Marcel Kittel makes his 2018 racing debut with Katusha-Alpecin at the Dubai Tour on Tuesday, confident of his form and his new lead out but cautious about raising expectations as he begins a new, important chapter in his professional career.
Kittel turned professional a decade ago with Thuringer Energie and has since ridden for just two other WorldTour teams: Giant and Quick-Step Floors. His move to Katusha-Alpecin seems an excellent fit, with German brands Alpecin and bike sponsor Canyon happy to have him promote their products with victories in the sprints.
On Monday during the pre-race press conference, the big-name sprinters accepted that Quick-Step Floors has produced the best leadouts in recent years, with Mark Cavendish, then Kittel and now Elia Viviani able to benefit from their skills and high speed in the finale.
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Kittel opted to leave Quick-Step Floors, to avoid any internal rivalry with Fernando Gaviria and be the absolute sprint leader at Katusha-Alpecin. He is already sure he has made the right choice.
“It’s sometimes a sad thing when you leave a team, but it’s a good thing when you join a group of new people. You are challenged again and you have slightly different goals, you go into the year with different motivation. That’s what happened to me,” Kittel explained.
Kittel’s five Tour de France stage victories in 2017 make the 29-year-old German arguably the ‘best’ sprinter in the peloton. He is clearly suited to the fast sprints on wide roads at the Dubai Tour, having won eight stages and the overall classification in both 2016 and 2017. But a new season, a new team and a new lead-out train means Kittel starts 2018 with zero wins on his palmares and his feet firmly on the ground.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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