German sprinter Marcel Kittel to ride in Etixx-QuickStep colours starting in 2016, continuing 2017

Eight-time Tour de France stage winner Marcel Kittel has been announced as the latest addition to Belgian team Etixx-QuickStep, starting in 2016 and continuing through the 2017 seasons. The news comes after the German sprint specialist was released from his previous contractual obligations, which saw him riding for Giant-Alpecin through the 2015 season.

Kittel’s addition to the team fills a void left by Mark Cavendish, who recently announced his departure from Etixx-QuickStep to join South Africa’s MTN-Qhubeka, soon to be known as Team Dimension Data.

“We are thrilled about the arrival of Marcel,” the team’s principal, Patrick Lefevere, said via a statement released by Etixx-QuickStep on Monday. “He has shown incredible pure speed which makes him one of the best sprinters in the history of the sport. As a team we will do our best to put him in the right condition, building a group of riders around him.” After a difficult season beset by illness and injury, that endorsement comes as a particularly resounding testament to the rider’s raw, demonstrated talent, after having been sidelined for much of 2015. Preceding his early break with Giant, Kittel was left out of the Tour de France, the Vuelta a España, and was denied a spot on Germany’s world championship team.

BREAKING NEWS: @Etixx_QuickStep reaches 2 year agreement with @marcelkittel! http://t.co/2uZ8ecdFlb Photo @TDWSPORT pic.twitter.com/SGKWRa6MuL

— Etixx – Quick-Step (@Etixx_QuickStep) October 5, 2015

Only last season, though, his power in the saddle was in the global spotlight. At the 2014 Tour de France, Kittel took four stages, won two other stages at that year’s Giro d’Italia, and at the 2014 Dubai Tour, won three stages and first in points classification. The result, riding in Giant colours, was his emergence as one of the toughest, best-tested sprinters in the bunch, and the success to prove it.

The prospect of now riding in the colours of what Kittel calls one of cycling’s top teams, he says, even carries some personal significance for the 27-year-old cyclist.

Very happy to be able to finally announce that I signed with @Etixx_QuickStep for the next 2 seasons! ? Read more: http://t.co/Zw1It8XwTo

— Marcel Kittel (@marcelkittel) October 5, 2015

“I am looking forward to the new challenges of Etixx-QuickStep,” Kittel said, “a team I consider as one of the best teams in the world. This team has one of the best, well-organized structures around its riders. Etixx-QuickStep offers me a great, highly professional environment, where I can continue to develop and improve. I am also happy that I have a few friend on this team already, including Tony Martin. Tony is one of my best friends in cycling. We rode together when we were younger, and I can’t wait to do it again at the professional level.”

“I want to thank the team for the faith they’ve put in me,” he said, “and that they will support me in this new chapter of my career.”