After a few quiet days for our riders and some much needed rest for the Directeur Sportifs, Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung swing back into action this weekend at the Tour de Picardie. Starting on Friday, the riders will tackle 3 stages in the French region of Picardie.

With the route never climbing higher than 200m above sea level on any of the 3 days, we can expect the sprinters to be gunning for the overall victory. With the parcours in mind, Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung will be sending a team built around Kristian Sbaragli for the French UCI 2.1 category race.  

Tsgabu Grmay also makes a welcome return to racing with the team after the Ethiopian national champion broke his collarbone earlier in the year. Along with Grmay, Sbaragli will be able to count on Ferekalsi Debesay, Adrien Niyonshuti, Martin Wesemann and Jaco Venter for further support.

“Sbaragli is our number 1 man for this race and I think he is in good condition after Tour of Turkey. Yes he didn’t finish at Dunkerque but I think it was combination of very bad weather, a lot of wind on a very hard 1st stage and then also the travel back after Turkey that caused him to pull out last week,” said DS Michel Cornelisse

“It will be a tough race this weekend though as the level is always high nowadays, you do not have small races any more. Sometimes it is easier when there are more big name sprinters at a race because then it is easier to control the race. When there are fewer big names like for this race, then it is harder because everyone tries their luck for a win.”

“Obviously Sbaragli is our number 1 man for the sprints but every day we will try to be in the break with our other riders so that then it will be up to the other teams to work. You never know, the weather could be bad and then there is no sprint so we must always be alert. We are just going to have to take the race day by day and then decide our final tactic from there,” he finished

Captain of the team Kristian Sbaragli says he is going to the race with a great confidence and that he is ready to play with the big teams.

“I am going to Picardie with good confidence. I will try to do my best even if there are bigger teams there than us. My form should be okay after Turkey so I hope I will be able to do a good sprint on one of the stages. I really like this race, I did it last year so I know the profiles and route so I’m sure we can be competitive.”