Cycling: The Katusha-Alpecin team has undergone a change. The course for this was set twelve months ago. With the sponsor Alpecin, the team management organized a German partner. Added to this was the UCI license from Switzerland. With Reto Hollenstein, Tony Martin, Rick Zabel and Marco Mathis, four other German-speaking drivers joined Marco Haller and Nils Politt. Katusha-Alpecin is also pursuing this path for 2018, because in the person of Marcel Kittel they have now brought another star from Germany into the team.
departures
Sven Erik Bystrom (UAE Emirates)
Alexander Kristoff (UAE Emirates)
Alberto Losada (end of career)
Matvey Mamykin (Burgos bra)
Michael Mørkøv (Quick Step)
Rein Taaramäe (Direct Energy)
Angel Vicioso (end of career)
Additions
Ian BoswellSky
Steff Cras (BMC Development)
Alex Dowsett (Movistar)
Nathan Haas (Dimension Data)
Matteo Fabbro (Friuli)
Marcel Kittel (Quick Step)
Willie Smit (CC Rias Baixas)
Team 2018
BELKOV Maxim
Bierman's Jenthe
BOSWELL Ian
CRAS Steff
DOWSETT Alex
FABBRO Matteo
GONÇALVES José
HAAS Nathan
HALLER Marco
HOLLENSTEIN Reto
KITTEL Marcel
KIšERLOVSKI Robert
KOCHETKOV Pavel
KUZNETSOV Viacheslav
LAMBERTINK Maurits
MACHADO Tiago
MARTIN Tony
MATHIS Marco
PLANCKAERT Baptiste
POLIT Nils
RESTREPO Jhonatan
Smith Willie
WURTZ SCHMIDT Mads
ZABEL Rick
ZAKARIN Ilnur
ŠPILAK Simon
Sprint train deluxe: Martin, Zabel & Kittel
It is becoming more and more German for the Katusha-Alpecin team. With the signing of Marcel Kittel, the team registered in Switzerland achieved the transfer coup of the season. The fast blond boy clinched 14 wins of the season in 2017 – only three fewer than the entire Katusha-Alpecin team. Kittel will take the place of Alexander Kristoff. The Norwegian sprinter notched up nine wins himself, with just two of them reaching WorldTour level. In the mass sprints we will see the men in the red and blue jerseys again in 2018. With Tony Martin, Kittel can not only rely on a good friend, but also on a real locomotive. Together with starter Rick Zabel, this could result in the fastest sprint move in recent years. Maybe then we'll see sovereign successes like the one-day race Eschborn-Frankfurt more often.
NEWSEASO N. NEWCOLOR S. #TeamKatushaAlpecin #raceasafamily pic.twitter.com/NlpyjNFWcx
— Team KATUSHA ALPECIN (@katushacycling) 9 December 2017
Will Zakarin get the big win in 2018?
The departure of Alexander Kristoff marks the end of a small era for the Katusha-Alpecin team. The likeable Norwegian has been driving for the team since 2012. Among other things, he won stages in the Tour de France, Milan-SanRemo, the Ronde van Vlaanderen, the Scheldeprijs and the Vattenfall Cyclassics in Hamburg. Marcel Kittel can certainly take care of the lost results in the sprint, but the Thuringian is not suitable for the races on cobblestones. Here Tony Martin, among others, is supposed to get involved, who wanted to specialize more and more in the classics anyway. Ilnur Zakarin, on the other hand, is still scheduled for the mountains and the general classifications. The Russian finished fifth in the Giro and third in the Vuelta this season. It's only a matter of time before Zakarin makes the big breakthrough. Apart from Marcel Kittel, not much has changed as a result of the transfers. Nathan Haas can add value to the team, as can Ian Boswell and Alex Dowsett. Overall, the departures and additions roughly balance each other out.
Thank you @Kristoff87... https://t.co/suChUDls34 #raceasafamily pic.twitter.com/nSggA2HcPl
— Team KATUSHA ALPECIN (@katushacycling) 3 October 2017