Marcel Kittel talks to the visiting media(Image credit: Wouter Roosenboom)
Marcel Kittel leads his Giant-Alpecin teammates on the athletics track(Image credit: Wouter Roosenboom)
The Giant-Alpecin riders trained under the Spanish sun(Image credit: Wouter Roosenboom)
The Giant-Alpecin quartet enjoy a flat road (Image credit: Wouter Roosenboom)
A water fountain offers a chance for some cold water under the hot Spanish sun (Image credit: Wouter Roosenboom)
Before the Giant-Alpecin rider go up, they had to go down (Image credit: Wouter Roosenboom)
The Giant-Alpecin riders enjoy a fast descent(Image credit: Wouter Roosenboom)
Giant-Alpecin trained in the stunning Sierra Nevada mountains(Image credit: Wouter Roosenboom)
Tom Dumoulin and John Degenkolb suffer on a climb (Image credit: Wouter Roosenboom)
Warren Barguil working on his climbing during the camp(Image credit: Wouter Roosenboom)
Warren Barguiil leads down a descent(Image credit: Wouter Roosenboom)
There was also lots of descending during the Giant-Alpecin training camp(Image credit: Wouter Roosenboom)
The Giant-Alpecin sprinters face off at speed(Image credit: Wouter Roosenboom)
The Giant-Alpecin take a drink during a training ride(Image credit: Wouter Roosenboom)
Like many of the major teams in the WorldTour peloton, Giant-Alpecin and their key riders expected to ride the Tour de France have attended an training camp at altitude. John Degenkolb, Marcel Kittel, Tom Dumoulin and Warren Barguil have all spent time at the camp in the Sierra Nevada mountains in southern Spain.
The team has named a 13-rider long list for the Tour de France that also includes Roy Curvers, Bert De Backer, Johannes Fröhlinger, Simon Geschke, Koen de Kort, Georg Preidler, Ramon Sinkeldam, Albert Timmer and Tom Veelers.
Kittel revealed during a recent interview that he has still to be confirmed for the Tour de France but the team is again expected to be built around targeting stage victories, with climbing specialist Barguil finally given a place in the Tour after finishing eighth overall in the 2014 Vuelta a España. Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix winner Degenkolb is assured of a place, as is time trial expert Dumoulin.
During the training camp the riders completed several high quality training blocks under the watchful eye of team trainer Adriaan Helmantel. Kittel took part in some of the sprint training sessions on the road and on the Sierra Nevada running track, but reportedly avoided long rides in the Spanish mountains as he continues to work on his comeback from a virus, and his long spell away from racing in the spring.
Degenkolb, Dumoulin and Barguil will complete their Tour de France build-up by riding the Tour de Suisse, while Kittel has said he will decide on if he rides the Tour de France after testing his form at the Ster ZLM Toer in the Netherlands between June 17-21.
The Giant-Alpecin team for the Critérium du Dauphiné will mostly include riders who rode the recent Giro d’Italia, including the USA’s Chad Haga and Caleb Fairly.
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