Ignatas Konovalovas is one of several MTN-Qhubeka riders that are trying to convince the management that they deserve a spot on the Vuelta roster. Yesterday he showed signs of good form by finishing 9th in the Tour of Denmark time trial.

The double day of racing at the The Tour of Denmark proved to be a fruitful one for Team Astana as they won both the morning road stage through Andrea Gaurdini and then the evening time trial too, as Alexey Lutsenko’s time could not be beaten. Tom van Asbroeck (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Filippo Fortin (Bardiani-CSF) would complete the 4th stage podium while Rasmus Quaade (Team Trefor – Blue Water) and Christopher Juul-Jensen (Tinkoff-Saxo) rounded out the stage 5 podium.

Team MTN-Qhubeka put in two solid performances during the day with Andreas Stauff sprinting to 12th during the road stage, Ignatas Konovalovas was 9th fastest in the time trial. Jaco Venter also put together a strong effort in the time trial, coming home in 18th position, just 47 seconds down on the Kazakh winner.

More than anything else the Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung riders were happy to just get through the days proceedings unscathed as the torrential downpour in the morning made for some tough racing conditions. Jay Thomson would crash twice, the second time crashing quite spectacularly into a crowd of spectators. Thankfully no serious injuries were reported as Thomson looks to make the Vuelta a Espana selection.

"This morning we had a nice 12th spot be Andy Stauff in extremely stormy and wet conditions;" Director Sportif Jens Zemke said. "It all came together at the finish were Gaurdini proved he is the fastest with his 2nd stage win. This evening we saw good performances from our guys, especially Ignatas and Jaco. Both guys did a great ride as they were only 23 and 47 seconds down to Astana’s Lutsenko."

"My time trial wasn’t too bad today actually," Konovalovas said. "It was nice to get these feelings when you can suffer and enjoy it at the same moment. Feeling that real shape should come quite soon. I couldn’t hold that high pace for a long time but for periods it was possible, so its a sure sign the good legs are coming."