Sagan heads Liquigas at Tour de Suisse

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Italian team Liquigas-Cannondale has announced its line-up for the upcoming Tour de Suisse this Saturday. The squad will be headed by Peter Sagan, joined by his teammates Elia Viviani, Moreno Moser, Daniel Oss, Timmy Duggan, Stefano Agostini, Tiziano Dall'Antonia and Ted King.

Sagan who already has eight victories this season - of which five were scored at the Tour of California - is looking forward to the mountainous stage race in Switzerland to perfect his form ahead of the Tour de France. Moreover, he's just completed a mountain training camp in Passo San Pellegrino.

"I feel good and the victories in the USA gave me great peace of mind," the Slovakian explained on his team website. "My goal is to work towards the Tour de France: the climbs will help test my stamina and improve my race rhythm, and the other stages may be a chance for another win to boost my morale even more. My training in the mountains focused specifically on improving my power and then my intensity: from Saturday I'll be trying to fine-tune my condition so I can go to France feeling as fit as possible."

But the Tour de Suisse itself is of course also an objective according to Liquigas directeur sportif Alberto Volpi. "This is a consistent, quality team that we are confident will produce some stage wins. We've got riders who are used to winning, like Sagan and Viviani [back after two months away from racing following his accident at the Track World Championships - ed.], and others who have shown terrific skills, like Moser. Oss is a rider who can make his mark in the mixed stages, while Duggan is the fittest man on the team. Agostini, Dall'Antonia and King are invaluable as they can play a dual role taking action when necessary and providing support. So it seems everything's in place for us to be a main contender in the Tour de Suisse."

The stage race starts on Saturday with a 7.3km prologue in Lugano.