A team of seven riders will head ‚Down Under‘ for the 16th edition of the race, which is now the opening race of the WorldTour season. The race gets underway with a hotly contested circuit race, the People’s Choice Classic, on the 19th January. This doesn’t count towards the overall with the first real stage of the race on the 21st to Angaston.

There will be opportunities for Marcel Kittel (GER) to test out his speed after a winter of hard training, right from the opening Classic, but the race will eventually decided by the punchy climbers and the team has riders who can play their cards on the tougher stages too.

„It will of course be our aim to take the sprint opportunities with Marcel in the team, but there aren’t that many sprints,“ said sports manager, Addy Engels (NED). „With Simon Geschke (GER) we have someone with us for the tougher stages. Some of the stage profiles are perfect for him and if they come down to a small group sprint he is fast.“

Tour Down Under (19-26.01.2014)
Nikias Arndt (GER)
Johannes Frohlinger (GER)
Simon Geschke (GER)
Thierry Hupond (FRA)
Marcel Kittel (GER)
Koen de Kort (NED)
Tom Peterson (USA)