After a great 6th place for Simon Geschke at the Amstel Gold Race, Giant-Shimano is looking for more success in the final Ardennes classics. Warren Barguil and Tom Dumoulin will lead the team at Fleche Wallonne while Geschke will join the duo for Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

Fleche Wallonne:

At 205km, the race falls short of the surrounding WorldTour races, however that is not to say that it is lacking in difficulty.

Flèche Wallonne is littered with the short, sharp climbs that define the Ardennes, and it finishes atop the Mur de Huy - 1.3km with an average gradient of 9.3%, with the riders tackling this ascent twice before the finish already.

Warren Barguil returns to racing here after a period of focused training, close with the coaches following a strong showing in firstly Catalunya and then Pais Vasco.

He is joined by Tom Dumoulin who had a strong race at Amstel Gold Race on Sunday, showing signs of what is still to come from this young Dutch talent. Also starting the race is Daan Olivier, lining up for his first one-day classic of the season, and also the first of his young career.

"We head to Flèche Wallonne with a view to getting Warren is as good a position as possible at the foot of the steep finishing climb of the Mur de Huy which suits his characteristics as a climber," said coach Christian Guiberteau.

"Teamwork is always important in these types of races for both positioning and also because anything can happen. The team have proven that this is one of our strong qualities so far this spring and they will look to continue with this here.

"Tom Dumoulin is also is good shape for the Ardennes classics and we will look to keep him protected for as long as possible too. It is promising for the future to be heading into the race with two strong young talents in the early stages of their careers, but who are already proving capable of challenging with the best."

Warren Barguil (FRA)
Thomas Damuseau (FRA)
Tom Dumoulin (NED)
Johannes Fröhlinger (GER)
Thierry Hupond (FRA)
Cheng Ji (CHN)
Daan Olivier (NED)
Tom Peterson (USA)

Liege-Bastogne-Liege:

Warren Barguil, Tom Dumoulin and Simon Geschke head the Team Giant-Shimano line-up for this one-day monument. Geschke showed at Amstel Gold Race that he has the legs to be present at the front come the finish of these classics and together with the others he provides the team with options for the race.

Barguil heads to Liège after having raced Flèche Wallonne during the week and he will be looking for a strong performance in this final classic of the spring, as will Dumoulin who showed that he has the level to reach the finish in the front group in the Ardennes.

Daan Olivier also heads to Liège looking to play a role in helping the others as deep into the final as possible. It will be the second classic of his career, after Flèche Wallonne in the week, but he showed in the recent Pais Vasco that he has the head and legs to compete at the WorldTour in just his first year at this level.

Team Giant-Shimano coach Christian Guiberteau said:

"With Simon, Warren and Tom D we have three guys who have a good chance of a high finish in this race. They will have strong support from the rest of the team in getting them in position for the key climbs and keeping them out of trouble.

"With his sixth place at Amstel Gold Race, Simon showed that he has made a step up this season, following a strong winter period working closely with the coaches and also a tweak in his race programme coming this spring.

"Tom D and Warren are both still very young in their development but also are proving that they have the level to race at the front in the WorldTour. Tom is in great shape at the moment and Warren is very focused on having a good week in the Ardennes so we will hopefully be able to have a good race and challenge for a strong result."

Warren Barguil (FRA)
Thomas Damuseau (FRA)
Tom Dumoulin (NED)
Johannes Fröhlinger (GER)
Simon Geschke (GER)
Cheng Ji (CHN)
Daan Olivier (NED)
Tom Peterson (USA)

Tour de Romandie:

It will be Kittel's final race before the Giro d'Italia and he is joined by his trusted lead-out man, Tom Veelers as well as a strong, experienced team.

The race features two individual time trials and Tobias Ludvigsson will be eager to perform well in these, providing he is fully recovered from the ankle problems he had in Sarthe. Stages one and three feature mountain passes en-route, with the third being particularly hard with four first category climbs to get over.

"Our goal for the Tour de Romandie is to go for the sprints with Marcel and Luka and to also finish preparing the form before the Giro d'Italia," said coach Lionel Marie.

"On paper there are a few opportunities where we could see bunch sprints and we will focus on these but Romandie is a hard race so we will be flexible. Luka has come on a long way this year and it will be a good opportunity for him to race with Marcel again and keep learning as he continues to develop his sprinting skills.

"Tobias will also be looking to test himself in the time trials against some of the best in the World. He had a few problems in France last week so there is no pressure on him.

"The goal for Georg Preidler is also to get back into race rhythm after having some knee problems too, and although it's a hard race it will be good for him to get back up to speed and see how his shape is."

Thierry Hupond (FRA)
Marcel Kittel (GER)
Tobias Ludvigsson (SWE)
Luka Mezgec (SLO)
Georg Preidler (AUT)
Tom Stamsnijder (NED)
Albert Timmer (NED)
Tom Veelers (NED)