The GP du Canton is a UCI 1.HC category race that will take place in Switzerland tomorrow. Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung will be competing in the Swiss one day race for the 3rd time when our African team line-up at the start in Gippingen.
The event takes place over a 12km circuit that will be completed a total of 15 times to give a race distance of 181km. The circuit is not all that technical but there is a pretty tough climb that might not have an effect on the peloton on the opening laps but will certainly be the defining factor in the final 2 or 3 laps once again.
In previous years the finish has been decided by a group sprint of not much more than 20 riders and that has also never really contained any pure sprinters. It will take either a daring opportunist or real puncheur to triumph tomorrow and MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung start with every intention of racing for a top result.
Kristian Sbaragli will lead our African chargers. Kristian finished in 23rd at the 2013 GP du Canton and will look to improve on his previous result this year. Kristian will be joined by Gerald Ciolek who could be a real threat depending on how the race pans out while Merhawi Kudus, Natnael Berhane, Adrien Niyonshuti, Youcef Reguigui, Jay Thomson and Nic Dougall make up the rest of the roster.
Alex Sans Vega – Sport Director
This is a well-known race for our riders as the team has done this race for the last two years and it is an event that suits our guys. It is a race that where different scenarios can play out, it is depending on the weather and race tactics but we are confident that we have a strong team to cover each of the possible scenarios and we have good options to obtain a result. We will be at the start line ready to race positively.
