Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung will begin its racing season at the Challenge Mallorca starting on the 29th of January. The Challenge Mallorca is comprised of 4 separate one day races (UCI 1.1) taking place over 4 days on the island of Mallorca. Teams are allowed to select new rosters for each race, alternating riders to suit the parcours.

The Challenge Mallorca brings back fond memories to the MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung riders as both Kristian Sbaragli and Edvald Boasson Hagen enjoyed multiple top 10 placings last year, including Boasson Hagen’s 2nd place finish on the 3rd day of racing. This year MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung will have a strong line-up of riders at its disposal for each of the races. The Challenge Mallorca will also complete the final 4 days of our 15 day training camp on the Spanish island.

17 riders in total will be available for selection with Edvald Boasson Hagen, Gerald Ciolek, Theo Bos, Kristian Sbaragli and Reinardt Janse van Rensburg providing the team with multiple sprint options. Louis Meintjes, Merhawi Kudus, Jacques Janse van Rensburg, Daniel Teklehaimanot and Natnael Berhane will all be available for the more undulating routes. Adrien Niyonshuti, Andy Stauff, Jaco Venter, Jay Thomson, Johann van Zyl, Steve Cummings and Youcef Reguigui will complete the Challenge Mallorca squad.

“We will take part in the in the Mallorca Challenge as the final part of our training camp," Jens Zemke, Performance Manager, said. "We will rotate our riders for each race so that everyone will get a start and have the chance to show off their stripes for the first time. Our riders have really high ambitions in these first few weeks of the year and they are wanting to show their strengths and that the winter training has paid off early on.”

“I think there are 2 races where we can do really well because they should finish in a sprint after quite a hard race and we have a really competitive team for this type of race," Sbaragli said. "Personally I think I am ready to do well in these first races of the year but we will just have to wait and see how the legs feel on race day.”