The Tour de Suisse starts on Saturday with a 5.1km prologue, followed by seven hilly and mountain stages and a concluding 38.4km time trial in Bern on Sunday. 

Following a fifth overall and two second places, in the prologue and stage 7, in last year’s Tour de Suisse, Tom Dumoulin (NED) will be lining up once again this year. Alongside Dumoulin, Warren Barguil (FRA) will be leading the team to aim for a good GC result. With a third place on last year’s stage 5, John Degenkolb (GER) will target stage success in the bunch sprints. 

Climbers Georg Preidler (AUT), who had a strong classics campaign, and Carter Jones (USA), who performed well in the queen stage of the Amgen Tour of California, will support Barguil in the mountain stages. Johannes Fröhlinger (GER), Koen de Kort (NED) and Nikias Arndt (GER) will play important support roles in the lead-out for Degenkolb.

Coach Rudi Kemna looks ahead to the Swiss stage race, saying: “Barguil, Degenkolb, Dumoulin and de Kort spent three weeks at the team’s altitude training camp in Sierra Nevada, so they are very well prepared for the upcoming period of racing. We are going to Switzerland with two aims: one is the general classification for Barguil and the other is the sprints for Degenkolb.

“We have strong support for Barguil on the climbs, as well as on the flats in the lead-out for Degenkolb. Dumoulin will enjoy the space to aim for stage success in a possible break, the prologue and the long closing time trial.”