Greipel to lead Lotto-Soudal at Tour of Britain

André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) is the latest rider to add his name to the Tour of Britain start list. Greipel joins sprinters Edvald Boasson Hagen and Tyler Farrar (MTN-Qhubeka), and defending champion Dylan Van Baarle (Cannondale-Garmin) as confirmed riders for the eight-day race.

Greipel has had a sterling season that has seen him take four Tour de France stage wins and a stage of the Giro d’Italia among his 15 victories. The German recently took a convincing victory at the Vattenfall Cyclassics, clearly beating the defending champion Alexander Kristoff (Katusha). Greipel has had one previous appearance at the Tour of Britain back in 2010, where he took three wins including the opening and closing stages.

"This is great news for British fans who can look forward to seeing Andre Greipel battling it out in the sprints at the Aviva Tour of Britain," said Tour of Britain race director Mick Bennett. "We fondly recall Andre's previous participation in the race, and are delighted that he, and the Lotto-Soudal team are returning to race in Britain. With three or four stages of this year's race likely to be bunch sprints, there is sure to be stiff competition for stage wins that we are sure will make for great racing."

Greipel’s biggest rivals are still unknown with several WorldTour teams who are yet to confirm their line-ups, including Etixx-QuickStep, BMC, Tinkoff-Saxo and Team Sky.

Greipel will lead the team with Marcel Sieberg and Jens Debusschere supporting him in the lead-out. Debusschere is also a rider that could provide the team with a stage victory on the tougher sprints. Under-23 Belgian road race champion Sean de Bie, Frederik Frison and Pim Ligthart complete the line-up.

The Tour of Britain begins Beaumaris on Sunday September 6 and finishes in London on September 13.

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