Marcel Kittel followed a 10 days of training with Giant-Alpecin in Cambril, Spain. The German told Cyclingnews about the next season. He hopes to win the green jersey at the Tour de France and maybe to wear the yellow jersey during the first week thanks to the return of bonuses.

"It's a pretty short time trial, only 14km," he said. "I think some of the sprinters will be hoping to put in a good performance in the time trial and then get some time back on stage 2."

Marcel Kittel participated three times in the Tour de France between 2012 and 2014. He won eight stages and this year, he finished 4th in the points classification.

Peter Sagan (Team Tinkoff Saxo), Mark Cavendish (Etixx-Quick Step) and Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol) will be the favorites to follow. "Cavendish is very fast. When he was winning on HTC, there wasn't as much competition as there is now. There are so many guys who are there now and believe they have a chance, it is just much harder to win."

"I would say it takes two or three years, maybe four, to have a team together with riders that all have the same focus, but also to implement the philosophy how we act as as a team," he added. "To develop this to where every rider actually lives it, that takes also at least four years, I would say. Really, maybe even five so that everyone really understands, 'Ok, I'm here now, we've got that goal, that's my job."

"If we win in the end, everyone contributed. Everyone has worked for that success and owns part of that success. That's what I really like about our team. On the other hand, it's really not so easy, and not everyone fits in it."