For the second year in a row, Marcel Kittel and John Degenkolb are preparing the Tour de France by training at altitide in Sierra Nevada. The pair hope to benefit from their training in July when they aim at repeating last year's success that saw Kittel win four stages.

In preparation for this year’s Tour de France, two of Team Giant-Shimano’s key sprinters, Marcel Kittel and John Degenkolb, have headed to Sierra Nevada for a period of high altitude training.

Following the same build up as last year, the two riders headed out at the end of May to spend three weeks staying at 2500m altitude at the High Perfomance Centre at the top of the Sierra Nevada mountain.

Following a few days of acclimatisation as well as press duties, the riders started the real training with a specific focus on developing their sprint capacities and getting their bodies into the best possible shape for the start of the Tour on the 5th July.

“This training camp is both physically and mentally the start of specific Tour de France preparation for both riders,” said Team Giant-Shimano trainer Adriaan Helmantel.

“The guys will work on their endurance base, something needed to survive the Tour in a good way and to be able to reach stage finishes as fresh as possible.

“They will do specific sprint training both on the bike as well as in the gym to get their explosive power back to the highest level. Being at high altitude has a positive effect especially on the endurance and sprint training capacity. This is based on scientific research and most importantly on experience for both Marcel and John.

“Being at Sierra Nevada also means you are a bit isolated from the world which, although a bit boring sometimes, is ideal for focusing only on training, eating and resting. In this way they can prepare in a relaxed, quiet and scenic mountain area for the hectic and stressful period that is the Tour de France.”

“Even if it is very quiet up here it means that you can fully concentrate on what needs doing,” said Kittel on his first rest day in Spain.

“You can really feel the effects of altitude here as the air is really dry and even just walking up the stairs is hard to start with. But after a few days you can feel the body adapting.”

Degenkolb added: “I’ve been preparing for big objectives by training at altitude since I was in my junior years and I know that for me it works well. Also being here with Marcel is a good way for us to push ourselves that little bit more.”

“When we do our sprint training out on the road here we vary between leading each other out and also sprinting alongside each other,” Kittel added. “On the flat sprints I’m usually the quickest, but after a long and hard day or a slightly uphill sprint John can get past me.

“It’s great that we can use our competitiveness to train harder then return from the ride and relax and recover with no other distractions.

“This is the first time I have started to really focus on the Tour, being out here. It is on my mind every day that I am here.”

Degnekolb added: “Last year when I was here I was talking to Marcel and others about the Tour and thought it would be a race like any other, but after last year’s experience in July I realise there is nothing that compares to it.

“The passion for the Tour is a huge motivating factor and we want to go back there and win again.”