Additional track sprinter nominated through mountain bike category
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Stage 2 winner Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol)(Image credit: Elmar Krings)
Points classification leader John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano)(Image credit: Isabelle Duchesne)
The German cycling federation BDR has announced its five-rider selection for the Olympic road race taking place on Saturday, July 28. Top sprinter André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) will have four lead-out men at his disposal in his bid to take an Olympic medal: fellow sprinter John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) plus Bert Grabsch (Omega Pharma Quick Step), Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Marcel Sieberg (Lotto-Belisol). BMC's Marcus Burghardt is the team's reserve man, and Martin and Grabsch will also be scheduled to race the time trial event.
At his own wish, Argos-Shimano sprinter Marcel Kittel was not available for the Olympic road race team as he intends to fully concentrate on the Tour de France, which he wants to complete.
The BDR has announced that it has also nominated track rider Robert Förstemann for the Olympic track events, by adding him into the mountain bike team. The three-man men's mountain bike roster included only Moritz Milatz and Manuel Fumic, and it is possible to nominate non-mountain bikers to the category as there are no special qualifying criteria applied. This way, Förstemann will join his three track sprint teammates René Enders, Maximilian Levy and Stefan Nimke in their bid for Olympic glory.
"The possibility of making him compete increases our medal chances significantly," German team director Patrick Moster said.
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