Giant-Alpecin have announced their line-up for the GP Quebec and Montreal.

Team Giant-Alpecin start off their Canadian campaign at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec this Friday. The parcours is a total distance of 201.6km, with the peloton completing 16 laps of 12.6km each around the city of Québec, and an elevation gain of 2,976 meters. The circuit is very hilly and it will be a challenging race, as Simon Geschke (GER) will be looking to improve on his 12th place from last year. Friday also sees the return to competition of Fredrik Ludvigsson (SWE), who suffered a scaphoid fracture at stage four of Baloise Belgium Tour, on May 28th.

Ahead of the race, coach Aike Visbeek (NED) said: "We head to Québec with the objective of getting Simon in a good position in the finale, which suits his characteristics as a climber. We will look to keep him protected throughout the day and we will aim for a place among the top 10 with him.

"Riding as a team will be important to support Simon in the positioning before the key sections and to be able to contest the finish. We have a strong team to support him, and with guys who can get over the climbs we'll look to make a mark on the race."

The second in a double-header of one-day WorldTour races in Canada is the GP Cycliste de Montréal on Sunday, featuring the same line-up as in Québec. The race, very similar to Québec, consists of 17 laps of 12.1km for a total of 205.7km and an elevation gain of nearly 3,000 meters. 

"Our tactics for Sunday will be similar to Friday’s and we will aim to try and play a role in the finale with Simon," explained coach Aike Visbeek (NED). "We will aim to ride an offensive race because Montréal is more of an open course where anything can happen.

"We will have to stay attentive during the whole race, where attacks are likely to take place on this demanding parcours. Sam is showing some good form at the moment and with the experience of Bert and Laurens they will be good support for Simon."

LINE-UP

Laurens ten Dam (NED)
Bert De Backer (BEL)
Simon Geschke (GER)
Lars van der Haar (NED)
Fredrik Ludvigsson (SWE)
Sam Oomen (NED)
Georg Preidler (AUT)
Albert Timmer (NED)