Cycling: André Greipel will lead the German squad at the Road World Championships in Doha as captain. After much back and forth, the BDR announced the men's squad for the road race this evening. In addition to the 34-year-old veteran, Marcel Kittel is also traveling to Qatar to possibly step in as a joker depending on the course of the race.
The cat is finally out of the bag and no one is really surprised: André Greipel will be captain of the German road team at the World Championships in Doha, where Peter Sagan's successor will be determined on October 16th. In addition to Greipel, Marcel Kittel is also in the squad; it had previously been speculated whether one of the two would travel to Qatar for the benefit of a helper. However, the two coaches Jan Schaffrath and Andreas Klier decided to start with the two top sprinters. Now it's up to Greipel and Kittel to come to an agreement and, if necessary, put personal ambitions aside. Greipel is understandably happy about the nomination: "I would like to thank those responsible for trusting me with the role of captain. With only six drivers we are not among the favourites, but if we all pull together we have a good chance.” The last sentence can also be understood as a "wink" to Marcel Kittel - only if everyone works together could it be something with the first German World Cup title since Rudi Altig in 1966.
[blog style=”def” cols=”2″ display=”specific” specific=”52867″ posts_per_page=”0″ offset=”0″ pagination=”no” ad_id=”0″ ad_count=”3″ ad_repeat=”yes”]If all else fails, John Degenkolb, another strong sprinter, will be at the start, but he made it clear a few weeks ago that he will completely subordinate himself to the team. The six-man squad is completed by the tireless Tony Martin, Greipel's lead-out man Marcel Sieberg, Nils Politt and Jasha Sütterlin. However, one of the last three will have to leave his cycling shoes in the closet on the day of the decision, as it is still unclear whether Sieberg, who fell on the Eneco Tour, will be fit in time.
In the time trial, either Nils Politt or Jasha Sütterlin will start alongside Tony Martin.
The German World Cup squad at a glance:
(In italics: The starters for the time trial)
Men
John Degenkolb (Frankfurt/Giant Alpecin)
André Greipel (Huerth/Lotto-Soudal)
Marcel Kittel (Erfurt/Etixx Quick Step)
Tony Martin (Kreuzlingen/Etixx Quick Step)
Nils Politt (Hürth/Katusha)
Marcel Sieberg (Bocholt/Lotto-Soudal)
Jasha Sütterlin (Freiburg/Movistar)
Women
Lisa Brennauer (Durach/Canyon Sram)
Romy Kasper (Forst/Boels-Dolmans)
Lisa Klein (Erfurt/Cervélo-Bigla)
Mieke Kröger (Bielefeld/Canyon Sram)
Stephanie Pohl (Cottbus/Cervélo-Bigla)
Trixi Worrack (Erfurt/Canyon Sram)
U23
Pascal Ackermann (Kandel/rad-net ROSE Team)
Phil Bauhaus (Bocholt/Bora-Argon 18)
Lennard Kämna (Fischerhude/Team Stölting)
Marco Mathis (Tettnang/rad-net ROSE team)
Maximilian Schachmann (Berlin/Klein Constantia)
Juniors
Richard Banusch (RSC Cottbus)
Bastian Flicke (PSV Forest)
Felix Gross (RSV Venusberg)
Maximilian Hamberger (VC Regensburg)
Niklas Markl (RSV Linden)
Jonasrutsch (Frankfurt VC)
Juniorinnen
Franziska Brausse (TSV Betzingen)
Liane Lippert (RSV Seerose Friedrichshafen)
Christa Riffel (RSV Edelweiss Oberhausen)
Hanna Steffen (Genthin RC 66)
Lea Lin Teutenberg (FC Lexxi Speedbike)