Paris (AFP)

The Tour of Germany, which begins Thursday in Stralsund (north) and ends in Nuremberg (south) on Sunday, will be the last opportunity to see German sprinter André Greipel (Israel SN) compete in a stage race in his country.

At 39, the "Rostock gorilla" still plans to compete in the semi-classic Eschborn-Frankfurt, which will be held on September 19.

"I've always said that when I'm 40, I wouldn't want to sit on a bike anymore. I understood that now was the time to wrap up," the man with eleven wins said recently. stage on the Tour de France, seven on the Giro and four on the Vuelta.

He will face the Briton Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck), his great rival when they were teammates at HTC-Columbia at the start of their career.

Greipel will be keen to perform well on the first stage, which passes through Rostock, his hometown, before perhaps raising his arms to Schwerin, after a final promised to the sprinters.

The next two stages should offer a fight between adventurers and teams of sprinters.

The fourth, short (154.4 km) but particularly nervous, will offer six climbs in the space of 65 km.

Other distinguished guests will aim to shine on the event relaunched in 2018, after a ten-year break, such as Joao Almeida (Deceuninck), recent winner of the Tour of Poland, Emmanuel Buchmann (Bora), Chris Froome (Israel SN), John Degenkolb (German national team), Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain) and Ben O'Connor (AG2R), surprising fourth in the Tour de France.

"I will have no other goal than to resume competition," said Ben O'Connor, whose last race was the Grande Boucle.

Australian Ben O'Connor during the 9th stage of the Tour de France between Cluses and Tignes, July 4, 2021 Anne-Christine POUJOULAT AFP / Archives

"The course is rather flat and I will prepare for the end of the season," said the Australian leader of the French team, however, which has more of an eye on the Italian races.

Tour of Germany program:

Thursday August 26: 1st stage, Stralsund-Schwerin (191.4 km)

Friday August 27: 2nd stage, Sangerhausen-Ilmenau (180.8 km)

Saturday August 28: 3rd stage, Ilmenau-Erlangen (193.9 km)

Sunday 29 August: 4th stage, Erlangen-Nuremberg (154.4 km)

© 2021 AFP