Tuesday morning, the Quick-Step Floors' powerful sprinter will begin his second season with the team at the Middle East race.
The Dubai Tour will bring some of the world's best sprinters at the start, ready to battle out for stage wins and the general classification. The race will put on the cards four completely flat stages, which also bring important bonus seconds, giving the fast men plenty of chances to gain enough time so they can cover what they are more than certain to lose on the tough climb to Hatta Dam, the event's lone uphill finish.
2016 champion Marcel Kittel will spearhead Quick-Step Floors' squad for this week's race, one in which he has won five stages since its inception. Flanked by a strong team, which includes Julian Alaphilippe, Giro d'Italia white jersey Bob Jungels, Fabio Sabatini and Matteo Trentin, the German didn't hide at the pre-race post conference his intention of going for a good result in the next days, but stressed out the fact that the most important thing will be to take it stage by stage and see where he stands after coming out of the winter.
"Dubai has always been a race good with me. I have great memories, especially from last year, when I arrived at the start with my new team and won the general classification, so I am happy to return here. I'm very motivated, my condition is good, and I have a strong team around me. I will try to do my best and find out what sensations I have after three months with no races", said Marcel, whose impressive palmares since turning pro counts 72 victories, 12 of which came last season.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele
