Abu Dhabi: Germany’s Marcel Kittel, who is set to ride his final race with Giant-Alpecin at the Abu Dhabi Tour before leaving the team to fill the void left by Mark Cavendish in Etixx-Quickstep, has underplayed his own chances of doing well here.

“Probably, it is not going to be the race for me,” said Kittel, whose disappointing season continued as he failed to finish the Munsterland Giro, a race that he has won twice in the past.

“Honestly speaking, I have to be realistic as 2015 was not that great. I will say I was not able to build the best of shape for this race,” added Kittel, who has won eight Tour de France stages but was left out of the Tour this season with illness.

“For me, it was a year where I struggled all the time and I don’t know how many times I tried to be on a good level but I failed. Of course at the end of the season, it is not easy any more to motivate yourself to be at the good level,” said Kittel, who will have huge boots to fill in at Quickstep.

Kittel accepted that there will be pressure on him to match the standards set by Cavendish but he didn’t want to bring it upon him straight away.

Strong contender

“I think it will be wrong to make it too tough for me regarding the pressure. It is a new start for a new team and it will need some time to work and it will of course be a challenge,” said Kittel, who felt that the final race for Giant-Alpecin will bring mixed emotions.

“If you ask if this will be an emotional race for me, then I would like to say yes and no because I will not be riding with my team next year but I will still be seeing them round in a different jersey,” revealed the 27-year-old.

Kittel’s teammate Tom Dumoulin, who is being tipped as a strong contender for next season’s Tour de France, was of the view that it will be tough for his team to replace someone of Kittel’s stature.

“It is a pity that Kittel is leaving the team. He is certain to always get lot of victories every season and only this season had been a tough one for him. Everyone likes him and it’s sad to see him go. He is not a rider whom we can replace, you see,” said Dumoulin, who felt that climate and course will be very demanding on his team.

“The whole environment is different for us. The roads are very big and flat but it will be very hot. It is a big change and the rider who has the experience of this heat will be the rider to win the race,” added the 24-year-old.