Marcel Kittel (Skil-Shimano) takes his second win of 2011 in Orchies (Image credit: Isabelle Duchesne)
The Skil-Shimano team confirmed that Marcel Kittel will be part of the squad’s line-up for the Vuelta a España. The Professional Continental team is targeting stage victories in the Spanish Grand Tour.
Kittel won four stages at the recent Tour of Poland, out-powering the likes of Tom Boonen (Quick Step), (Heinrich Haussler) Garmin-Cervelo), Leigh Howard (HTC-Highroad), Francesco Chicchi (Quick Step) and Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil).
He will face Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad), Daniele Bennati (Leopard Trek) and Oscar Freire (Rabobank) in the Vuelta's sprints, but appears to have the speed and sprinting ability to take them on.
Skil-Shimano named Rudi Kemna and Christian Guiberteau as its leaders, with Johannes Fröhlinger, Simon Geschke, Tom Veelers, Albert Timmer, Koen de Kort, Roy Curvers, Yukihiro Doi and Alexandre Geniez completing the line-up.
Of the nine riders, five are making their Grand Tour debut: Kittel, Veelers, Curvers, Doi and Geniez.
“Skil-Shimano strives for a stage victory in the 66th edition of the Vuelta a España and hopes to achieve this goal in a mass sprint or as escaping group,” the team said in a press release.
The Vuelta a España starts on August 20 in Benidorm and ends on September 11 in Madrid.
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Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
