Marcel Kittel is joining Etixx-Quick Step for the 2016 and 2017 seasons after being released from his Giant-Alpecin contract.
“I want to thank the team for the faith they’ve put in me and that they will support me in this new chapter of my career,” the German sprinter said. “I am looking forward to the new challenges of Etixx-Quick Step, a team I consider to be one of the best in the world.
“I am also happy I have a few friends 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.”
The 27-year-old Kittel has won eight stages of the Tour de France but missed most of this season because of a virus and was left out of the Tour, as well as the Vuelta a España and Germany’s world championship team.
“We are thrilled about the arrival of Marcel,” the Etixx-Quick Step team manager, Patrick Lefevere, said. “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.”
Kittel’s move was made possible after another top sprinter, Mark Cavendish, left to join the African team MTN-Qhubeka who will be renamed Dimension Data next season.
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