Team Giant-Alpecin heads to Germany this week to participate at Rund um Köln. It is one of the oldest one-day races in Germany and the race celebrates its 100th edition this Sunday. The course is held around the city of Cologne consisting of 196.7km of hilly terrain where the riders tackle a number of categorized climbs before they descend back to the finish with the outcome of the race not necessarily decided by a bunch sprint.

"The goal for Köln is to sprint with Nikias [Arndt] who picked up his first Grand Tour stage victory on the final stage of the Giro d'Italia," explained coach Dirk Reuling (NED). "During the previous editionsthe races have usually been decided by a mass sprint. However the parcours is quite tricky, with a lot of short but steep climbs that come in quick succession.

"It will be vital to have riders in the front group if there is a big breakaway that escapes during the hilly section in the early stages of the race. But our main aim is to support Nikias and prepare the sprint for him and target a top 5 result."

LINE-UP
Søren Kragh Andersen (DEN)
Nikias Arndt (GER)
Bert De Backer (BEL)
Georg Preidler (AUT)
Tom Stamsnijder (NED)
Max Walscheid (GER)