MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung will be racing the World Ports Classic this weekend. The World Ports Classic is a UCI 2.1 event with a road stage on both Saturday and Sunday. The defending champion is our very own Theo Bos but unfortunately Theo won’t be taking the start after his crash in California.
Andy Stauff will be on the starting line though and Andy also had a good race at last year’s edition of the event where he finished 5th overall. As both stages suit the sprinters, the rest of African team has been selected accordingly. Gerald Ciolek, Matt Goss, Reinardt Janse van Rensburg, Youcef Reguigui, Adrien Niyonshuti and Matt Brammeier complete a strong roster of riders.
While the parcours to and back from Rotterdam is pretty much pan flat, it is the wind in Holland that is usually the problem over those flat country plains. Last year’s final stage saw numerous echelons form late on in the stage and it was only the astute riders that would contest for the victory.
Andy Stauff – Rider
I just finished my first stage race at Bayern Rundfahrt this season after my injury so it feels like my season is only starting now. Despite the mechanical I had in stage 1, i felt pretty good and I think I recovered well. For World Ports, in the previous edition I was 5th on GC and we have a strong squad on the start line this year. Qhubeka means moving forward, so we’re aiming to improve as a team and try our best to put a rider on the podium.
Michel Cornelisse -Sport Director
We must score this weekend as a lot of our riders need a result. The Tour of California did not go as well as we had hoped and so now it is time that we take our revenge. Our boys are hungry and ready to race.
