Star-studded field set to ride the Deutschland Tour 2021

Organisers of the Deutschland Tour organisers have confirmed the start list for the 36th edition of the race and it has some of the sport's biggest names.

The race around Germany takes place over four challenging stages that see a mix of sprint and hilly stages to find the overall winner of the orange leader's jersey.

This year's race should see a heated battle in both the bunch sprints and the fight for the overall as stars from both sides are down to ride.

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Joint record-holder for the most stage wins at the Tour de France, Mark Cavendish teams up with recent Tour of Poland winner João Almeida in a strong Deceuninck - Quick-Step squad that also sees French champion Rémi Cavagna, and new father Yves Lampaert among the squad's line-up. 

Chris Froome continues his fight back to full fitness as he joins André Greipel and Patrick Bevin with Israel Start-Up Nation, as the seven-time Grand Tour winner begins his final racing block of the season.

The German WorldTour squad, Bora-Hansgrohe have of course sent an all-German team with Pascal Ackermann, Emanuel Buchmann and Nils Politt starring for them.

Former world champion Rui Costa comes with Davide Formolo and Alexander Kristoff (all UAE Team Emirates) with German sprinter Phil Bauhaus and Spaniard Pello Bilbao leading Bahrain Victorious.

Even the German national team has a big name in John Degenkolb, who rides for his nation due to the absence of Lotto-Soudal at the race. 

Other riders who catch the eye are Tour de France top-10 rider Ben O'Connor (Ag2r-Citroën), Norwegian sprinter Kristoffer Halvorsen (Uno-X), young German climber Marco Brenner (DSM), teenage talent Ben Tullet (Alpecin-Fenix), Ilnur Zakarin (Gazprom-RusVelo), Francisco Galván and Roger Adrià (both Kern Pharma).

Starting on the north coast of Germany before a long transfer down to the central part of the nation, the race then starts to link up and head further south to the hills. 

Its opening stage starts in Stralsund and finishes in Schwerin on a largely flat 191km route, then onto the second stage between Sangerhausen and Ilmenau with a very hilly finale and should be a battle in the GC.

The third day is likely going to be the most challenging for the riders with climbs in the finish town of Erlangen after starting in Ilmenau. The last stage should be another sprint with Erlangen being the start town with the finish in Nürnberg.

Racing starts on Thursday, August 26 with the race ending on Sunday, August 29.