Germany. The big one. It’s the one everyone wants to win. Legends such as Äme Anderberg and Elias Márquez have won this race and, for all riders, success in Germany means immortality and their name in the history books. With 10 challenging and varied stages, Germany offers opportunities for every type of rider, be they a grimpeur, a puncheur, a sprinter of pure speed, a time trialist or a Tour rider. For this reason, the Tour presents battles, rivalries and surprises aplenty.
  
  For some of the teams entering it will be the Green Jersey that they will be coveting. This year will see a new champion as ex-Green jersey winners will not be competing. The battle for Green is as competitive as the battle for the General Classification and one that will inevitably be decided on the last stage. The sprinters have 5 stages for themselves with the majority involving hills, meaning that it will probably be a sprinter who can also get up the slopes that will win. However, in the past ex-winners have also picked up vital points in the time trials meaning that the prologue and the stage 7 Individual Time Trial may be significant.
  
  So let’s look at the contenders and a prediction for the top 3 for Green.
  
  1. Miles Finnerty (cway)
  
  Last year's Essex Tour winner Miles Finnerty has 7 stages in which he will be looking to score points - 5 sprints and 2 time trials - and, coupled with the strongest lead out train in the race, may well give him the edge in the SC. Last season the englishman took 1st and 3rd in the two time trials and he will be looking for a repeat. With riders like Fergal Lemire and Aedan Weaire, cway have lead outs that are captain material. It will be interesting to see whether team orders will put Finnerty as Number 1 for all stages or whether the team will focus on different riders for different stages. cway certainly have options.
  
  2. Jens Waesbergen (Cykilsta)
  
  A rider at the other end of career is 25 year old Jens Waesbergen, one of the hottest sprinting prospects

in OCM. Waesbergen has had two stunning seasons and currently sits Number 3 in the world rankings. There has been much interest in the rider, forcing Cyklista manager Evon to put a 'Not for Sale' sign around his neck. Waesbergen is a rider that saves his best for the big Tours with big wins in Netherlands, Essex and Perm. He won the sprinting classification in Perm this year and recently took victory in the Helsinki Classic. The Dutch rider is pure class and his time trialling ability may give him vital points in Stages 1 and 7. His only weakness is in the hills and, coupled with not the strongest lead out train, will be unlikely to take Green.
  
  3. Broderick Rimmer (Equipo Easy On)
  
  Broderick Rimmer from the Bahamas is another Caribbean talent that EEO has unearthed. He, too, is at the start of a career but has already taken two Division 1 victories in his debut season. Untested in Tours, Rimmer will be somewhat of an unknown but the Costa Rican outfit clearly have a lot of faith in this rider, choosing to take him rather than Ferdy Coy, who last year finished 5th in the sprinting classification. Rimmer is part of a young and extremely talented squad which will be attempting to walk away with all jerseys Yellow, Green and White.
  
  The Other Contenders
  
  The battle for green sees many talented sprinters in the field who will be hoping to upset the three mentioned above. One of these is home favourite Torben ‘The Sturmannator’ Sturmann. The German fastman is another one with previous Tour pedigree, winning the Perm SC last season and then this season in the Volta. He has amassed 10 results already this season and has the backing of a strong team behind him. His team, the Australian outfit Shinboners, were relatively late to sign up meaning that Sturmann is racing in Italy on the morning of the prologue. It is questionable whether the transit and the Italian race will take too much out of him. German fans will, of course, be hoping this isn’t the case.
  
  Current World champion Pauli Michielsen (skils) is another sprinter with his eyes on Green and is another one the home fans will be cheering on. The German came 2nd in last season’s SC and took a stage in this season’s Essex Tour. His

ability in the hills will help him out but, once again, skils have entered a relatively weak team for a big Tour. It seems they are concentrating more on the one day races in order to protect their lead at the top of the ranking.
  
  It would also be foolhardy to discuss a sprinting competition without mentioning World Number 1 Hanke Vibbard (Bajen Belfast). The Swiss rider is one of the quickest about but Belfast have sent a team to Germany which is concentrating more on overall GC victory and thus he is likely to lack support.
  
  One unknown and possible dark horse is new Portuguese talent Conrado Fraga (Gradient Levellers). Fraga oozes talent and is rumoured to be one of the most talented sprinters OCM has ever seen. I say rumoured because he has never raced competitively in OCM so we can only rely on the word coming out of the Levellers camp. Raw and green behind the ears, Fraga may well explode onto the scene in Germany or it may be a debut surrounded with too much pressure. The last time the Levellers bled a super talent into a Tour, it was Yasunari Yamauchi, and we all know what happened to him.
  
  Other riders with a shot include Ralph van Bon (Team airik), who has performed admirably in Germany in the past, Kyle Abston (CCFC), Slovenian powerhouse Dan Korošec who is having a superb debut season and Grayson Bankstone (Temora Tornadoes).
  
  One thing for sure is that there will be a new name wearing Green this year.
  
  
  Green jersey - Top 5 prediction
  
  1. Miles Finnerty (cway)
  2. Jens Waesbergen (Cykilsta)
  3. Broderick Rimmer (Equipo Easy On)
  4. Torben Sturmann (Shinboners)
  5. Pauli Michielsen (skils)
  
  
  
  
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