Team LottoNL-Jumbo starts the Tour de Suisse with a clear goal this Saturday: put Wilco Kelderman or Robert Gesink at or near the top of the final classification. The team leaders returned last week from an altitude training camp and are ready.

The Swiss WorldTour stage race starts Saturday with a time trial in Baar and continues through next Sunday, June 19.

 "We are going to the Tour of Switzerland with a clear goal,” said Sport Director Jan Boven. “We want to finish with a good general classification with our two leaders.”

LottoNL-Jumbo’s six other riders will work for Kelderman and Gesink, and will have little space for their own chances. "The course does not lend itself to that. The Tour of Switzerland is always tough, but this year, they made the stages even heavier. The only riders who will be going for stage victories are our leaders, and if we plan to do so, we’ll decide that morning on the bus. It’s clear that our main goal is the general classification."

Kelderman

Kelderman is restarting in the Tour de Suisse after the Tour de Romandie in April. He returned from altitude training in Tenerife on Sunday, happy to pin on a race number. "I can’t wait to race again,” he said. “I’m in a good shape and I returned fit from our altitude training.” 

It's been three years since Kelderman raced the Tour de Suisse. “It's always nice to ride in Switzerland, it is all well organised and the stages are challenging. My goal is to achieve a high level and it’s hard to say if means a good general classification, but a top 10 spot should be a logical outcome if I have a high level.“

Gesink

The stage race is Gesink’s last major event before the Tour. “I’ve worked hard and it’s paying off,” Gesink said. "This is a beautiful race to test my form and level and to cross the Ts and dot the Is.”

Gesink last raced over a month ago. "In the first few days, I’ll find my race rhythm and hopefully start the last difficult days with good legs. The race is tremendously difficult this year. The Rettenbach stage in Austria [stage seven] will be the highlight, literally and figuratively."

The Tour de Suisse starts with a short 6.4-kilometre time trial and ends on Sunday in Davos. Each stage requires climbing legs, especially the fifth, sixth and seventh stages. The organiser planned another time trial, one of 16.8 kilometres, for stage eight.

Line-up:

Tom Asbroeck Koen Bouwman, Twan Castelijns, Robert Gesink, Wilco Kelderman, Bert-Jan Lindeman, Paul Martens and Bram Tankink.

Sport Directors:

Jan Boven and Frans Maassen