Marcel Kittel will again start his season at the Tour Down Under when he leads Giant-Alpecin in the 2015 edition of the Australian race. However, the main goal of the German team is to win the overall with Tom Dumoulin or Simon Geschke.

The line-up for the opening race of the season has been decided and it's a strong team including two of 2014's top performers, Marcel Kittel and Tom Dumoulin, that will kick of the new season for Team Giant-Alpecin.

These two will be joined by Koen De Kort and Albert Timmer, Simon Geschke, Lawson Craddock and Chad Haga. This team of seven will be the first to take to the start line in the team's new colours.

Kittel returns to the opening WorldTour race of the season having taken the warm-up criterium, The People's Choice Classic, earlier this year. He will be joined by Tour Down Under debutant, Dumoulin who together with Geschke will have an eye on the overall classification, which using the past few years as a reference shows to suit the punchy riders.

Looking ahead to the race, team coach Addy Engels said: "Our main focus will be for Tom and Simon to go for the GC, that is our overall target. But when you start a race with Marcel in the team you have to have an eye on the sprint opportunities.

"The team is not built around the sprints so we will adapt to the opportunities that come and test his shape in that way. We work hard to plan detailed race programs for all of the riders and so it is nice to look forward to racing now after lots of planning and preparation."

Kittel added ahead of the race: "It’s a nice way for me to start the season and to find my legs again after the winter training,” confirmed Kittel. “Adelaide is a beautiful place and it is a relaxing way to start the 2015 season. 
 
"Even if there aren’t too many opportunities for sprinters, the race is still part of my build up to the season and in combination with the ideal race circumstances it is an ideal start to the year. I will go for any opportunities I have but I’ll also be supporting the strong team that we have here and our other goals. It will also be nice to race with our new sponsor Alpecin on the jersey."

Tourism Minister Leon Bignell is pleased that the eight-time Tour de France stage winner will return to the Southern Hemisphere’s largest cycling event for the third consecutive year.

“Marcel is a crowd favourite whose blistering sprint finishes have to be seen to be believed,” he said.

“He made a huge impact here earlier this year, winning the People’s Choice Classic in emphatic style before going on to claim victories in both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France.”

Rising Dutch star Tom Dumoulin, who’ll be making his Santos Tour Don Under debut, said although he hadn’t raced the event before, he had good memories of racing in Australia at the World Championships in Geelong.

“It is completely different country to what I am used to but a nice way to get the season underway, and the start of my detailed race program we have made with the coaches,” he said.

“We have a good team here and I am looking to test myself for the GC, but despite it being an early target I can come to this race without any pressure and see how the legs respond to the hard racing.”

LINE-UP
Lawson Craddock (USA)
Tom Dumoulin (NED)
Simon Geschke (GER)
Chad Haga (USA)
Marcel Kittel (GER)
Koen De Kort (NED)
Albert Timmer (NED)