Having missed out on selection for the Vuelta a Espana, Ignatas Konovalovas will try to make use of his good condition in the Tour du Limousin which starts tomorrow. The Lithuanian leads a young MTN-Qhubeka roster in the four-day race.

While Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung are primarily focusing on starting the Vuelta a Espana later this week, it still have another squad off to start the 47th Tour du Limousin tomorrow. This UCI 2.1 French stage race will take in 4 road stages, each of which suit your classic punchy rider.

It will be an exciting race to follow, particularly because Ignatas Konovalovas will start with form that would have been good enough to carry him through the Vuelta a Espana. This should stand Konovalovas in good stead for this race. Also, the trainee Karl Hnik will debut for the team and they look forward to seeing what the young rider is capable of.

Along with Konovalovas and Hnik, Johann van Zyl will also start the Tour du Limousin after showing some good form at last week's Arctic Race of Norway. The remainder of the team is completed by Adrien Niyonshuti, Andreas Stauff, Dennis van Niekerk, Martin Wesemann and Tsgabu Grmay.

"For the Tour du Limousin we will look to do a good result in the general classification with Ignatas, possibly it would be good if we could also win a stage here," Director Sportif Michel Cornelisse said. "We will also like to see how Karel goes in the overall as well but there is no pressure on the youngster."

Tour du Limousin (France) – (19-22 Aug/UCI 2.1)
Ignatas Konovalovas
Adrien Niyonshuti
Andreas Stauff
Dennis van Niekerk
Karel Hnik
Martin Wesemann
Tsgabu Grmay