Even though the splendour accompanying pre-race press conferences is still something New to Marcel Kittel of Giant-Shimano, the German rider seemed to be at ease in the spotlight when he lined up with his closest rivals – Mark Cavendish and Andre Greipel on the eve of the Tirreno-Adriatico.

 

Regarded as the fastest man in the professional peloton by a constantly increasing group of cycling enthusiasts, the 25-year old sprinter should very quickly get used to all the hype surrounding his person, but it wasn’t the case yesterday. During the press conference Kittel has spoken very modestly about his chances against a truly impressive number of renowned sprinters lined up at the start of the Race of the Two Seas.

Several seasons ago the Italian stage race was rightfully concerned as an affair dedicated exclusively to sprinters, and even though RCS sport have recently successfully changed its route to attract grand tour contenders, for Kittel the 49th edition of Tirreno-Adriatico would mark his first ever participation in the event.

 

"I'm happy to be in Italy. It's my first time at Tirreno-Adriatico. I'm expecting some nice sprints against Mark and Andre. We'll see what happens,” he said with a smile; his politeness and good manners hiding the aggression and power that emerges in a sprint finish.

 

After a very successful start to 2014 season highlighted by winning the points classification at the Dubai Tour with tree stage victories taken in the process, the Giant-Shimano sprinter visibly faded in Algarve and abandoned race on its second stage as a result. Kittel admitted that he felt fatigue after his stints in Australia and in the Middle East, and thus was more than happy to return home and undergo some basic training.

 

"After Dubai I was tired," he admitted when speaking to Cyclingnews.

 

"With all the travelling, I'd never had a chance to do some normal good training at home. That's important for me and so that's what I did since quitting the Vuelta a Andalucía. I'm feeling good now and so I'm confident we can have a very good Tirreno."

 

With a very versatile route of this year’s edition of Tirreno-Adriatico, sprinters would be very likely provided with tree opportunities to decide the stages in a bunch sprint, the first to come tomorrow on the second stage to Cascina. The 25-year old German has proved more than a few times that he is currently the strongest and most powerful sprinter in the peloton, however, he pointed out that with all rivals being at the similar level the lead out trains could be a decisive factor for the final outcome.

 

In this department, Kittel has to be confident with his team consisting of Tom Veelers, Roy Curvers, Simon Geschke, Tobias Ludvigsson and Tom Stamsnijder, as Giant-Shimano have mastered the art of leading out their sprinters to pure perfection.

 

"There's going to be some great sprinting but they'll be very close and big battles," Kittel told Cyclingnews.

 

"Because there are so many good sprinters here and there's so little difference between me, Cavendish and Andre Greipel, that I think it'll be the lead out and teams that will make the difference between winning and losing."

 

Kittel agreed to reveal few details concerning the Giant-Shimano’s tactical approach to playing out bunch sprints.

 

"Every team has a different style to lead out a sprint," Kittel explained.

 

"Our way of doing it is to come late, to ride a very hard finale in the last two or three kilometres. It doesn't always work out but I think we're happy with how we do things."

Even though the Tirreno-Adriatico serves not only as a genuine test for the grand tour contenders, but traditionally is a final build-up event ahead of the Milano-Sanremo, Kittel will not participate in the spring’s monument despite its route being changed into a sprinters friendly affair.

The German sprinter might be considered the fastest man in the peloton, but he has to share his leadership role in the Giant-Shimano team and when in comes to the La Primavera, all their efforts will be dedicated to John Degenkolb, currently participating in the Paris-Nice.

 

"There are several reasons for it. My sprinter's heart would like to ride but the team has the goal with John as leader, which is totally fine with me," he explained.

 

"It's totally different if you go as a former winner or like Andre (Greipel) as a rider with lots of experience. I'm a beginner and that's why I'm not riding."