The Ster ZLM Toer starts on Wednesday with a 6.4km prologue, followed by a flat stage, two hilly stages crossing part of the Amstel Gold Race course and the Belgian Ardennes, and a final flat stage to Boxtel on Sunday.

Following a seventh in the GC and a third in the prologue by Albert Timmer (NED) last year, Team Giant-Alpecin will be heading to the race with the aim of stage success. After winning stage 3 in 2013 and stage 1 in 2014, sprinter Marcel Kittel (GER) will line up once again. Alongside Kittel will be Ramon Sinkeldam (NED), who recently won the Garmin Velothon Berlin, and Zico Waeytens (BEL), who took third in Berlin.

The experienced Roy Curvers (NED) and Bert De Backer (BEL) will guide the team on the road. The roster is completed by Lars van der Haar (NED), Fredrik Ludvigsson (SWE) and Tom Stamsnijder (NED).

“Our primary goal is stage success. In theory, stages 1 and 4 will be possibilities to work on our sprint preparation, but we have to watch for crosswinds as well. For different scenarios we will have different options to reach our target.

“The race starts with a prologue, which will give an indication of which riders will go for a GC result; this applies to us as well. We will wait for the results there to see if a good GC result is within reach and take the race day by day. Stages 2 and 3 in Limburg and the Ardennes will be difficult,” said coach Marc Reef.