Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung will be at the start of the Tour de Poitou Charentes which gets underway from tomorrow. Tour de Poitou Charantes is a 4 day, 5 stage UCI 2.1 category race taking place in France.

The race is one which suits a puncheur who has a good skill set against the clock as on the 3rd day of racing, riders will tackle a morning road stage and a 23km time trial in the afternoon. The last three years in succession has seen the rider who wins the time trial, winning the race overall.

MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung will be targeting stage victories with Gerald Ciolek and Tyler Farrar while the two Eritrean Tour de France stars Daniel Teklehaimanot and Merhawi Kudus make their return to racing as well. Nic Dougall, Adrien Niyonshuti and Theo Bos complete the roster for France.

"Gerald and Tyler will both be here with some good form so I think we can definitely try for a good result if the stages come to a bunch finish. Tomorrow could be a decisive day for the GC because there is a lot of wind in the area at the moment but we will have a really good chance when or if it comes to a sprint. I've been working on my TT so it will be good to have another go later this week," Dougall said.

"It will be a challenging race for us. For the sprints we have Ciolek and Farrar and for the classification maybe it is a chance for Dougall to show what he can do. For Adrien it will be a good chance to learn to race in the wind on the flat parts of France. Daniel and Kudus, we will just have to see how they are after the Tour," sports director Michel Cornelisse said.