Eritrean climbing sensation Merhawi Kudus had  great start to the season when he finished on the podium in the Tour de Langkawi but saw his progress come to a halt when he broke his collarbone in the Tour of Turkey. Today he makes his return to competition in the mountainous Route du Sud.

The 3 stage Route du Sud gets underway today in France. This historical French stage race will see riders tackle some of the biggest and most famous climbs synonymous with the Tour De France. The Col de Tormalet as well as the Col d’ Aspin will both feature during the races 2nd stage.

The 520 odd kilometers that will be completed over the coming weekend will certainly suit the climbers as each of the stages have enough elevation meters to ensure that it will be the lighter riders who will be deciding the stages as well as the overall.

Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung will look to the Route du Sud as a key event, firstly because it will see the return of our young Eritrean talent, Merhawi Kudus. Kudus broke his collarbone during the Presidential Tour of Turkey back in May and has now made a full recovery, enabling him to return to racing. With the Route du Sud taking in some of the most famous French roads used during the Tour de France, and Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung constantly striving to reach the pinnacle of the sport, the experience up for grabs this weekend will be invaluable.

Joining Kudus this weekend will be Dennis van Niekerk, Tsgabu Grmay, Martin Wesemann and Ignatas Konovalovas. Unfortunately because of illness and injury, Kristian Sbaragli and Adrien Niyonshuti will not be taking part in the event as they were initially scheduled to.

"The Route du Sud is a very hard race, especially with the Tormalet and Aspin on Saturday," Directeur Sportif Michel Cornelisse said. "So with our climbers we will hope to do something on that particular stage. It will certainly be the stage that decides the General Classification.

"Unluckily for us, with a lot of injured riders once again we will only be starting with 5 riders. The good thing though is that only 1 rider can win."

Route du Sud (France) – (20-22 June/UCI 2.1) Team Lineup

Merhawi Kudus (ERI)
Dennis van Niekerk (RSA)
Martin Wesemann (RSA)
Tsgabu Grmay (ETH)
Ignatas Konovalovas (LTU)