MTN Qhubeka riders looking for good showing in semi-Classic
After missing out on Scheldeprijs and the GP Pino Cerami due to a recent cold, Milan-Sanremo winner Gerald Ciolek has been confirmed as leading the MTN Qhubeka team in Wednesday’s Brabantse Pijl.
The German is best known as a sprinter but is also strong on lumpy courses, and will hope for a good performance in the semi-Classic event.
He will be backed by seven other riders including recent GP Pino Cerami eighth-placed finisher Andreas Stauff and former Giro d’Italia stage winner Ignatas Konovalovas.
Also in the lineup are Bradley Potgieter, Kristian Sbaragli, Martin Reimer, Martin Wesemann and the Algerian Youcef Reguigui.
“I am really happy that we will have eight riders at the start again after having a heavy virus last week which put three riders out,” said the directeur sportif, Jens Zmeke.
“Brabantse Pijl is the opening of the Ardennes races and it will be our first ever Ardennes Classic. We are proud to be part of it and will show that we can be part of the action. We will go to the race with Gerald as captain on Wednesday.”
MTN Qhubeka is the first pro continental team from Africa and caused a stir when it beat bigger WorldTour squads to win Milan-Sanremo.
It has a long term goal of riding the Tour de France and of becoming a UCI WorldTour team.