Rusvelo are ready for their first ever participation in a WorldTour race when they line up at the Tour de Pologne. With riders likes Ilnur Zakarin, Sergey Firsanov, Roman Maikin and Sergey Lagutin, the team hopes to be protagonists in the 7-day race.

RusVelo has arrived in Poland where it will take its debut as a wildcard team in a WorldTour race, the 71st Tour de Pologne. Ivan Balykin, Sergey Firsanov, Timofey Kritskiy, Sergey Lagutin, Roman Maikin, Artem Ovechkin, Andrey Solomennikov and Ilnur Zakarin compose the line-up; Sergey Honchar leads the squad as a sports director.

RusVelo team general manager Renat Khamidulin said:

“It’s a milestone in the history of the team; and it’s a great honor for us to get this invitation. We see it as a confirmation of the fact that RusVelo has entered a new stage in its evolution. Sure enough, to play also-runs or rookies hanging on for dear life is not what we come here for. We have a complete squad made up of riders capable of finishing high in the general standings as well as stage-hunters.

"Just one recent illustration: less than a week ago, Roman Maikin stood on the podium of Giro della Toscana side by side with Peter Weening, last year’s Tour de Pologne GC winner.

"This season all the links - riders, staff and the sports directors - form a well-linked chain. We would also like to use the occasion to express our gratitude to the team’s sponsors and partners whose constant and reliable support makes it all possible."