MTN – Qhubeka rider Youcef Reguigui.
Photo © 2013 Luca Bettini/BettiniPhoto
MTN-Qhubeka will field a squad of its best climbers and sprinters for the five-day Skoda Tour de Luxembourg, which started on Wednesday evening.
According to sport director Jens Zemke, Milan-San Remo winner Gerald Ciolek, who has shown his outstanding ability to come over the climbs and win the resulting sprint, and Spanish climber Sergio Pardilla would be the men in the spotlight.
After successfully riding the Fleche du Sud last year, Zemke said the African team was very happy to be invited to this UCI 2.HC-rated tour.
“We want to make a good impression and advertise for our project to get bikes to kids in Africa.”
Ciolek and Pardilla will look for support from Germans Andreas Stauff and Martin Reimer, Lithuanian time trial specialist Ignatas Konovalovas, and South Africans Jaco Venter, Jay Thomson and Jacques Janse van Rensburg.
The race started with a 2.5km prologue on Wednesday evening. This will be followed by a 184km climbing stage from Luxembourg to Hautcharge on Thursday, which includes three category one ranked climbs.
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