Sports director Frans Maassen: “The first four stages contain a lot of of altitude meters. The race ends with an individual time trial of thirteen kilometres. In Antwan Tolhoek and Chris Harper, we have two young, strong climbers who can go for their own chance in the mountain stages. Besides that, our riders have a lot of freedom to join the breakaways. For Tom Leezer, it’s his first race of the season after having struggled with back problems. It’s a tough race for him, but it’s good to gain race rhythm.”

Last year, Steven Kruijswijk finished on the podium. He won’t start this year. In stead, he will be preparing his season start in Volta a Catalunya on high altitude.