Giant-Alpecin sprinter Marcel Kittel's season hit another roadblock when he was left off Germany's 14-man longlist for the World Championships in Richmond, Virginia, next month.
Rival fastmen Andre Greipel and John Degenkolb made the cut, with Greipel particularly targetting the race, while three other members of Kittel's Giant-Alpecin team are also included on the list.
“The team is built around the course conditions of Richmond, with the dual leadership of Degenkolb and Greipel,” Udo Sprengen of the German cycling federation said on Rad-net.de. “We have our goals set on medals.”
The 2015 season has seen Kittel suffer a number of setbacks. An illness he picked up after the Tour Down Under saw him miss much of the spring, returning at the Tour de Yorkshire but abandoning on the first stage.
Another comeback in June saw him struggle at the Ster ZLM Toer - where Greipel won two stages - and ultimately ended Kittel's chances of making the Giant team for the Tour de France.
In Kittel's absence, Greipel won four stages at the Tour while Degenkolb struggled to live up to expectations and left Giant winless in the race for the first time since 2012.
A stage win and the points jersey at the Tour of Poland made it seem that Kittel may be back towards his best, but 91st at the Vattenfall Cyclassics - won by Greipel - did his cause no favours.
Kittel's teammates Degenkolb, Simon Geschke, Nikias Arndt and Johannes Frohlinger are included in the squad as Giant-Alpecin are the most well represented trade team.
Tony Martin is on the longlist and will likely feature in both the time trial and road race, while Team Sky's Christian Knees is also included and could be a good domestique to the sprinters.
Long list for German World Championships squad:
Nikias Arndt (Giant-Alpecin), Marcus Burghardt (BMC), John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin), Johannes Fröhlinger (Giant-Alpecin), Simon Geschke (Giant-Alpecin), Patrick Gretsch (AG2R-La Mondiale), André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal), Christian Knees (Sky), Paul Martens (LottoNL-Jumbo), Tony Martin (Etixx-Quickstep), Andreas Schillinger (Bora-Argon 18), Marcel Sieberg (Lotto-Soudal), Jasha Sütterlin (Movistar), Paul Voß (Bora-Argon 18)
