SunWeb reveals rosters for Tour of California

Lucinda Brand leads a strong line up with Coryn Rivera and Leah Kirchmann in the women's team. Roy Curvers and Johannes Fröhlinger lead the men's team.

The Amgen Breakaway from Heart Disease Women's Race empowered with SRAM is a four day stage race, held in Northern California. Similar to the previous two years, the race starts with a stage around Lake Tahoe. This is followed by a hilly second stage, with a flat run into Sacramento for stage three. Both Team Sunweb's men and women programs will race alongside each other for the final circuit stage around Sacramento. With Leah Kirchmann (CAN) winning two stages at the race in 2015, Team Sunweb will have an experienced roster lining up for the 2017 edition of the race.

Ahead of the race Team Sunweb coach Hans Timmermans (NED) said: "This is the first experience of racing in the USA for our women's team. After a strong performance in Yorkshire we start with another solid squad in South Lake Tahoe. The first two stages are quite challenging, with a lot of climbing. With Coryn we have a rider that likes an uphill finish and the first stage really suits her strengths. Leah won two stages here in 2015 so is a strong rider on these parcours."

"Our team captain Lucinda returns to racing after a rest period and she will also be an important factor within the team's race strategy. For the final two stages we can expect a bunch sprint and whilst riding on home soil, Coryn is eager to perform here. We also line-up with our two youngsters Liane and Juliette and after some good racing over the past few months it will be good to see how they get on in the climbing stages. The competition is really tough this year so anything is possible."

In its 12th edition, the Amgen Tour of California makes the jump to the WorldTour program for 2017. Starting on May 14, the first stage is set to be a day for the sprinters with a fast finish in Sacramento. Day two moves to the mountains with six climbs and an uphill finish to contend with, similar to the finish of day three. Another bunch sprint comes on stage four, followed by a gruelling climb to the finish of the Queen stage on day five. The race is closed by a 15 mile individual time trial set to decide the overall standings.

Speaking about the race, coach Marc Reef (NED) explained: "As the only WorldTour race in the USA, it is set to have some huge crowds and brilliant atmosphere this year. There are some really difficult stages with challenging finales, providing opportunities for the sprinters and climbers. We bring a young team with a wealth of talent to California and both Roy and Johannes will be important in guiding them. It will be good to see how it goes there at altitude and for many of us it will be a valuable experience." 

Women's Team: Coryn Rivera (USA), Lucinda Brand (NED),  Leah Kirchmann (CAN), Juliette Labous (FRA), Liane Lippert (GER) and Julia Soek (NED)

Men's Team: Søren Kragh Andersen (DEN), Roy Curvers (NED), Johannes Fröhlinger (GER), Chris Hamilton (AUS), Lennard Hofstede (NED), Sam Oomen (NED), Ramon Sinkeldam (NED), Mike Teunissen (NED)

Photo: USA's Coryn Rivera (SunWeb) became the first American to win the Tour of Flanders Credit: Team Sunweb