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| Jakop Steigmiller Germany |
The Germany-Thuringer Energie team, which has played a very significant role in two recent editions of the Rás, 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.
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| Thomas Rostollan France |
The team is coming back again this year, and race director Dermot Dignam is convinced that it will shape the final outcome. “The Germany- Thuringer Energie squad has been one of the strongest when it took part in the race, 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.”
