Giant-Alpecin have selected their riders for the People's Choice Classic and the Tour Down Under.

Held on the streets of Adelaide, the People’s Choice Classic is a circuit race that serves as a preview to the Santos Tour Down Under, setting the stage for the week ahead. The 51km criterium will be held this Sunday, Jan. 17. 

“For this year’s edition our focus will be on attacking,” said coach Aike Visbeek. “With Koen [De Kort] and Bert [De Backer] we have two fast guys who can go for a result if it comes down to a sprint.”

The 2016 road season officially gets underway in Australia with the first WorldTour race of the year, the six-stage Santos Tour Down Under. After five road stages, with distances ranging from 130.8km to 151.5km, the race finishes with a 4.5km circuit race through the heart of Adelaide.

Coach Aike Visbeek said: “Simon [Geschke] had some minor knee problems leading up to the race, which have since been resolved. But because of that, we have been forced to change our plans a bit. Tobias [Luvigsson] showed some good progress last year and during the winter training camps, and he will get the opportunity to go for a good GC result. With Georg [Preidler] and Carter [Jones] we have two climbers to support Tobias in the important GC stages. 

“On the flat stages, Koen and Bert will go for their chances in the sprints. We will apply more offensively oriented tactics because obviously we aren’t among the clear favorites for the overall win.”

Line-up

Bert De Backer (BEL)