Marcel Kittel had a difficult year on the bike. The German sprinter failed to finish the Munsterland Giro while he would liked to finish this season - his last with Team Giant-Alpecin - with a good performance.

"Once again I didn't finish the race", he tweeted "Trust me I'm not happy with it either but the reason for it is simple: I restarted my build up... this year so many times and I noticed that now, at the end of the season, I simply miss the training & racing kilometers. I was never in a really stable condition. Finishing the season already earlier would have been nice but the team and I decided to race till Abu Dhabi… knowing that I'm maybe not in the best condition to do that. But 2016 is already in my head & I'm looking forward 2 make it a great year!"

Kittel has had a terrible 2015 season. He has only two victories in 2015 – in the People’s Choice Classic in Australia and the opening stage of the Tour of Poland. He missed all three Grand Tours having won two stages of the Giro d’Italia and four stages of the Tour de France in 2014.

In 2016, he will leave Giant-Alpecin. He will try to be at the top of sprints with Etixx-Quick Step. Without Mark Cavendish, he will be the main sprinter in the Belgian team.