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Last Updated: 14 Oct 2020 - 12:47:15 PM |
GERMANY THURINGER ENERGIE AND FRANCE AVC AIX EN PROVENCE BOOST AN POST RAS LINE-UP
By James O'Reilly
15 Apr 2011,
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The Germany-Thuringer Energie team, which has played a very significant role in two recent editions of the Ras, has announced that the squad will be returning to this year's race and they are determined to once again land success in May.
In 2007 Tony Martin won the overall classification, one year before going on to begin a very successful top-flight career with the HTC Highroad team. He won Paris-Nice last month and has developed into one of the sport's very best young talents. Martin is now being spoken of as a possible future Tour de France contender, and also one who could win world championships medals in the time trials.
Last season, the team unveiled another hugely promising German rider, with John Degenkolb picking up two stage wins and the points classification. His team-mate Maximilian May also topped the podium on a stage. After that success, Degenkolb took two stages in the Tour de l'Avenir, a form of youth Tour de France, and was also second in the world under 23 championship road race. Like Martin, his performances earned him a place in the HTC Highroad team, the most regular winning squad in the sport.
Race director Dermot Dignam is delighted the team is returning this year and is convinced that they will shape the final outcome of the race. "The Germany- Thuringer Energie squad has been one of the strongest in recent years, and seems to have a good way of developing some really strong young riders," he said. "With riders like Tony Martin and John Degenkolb riding very strongly here in the past, we expect another good showing this May."
The final selection will be made closer to the May 22nd start, however the team has pencilled in some very strong riders including Johannes Kahra, who was second overall and second in the time trial at last year's Tour of Berlin. Marcel Barth, is a past winner of a stage in the Mainfranken Tour, while Jakob Steigmiller was second on a Ras stage last year and 11th overall.
The likely line-up is competed by Bastian Bergel, eighth overall in the recent Triptyque des Monts et Chateaux, and Tassilo Fricke, who competed last year with Team NetApp.
Also confirmed for this year's An Post Ras is the French AVC Aix en Provence squad. Its line-up includes Erwan Brenterch, second in last year's Emirates Cup and second on a stage in the Mi-Aoit Bretonne, as well as 2010 Circuit des Ardennes runner-up Thomas Rostollan, Matthieu Converset, Nicolas Queyranne and Romain Ramier.
"This French team has some strong riders and they too will add depth to this year's contest," said Dignam.
The two teams confirmed today bring the number of confirmed international squads to six. The previously-announced set-ups are the Drapac Professional Cycling team from Australia, the New Zealand national side, the American Wonderful Pistachios squad and the Spanish KTM-Murcia line-up.
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