Fresh from a 5th place for Simon Geschke in yesterday's Brabantse Pijl, Argos-Shimano prepare for their biggest one-day race on home soil. Once again, the German will lead the team, and he will be joined in the captain role by Tom Dumoulin who is back from injury.

The Argos-Shimano plays a special role for Argos-Shimano. As a Dutch team, the event is the biggest one-day race in their homeland, and it is crucial for the team and its sponsors to see the team in a visible role on Sunday.

While Blanco has traditionally carried the main responsibility of the home nation, the young team do, however, not possess the same strength in the hilly one-day races as the former Rabobank team and thus the team is more expected to play an offensive role. With John Degenkolb, the team entered the cobbled classics with major ambitions but for the Ardennes classics the team has a cautious approach.

Nonetheless, the team got a gain confidence boost in yesterday's Brabantse Pijl when team leader Simon Geschke and Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) were the only ones able to follow the strong trio of Greg Van Avermaet (BMC), Philippe Gilbert (BMC) and Peter Sagan (Cannondale) when they accelerated on the Hertstraat. The young German took a fine 5th place on the day after being narrowly edged out by Chavanel in the sprint for 4th.

Geschke will once again lead the team on Sunday but this time he will share leadership responsibilities with young talent Tom Dumoulin. A 6th place in the Driedaagse van de Panne proved his strong condition but an unfortunate crash in the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe has hampered his preparations. He is, however, ready to make a comeback in the big one-day race on his home soil.

“We are happy to have Tom Dumoulin returning to the team after his crash in Sarthe,” sports manager Addy Engels said. “The wound on his knee recovered well, and he has been able to do some good training in recent days."

“In the Amstel Gold Race we will also count on Geschke again, and we have a team of opportunists and attackers who will be given a free hand to pursue their chances," he continued. "Roy Curvers will play an important role as the captain of the team. With his knowledge of the hills he is of great value.”

Geschke and Dumoulin will be supported in the race by climber Johannes Fröhlinger, fast classics rider Francois Parisien, young talent Reinhardt Janse Van Rensburg and strong men Albert Timmer, Koen De Kort and Roy Curvers.

Last year, Geschke's 44th and Dumoulin's 46th places were the team's best results in the Dutch race.

On Sunday, you can follow all the action from the Limburg province on CyclingQuotes.com/live.