lupus Racing's Michael Olheiser soloed to victory on stage 7 of the Vuelta Independencia Nacional Republica Dominicana on Friday, dropping two breakaway companions on the way to winning solo with a 44-second advantage.
Olheiser's Lupus teammate Thomas Vaubourzeix infiltrated the early 11-man break, which the peloton brought back on the only categorized climb of the 139km stage. Olheiser countered the move and was joined by two other riders.
Lupus rider Bryan Lewis described the stage in an update on Instagram: "A fast day finished well," Lewis wrote. "After Thomas got brought back from the early break Michael Olheiser attacked and rode off with two others never to be seen again. The rest of the @lupusracingteam was able to cruise on in to the finish and celebrate."
Aero Cycling's Nelson Ismael Sánchez leadsl general classification with one stage remaining, followed by Diego Ochoa of Boyacá Raza de Campeones. Sergio Daniel Godoy of Boyacá Raza de Campeones was third overall. Chad Beyer is the top Lupus rider in 18th, followed by Chris Horner in 22nd place.
10 riders to watch at Paris-Nice - Video
Paris-Nice is the second WorldTour race of the season and will star many of the big names in stage racing. Take a look at our 10 riders to watch and click here to subscribe to the Cyclingnews video channel.
