Sprinter Marcel Kittel (Giant-Alpecin) will miss the Tour de France because of a lack of fitness stemming from a virus that knocked him out of most of the season to date, his team announced Thursday.
Kittel won four stages in each of the last two editions of the Tour, and he was expected to lead Giant in the bunch sprints in the upcoming race that kicks off July 4 in Utrecht, Netherlands.
A press release from Giant, however, confirmed that Kittel will sit this one out.
“Of course I am disappointed about not participating in the Tour de France this year,” Kittel said. “But I will have to look ahead and focus on new goals.”
The release says “good progress has been made” in Kittel getting back up to top form, but his “basic fitness is still not sufficient to compete in the Tour de France.”
Giant will work with Kittel to come up with “an alternative racing program” for the fall.
As for Giant’s Tour lineup, the team is bringing a mix of sprinters (John Degenkolb) lead-out men (Koen de Kort and Albert Timmer), and climbers (Warren Barguil and Georg Preidler).
“Our main goal will be for a stage win, and the team for this year’s Tour has a good chance to achieve this goal,” Giant coach Marc Reef said. “Based on the team’s specific strengths, we already have some great opportunities for success in the first week and fully expect to achieve positive results throughout.”
Giant-Alpecin for the Tour de France
Warren Barguil (FRA)
Roy Curvers (NED)
John Degenkolb (GER)
Tom Dumoulin (NED)
Simon Geschke (GER)
Koen de Kort (NED)
Georg Preidler (AUT)
Ramon Sinkeldam (NED)
Albert Timmer (NED)
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