Andre Greipel has spoken of his anger that the German Cycling Federation still have not announced whether he or Marcel Kittel will have leadership for the Worlds in Qatar. Greipel says it is now impacting both he and Kittel’s preparations and harming the nation’s chances of winning the race for the first time since 1966.

“It’s incomprehensible that the union has not made a choice,” said Greipel, quoted in Het Nieuwsblad. “I want to prepare as well as possible at the World Championship, but I’m not sure I will go. I cannot even plan my trip. For Marcel is that exactly the same. This is just a very awkward situation for both of us.”

It has been reported that only one of the two super sprinters will go, with John Degenkolb serving as plan B due to his ability to help in a leadout should nothing go wrong for the leader.

Part of the reason selection has taken so long is that the man in charge of picking the team is Jan Schaffrath. He work during the year for Etixx-QuickStep, home of Kittel. He has therefore opted to defer selection to Cannondale-Drapac’s Andreas Klier due to his conflict of interest. This will have impacted the time taken to make a call.