Stölting have announced their line-ups for the Cyclassics Hamburg and the GP Jef Scherens.

The Cyclassics Hamburg is the second WorldTour race of the season for Team Stölting Service Group. Held for the first time in 1996, the Cyclassics have been ranked in the highest UCI category since 1998, first as part of the World Cup and as a ProTour/WorldTour race since 2005. Every year sprinters and classics riders come to the Hanseatic City.

The 217.7 km race starts underneath the St. Petri Church in the centre of Hamburg and gets underway with a loop south of the Elbe river. After 91 km the peloton crosses Hamburg's Inner City again to head northwest, after which, with 83 km to go, the riders climb the Waseberg with gradients of up to 15% for the first time. The final starts after a passage of the finish line on the Mönckebergstraße and includes three more ascents of the Waseberg, the last one only 16.2 km from the finish. The final 15 km always develop into a chase between late attackers and the sprinters' teams – in the last couple of years, the sprinters won more often than not.

Team Stölting Service Group fields a very strong squad at the only German WorldTour race: Gerald Ciolek (GER), Rasmus Guldhammer (DEN), and Fabian Wegmann (GER) have all finished in the top-10 at the Cyclassics before. They're joined by the young and talented Alexander Kamp (DEN), Alex Kirsch (LUX), Christian Mager (GER), and Mads Pedersen (DEN), with the experienced Michael Reihs (DEN) filling the role of road captain.

Jochen Hahn (GER) will be the team's Sports Director: “It's a big honour for us to be invited to the Cyclassics,” he says. “I've done the race several times as sports director and know it well. We will come to the race with our strongest riders and will be able to react to attacks on the Waseberg, but also have options for the sprint.”

This year sees the 50th edition of the GP Jef Scherens - Rondom Leuven. The race is named after track sprinter Jef Scherens who won seven world championships in the 1930s and 1940s.

The GP Jef Scherens consists of a circuit in and around Leuven that is raced thirteen times. The hilly circuit includes four small climbs, the most difficult ones being the Keizersberg (390 m at 6.5%) and the Wijnpers (350 m at 9%). Over 185.7 km, the climbs should wittle the peloton down to have a small group or at most a reduced peloton fight for victory in the final.

Linus Gerdemann (GER) and Romain Lemarchand (FRA) are the most experienced riders in a young Team Stölting Service Group line-up for the Belgian race. Neo-pros Thomas Koep (GER), Sven Reutter (GER), and Jonas Tenbrock (GER) are joined by stagiaires Moritz Backofen (GER), Alexander Weifenbach (GER), and Willi Willwohl (GER).

Sports Director André Steensen (DEN) says: “The race is on the same day as the Cyclassics, so like at the Tour de l'Ain last week we'll field a young team. The riders are here to get more racing experience, but will also do their utmost to take home a result.”