In the absence of Milan-San Remo defending champion John Degenkolb, Giant-Alpecin are backing Tom Dumoulin for a top result a the first Monument of the season. Degenkolb will miss the race as he continued to recover from injuries sustained in a training ride accident when a car drove into him and five teammates in Calpe, Spain.
Dumoulin has ridden Milan-San Remo on two previous occasions, finishing 126th on debut in the snow-shortened 2013 edition and was 25th last year in support of Degenkolb. Tour de France stage winner Simon Geschke will be a protected rider alongside Dumoulin at the first Monument of the season.
"We have a strong line-up for Saturday with a few guys who are capable of handling the tough finale that Milano-Sanremo traditionally offers. We don't have the clear favorite for the victory and our goal will be to get the best possible result by keeping Simon and Tom [Dumoulin] well-protected for as long as possible," coach Marc Reef said.
Nikias Arndt, Simon Geschke and Tom Stamsnijder come into the 2016 team, in place of Degenkolb, Bert De Backer and Chad Haga who is also recovering from injuries sustained in the Calpe crash.
Giant-Alpecin for Milan-San Remo: Nikias Arndt (GER), Roy Curvers (NED), Tom Dumoulin (NED), Simon Geschke (GER), Koen de Kort (NED), Tom Stamsnijder (NED), Albert Timmer (NED) and Zico Waeytens (BEL).
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