This weekend Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka will take part in the GP Citta di Lugano, Switzerland. The UCI 1.HC race takes place on Sunday and will be run over a 185km course.

The race is a familiar one to the Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka riders, having participated in the Swiss event on a few occasions in the past. Once again riders will do a small outer loop to the North of Lugano before racing 5 laps of a 34km circuit. The lap contains 3 noted climbs, which will certainly influence the race over the final laps.

In recent years, the punchers who are able to survive over the climbs have taken out the victory from small group sprints. The climbers have also had a fair amount of success at the GP Citta di Lugano over the years and so it will very much be a contest between the climbers and punchers once again.

Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka will have a team capable of being competitive in all possible race outcomes. Natnael Berhane and Omar Fraile are two riders that the parcours seems to suit particularly well. Kristian Sbaragli gives a good small group sprint option and Merhawi Kudus, Igor Anton, Matt Brammeier and Jay Thomson will provide excellent support throughout the race. 

"I really like this race, it could suit me quite well. I hope to have good legs on Sunday after a few weeks of not racing. We have a good team at the race, Omar can also do well so we will have to see how it works out. Also the weather might not be so good so that can change things but we will try get a good result," Berhane said.

"We have a really strong team, with guys with a good mix of abilities that will be able to support the leaders well. It will be up and down all day, similar to a world championships course. So it will be one of those really interesting races that will be really hard. The weather probably won’t be so great so it will be a wearing down process. We will be one of the bigger teams there with Lampre so we will need to play our part in making the race," sports director Oli Cookson said.