Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) on the podium(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Michael Matthews in the race lead after winning the Tour de Romandie prologue(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Sam Oomen (Sunweb)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Simon Geschke (Sunweb).(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Wilco Kelderman is set to ride for the first time since breaking his collarbone in March when he lines up at the Tour de Suisse, which gets underway on Saturday. Kelderman will lead Team Sunweb's general classification hopes while Michael Matthews, who is hunting for stage wins, joins him in the seven-man squad.
Kelderman crashed out of Tirreno-Adriatico during a challenging spring for the team that saw several riders miss races through injury and illness. The Dutchman, who finished fourth at last year’s Vuelta a Espana, was just 11 seconds off the race lead at Tirreno-Adriatico when he crashed twice on stage 6 and broke his collarbone.
Matthews will be looking to up his win tally ahead of the Tour de France following a tricky start to the season. He broke his shoulder in his opening race of the season, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, which put him on the back foot for his first targets for the year. He notched up a win in the Tour de Romandie prologue and finished second at Eschborn-Frankfurt, his most recent race, at the start of May. In tandem with Kelderman and Matthews' ambitions, Sunweb also have their eyes on the 18km team time trial on the opening day.
Sam Oomen adds to the climbing talent and heads into the Tour de Suisse after an impressive ride at the Giro d’Italia last month. The 22-year-old was competing in just his second Grand Tour and rode in support of defending champion Tom Dumoulin, but he went on to finish ninth overall in the process. Simon Geschke, who suffered the same fate as Kelderman at Tirreno-Adriatico, has also been named in the line-up, though he has raced since.
Completing the Sunweb team will be Soren Kragh Andersen, and sprinters Nikias Arndt and Edward Theuns. The Tour de Suisse will start in Frauenfeld on Saturday, June 9 and finishes in Bellinzona on Sunday, June 17 with an individual time trial.
Team Sunweb for the Tour de Suisse: Wilco Kelderman, Michael Matthews, Sam Oomen, Simon Geschke, Soren Kragh Andersen, Nikias Arndt and Edward Theuns.
