2017 is the first season for Team Katusha Alpecin under their new name, as well as the team's first season with a Swiss UCI licence after being registered in Russia from 2009-2016.
Katusha-Alpecin was originally founded in 2009, under the name Team Katusha, by Russian businessman Igor Makarov. Makarov developed the team with the intent of improving the Russian global performance in cycling. However, the Katusha team has recently lost interest from Russian sponsors, who have gravitated toward the Russian team Gazprom-Rusvelo, leading to the teams shift to acquiring a Swiss UCI licence in an attempt to create more global appeal for the team outside of Russia.
Katusha-Alpecin were able to register under a Swiss licence based on their longstanding title sponsor Katusha, a Swiss athletic apparel company, who has sponsored the team since 2009. German shampoo company Alpecin signed on as co-title-sponsor for the 2017 season.
While the new team is registered under a Swiss licence, Team Manager Viatcheslav Ekimov has made it clear that this team is still fundamentally a Russian project. For the 2017 season, Katusha-Alpecin only carries one rider on their roster hailing from Switzerland, Reto Hollenstein.
The Katusha-Alpecin team rides in dual-color red kits made by Katusha, and ride Canyon bikes with SRAM components.
The powerful Norwegian sprinter Alexander Kristoff headlines the Katusha-Alpecin roster, and will be expected to be vying for multiple wins on the flatter stages at this year's Tour de France. Kristoff won Milan-San Remo in 2014 and the Tour of Flanders in 2015, and has previously had strong performances in the points classification at the Tour de France. Despite this success, the green jersey has eluded him to this point. Kristoff finished 2nd in the points classification at the 2014 Tour de France behind Peter Sagan, and put in a pair of 5th place showings at the 2013 and 2016 editions, respectively. 2017 could be the year that Kristoff puts the pieces together and avenges his runner-up finish to Sagan in 2014 by wearing the green jersey in Paris on July 23rd.
Katusha-Alpecin do not have a clear rider on their squad for this year's Tour de France who will be aiming for a top placing in the general classification. It will be expected that the team will be looking to support Alexander Kristoff by setting the pace and developing successful lead-outs for sprint finishes on the Tour's flatter stages. The Katusha-Alpecin team will likely also look to the veteran German rider, Tony Martin, to put up good showings in the time trials.
There will be no doubt that Katusha-Alpecin will be eyeing a win for Tony Martin at the 13km Grand Depart from Dusseldorf on July 1st, where a stage victory would be appealing for both the Katusha-Alpecin team and Tony Martin, who hails from Germany.
Katusha-Alpecin's confirmed squad for this year's edition of the Tour de France will include Tony Martin, Alexander Kristoff, Nils Politt, Rick Zabel, Marco Haller, Reto Hollenstein, Robert Kiserlovski, Maurits Lammertink, and Tiago Machado.
The complete list of riders for Team Katusha-Alpecin includes:
Riders
| BELKOV Maxim | 09.01.1985 | RUS | |
| BYSTRØM Sven Erik | 21.01.1992 | NOR | |
| GONÇALVES José | 13.02.1989 | POR | |
| HALLER Marco | 01.04.1991 | AUT | |
| HOLLENSTEIN Reto | 22.08.1985 | SUI | |
| KIŠERLOVSKI Robert | 09.08.1986 | CRO | |
| KOCHETKOV Pavel | 07.03.1986 | RUS | |
| KRISTOFF Alexander | 05.07.1987 | NOR | |
| KUZNETSOV Viacheslav | 24.06.1989 | RUS | |
| LAMMERTINK Maurits | 31.08.1990 | NED | |
| LOSADA ALGUACIL Alberto | 28.02.1982 | ESP | |
| MACHADO Tiago | 18.10.1985 | POR | |
| MARTIN Tony | 23.04.1985 | GER | |
| MORKOV Michael | 30.04.1985 | DEN | |
| PLANCKAERT Baptiste | 28.09.1988 | BEL | |
| ŠPILAK Simon | 23.06.1986 | SLO | |
| TAARAMÄE Rein | 24.04.1987 | EST | |
| VICIOSO ARCOS Ángel | 13.04.1977 | ESP | |
| ZABEL Rick | 07.12.1993 | GER | |
| ZAKARIN Ilnur | 15.09.1989 | RUS |
Neo-Pros
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| BIERMANS Jenthe | 30.10.1995 | BEL | |
| MAMYKIN Matvey | 31.10.1994 | RUS | |
| MATHIS Marco | 07.04.1994 | GER | |
| POLITT Nils | 06.03.1994 | GER | |
| RESTREPO VALENCIA Jhonatan | 28.11.1994 | COL | |
| SCHMIDT Mads Würtz | 31.03.1994 | DEN |
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