German time trial specialist adds strength to Dutch Pro-Continental squad
Dutch Professional Continental team Skil-Shimano has strengthened its 2012 line-up with the acquisition of Patrick Gretsch on a two-year contract. The 24-year-old German time trial specialist has spent the last two years at ProTeam HTC-Highroad.
“I want to develop my time trial further and also pay attention to the other disciplines, because I realize that I have to be able to ride a good classification in stage tours to win a stage in the big tours”, said Gretsch. “And I would like to contribute to be able to make the sprint train of my new team into a powerful weapon.”
Gretsch joined HTC-Highroad, a team stacked with specialists against the clock, in 2010, having been with Continental team Thüringer Energie. This season he has finished in the top ten of a number of time trials, including at the Tour de Romandie and the Giro d’Italia, his first ever Grand Tour.
In June he won the opening time trial of the Ster ZLM Toer, then went on to finish third in the German championships behind HTC-Highroad teammates Bert Grabsch and Tony Martin; he followed this up with another third place in the Österreich-Rundfahrt time trial.
While Skil-Shimano’s long-serving sprinter Kenny van Hummel will be departing to rival team Vacansoleil-DCM, the Dutch team is keeping hold of its latest German sprint star Marcel Kittel. The 23-year-old has taken ten victories so far this season, including the first two stages of the ongoing Tour of Poland; Gretsch would doubtless make a valuable part of his compatriot’s lead out train.