Next year Germany's best team will be known as Team BORA. Today the team will do its final race under its current name, Team NetApp-Endura.

Even if Paris-Tours has not enjoyed WorldTour status for seven years, the race which has taken place since 1896 is still one of the most prestigious events in the cycling sport calendar. The “Sprint Classic” starts in Bonneval with the finish in Tours being reached by the riders after 237.5 flat but wind-prone kilometers. On the 108th anniversary of this traditional event, the premium German cycling team not only ends the 2014 cycling sport season but will also be attempting to achieve a top result for the last time under the name of Team NetApp – Endura.

“For us the start at Paris-Tours is something quite special. Not only because the race is a genuine classic and we will be ending our season in Tours, but also because it will be our last appearance under the name of NetApp – Endura. Particularly for that reason we are of course especially motivated and again aim to give the favorites a tough time. Recently Ralf Matzka just missed a podium position in Münster, and Cesare Benedetti too can certainly compete with the best if something happens on the last climbs,” sport director Christan Pömer said looking forward to the season finale.

Its nickname of “Sprint Classic” is incidentally borne by Paris-Tours without reason. After all, in the traditional race’s more than 100-year history, break-away riders have often managed to use one of the côtes just before the finish on Avenue de Grammont for a successful attack. The wind too, which often accompanies the riders along the entire route along the Loire, has frequently stopped the fast-finishers among the riders from even reaching the finish in Tours. The name Paris-Tours is moreover misleading as the classic race does not start in Paris, as one would assume, but instead in Bonneval, located some 130 kilometers to the south west of the French capital. After a short turn to the north, the course then runs however in a straight southerly direction past the world-famous Loire castles en route for the finish in Tours.

Line-up:

Cesare Benedetti, Ralf Matzka, Michael Schwarzmann, Alexander Krieger, Andreas Schillinger, Scott Thwaites, Patrick Konrad and Gregor Mühlberger