Germany stars begin training in sunny Switzerland as Bastian Schweinsteiger targets return ahead of Euro 2016

• Germany won the World Cup in 2014 and are targeting further glory 
• Joachim Low's side arrived in Switzerland on Tuesday for a training camp
• Players headed to the training pitch in sunny Switzerland on Wednesday
• Bastian Schweinsteiger is targeting a return from injury for the tournament

After touching down in Switzerland on Tuesday afternoon, Germany's top stars have begun their preparations for Euro 2016 with a training session in the sunshine.

Joachim Low and his reigning world champions are in Ascona, a picturesque town on the banks of Lake Maggiore, ahead of the European Championship in France.

Members of the squad, including Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller, rode bikes to the training pitch before being put through their paces.

Thomas Muller shares a laugh ahead of Germany's first training session in Switzerland on Wednesday

Mesut Ozil (pictured) and his Germany team-mates rode bikes from their hotel to the training pitch

Germany's assistant coach Thomas Schneider (centre) speaks to the players during the training session

One man not involved is Bastian Schweinsteiger but the Manchester United midfielder is optimistic he will be fit to play this summer despite having missed some of the season through injury.

The Germany captain suffered a knee injury while training with the national team in March.

Speaking at a press conference in Ascona, the United midfielder said: 'I'm feeling good. I've had a lot of communication with the physios and done all they have asked.

'It's looking very good and I'm very optimistic. I've got to get a bit closer to training with the team, but everything's going according to plan so far.                               

Wolfsburg midfielder Andre Schurrle (left) and Valencia's Shkodran Mustafi share a joke in Ascona

Muller rides his bike alongside the training pitch as Germany's players arrive for the session in Switzerland

Jerome Boateng makes sure he keeps hydrated in the humid 22-degree sunshine before training

'The good thing is I know how to deal with tough situations and I've got to be optimistic.

'There is a plan for me and I'm following it precisely hour by hour. It worked two years ago at the World Cup, when I think I was in a worse position than now.'

Germany will be hopeful of a successful tournament after securing their fourth World Cup triumph in Brazil in 2014.

Low's side face Ukraine in their Group C opener in Lille on June 12, before meetings with Poland and Michael O'Neill's Northern Ireland. 

Muller and his Germany team-mates were in high spirits as they began preparations for Euro 2016

Sami Khedira (left) carries a change of boots to the pitch, as Leroy Sane (right) arrives ahead of the session

Joachim Low directs his players as they attempt to continue their major tournament success in France

Buoyed by Bayern Munich's domestic double this season, Low is confident his squad can add the Euro 2016 title to their 2014 triumph.

'I believe that players like Thomas Muller, Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels, who now lead the side with Manuel Neuer, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira, will get the team on course,' Low told Stern magazine. 

'This team wants to be crowned European champions.' 

Low takes in the sunshine in Ascona as his players do their stretches during the training session

Germany are currently at a training camp in the picturesque town of Ascona, on the banks of Lake Maggiore

Low prepares some inflatable mannequins for a drill in Germany's first pre-Euro 2016 training session