Peter Sagan shows off his new nameplate(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Peter Sagan and Daniel Oss preview the newly mortared Arenberg cobbles(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Max Schachmann in blue at Pais Vasco(Image credit: Getty Images)
Felix Grossschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Peter Sagan rides next to his brother and teammate Juraj Sagan during the Sagan Fondo(Image credit: Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us)
Bora-Hansgrohe have revealed the six riders who will back Peter Sagan at the Amgen Tour of California from May 12-18, with strongman Daniel Oss and recent Ardennes revelation Max Schachmann leading the charge to back the 'King of California' as Sagan hopes to add to his record 16 stage wins.
Also on Bora-Hansgrohe's roster for the seven-day WorldTour race are Juraj Sagan, Erik Baska, Oscar Gatto and recent Tour of Turkey overall winner Felix Grossschartner.
Sagan has had a slow start to his season so far, with his only win coming during a stage at the season-opening Tour Down Under in January. Since then, the three-time world champion has come close in the spring Classics, but has just missed out on landing on the podium. Following a short break after abandoning Flèche Wallonne and choosing to skip Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Sagan travelled to California on May 4 to prepare for the race that will begin his building block for the Tour de France in July.
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Schachmann, the 25-year-old German who moved to Bora-Hansgrohe this year from Quick-Step Floors, was on fine form for the Ardennes races, claiming fifth in the Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallonne, and then reaching the podium in Liège with third behind Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Bora teammate Davide Formolo. He also claimed three stages at the Tour of the Basque Country, a stage win at the Volta a Catalunya and victory at the one-day GP Industria & Artigianato.
Sagan, who won the race overall in 2015, won't have an easy time adding to his tally of stage victories this season in California, where he'll face Dimension Data's Mark Cavendish, Katusha-Alpecin's Marcel Kittel, Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis), Deceuninck-QuickStep's Fabio Jakobsen, John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) and UAE Team Emirates' Jasper Philipsen in the sprints.
Bora-Hansgrohe for the 2019 Tour of California: Erik Baska, Oscar Gatto, Felix Grossschartner, Daniel Oss, Juraj Sagan, Peter Sagan, Max Schachmann
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