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BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS SET FOR TOUR DE SUISSE
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| One of the oldest stage races will see many Tour de France hopefuls fine-tune their form in the race that will finish two weeks ahead of the Grand Depart in Copenhagen. |
| The Swiss Alps will be the battleground for the GC of the Tour de Suisse. Over 18,000 meters of climbing will decide the race winner during eight stages and 1,343 km of racing. The race starts on the 12th of June, finishing with an ITT in neighbouring Liechtenstein on the 19th. |
The team will also race the GP des Kantons Aargau ahead of Tour de Suisse. Sports Director Roman Kreuziger commented: “GP des Kantons Aargau is a beautiful race and a perfect opener for the Tour de Suisse. We have good cards to play with Edoardo Zambanini and Gino Mäder. The race has become a little bit harder in the past few years, but we are confident that longer climbs will fit our team. We as a team are coming from a successful period of races, and we want to keep the performance on a high level. Also, if they perform well on Friday, they will be more confident about the upcoming Tour de Suisse.
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Speaking about the Tour de Suisse, it’s always a challenging race, as there is a mix in the bunch, riders coming from Giro that are in great form or from an altitude camp or the race-free period. The parkour is very challenging from day 1, and doing the Aargau race will be a perfect setup to start strong from Stage 1. This race is important for Gino, as it’s his final tuning for the Tour de France, and there will be 4 GC stages for him to contend. In our team, we also have many young guys, and I expect a lot from them. Zambanini showed us in past races that he’s really good, Price-Pejtersen and Maciejuk will focus on the last day’s TT while being support throughout all the stages. We also have experience in Arashiro and Pernsteiner. They will be Gino’s support; they know what to do and are good at it. Also, Williams will be support in the mountains. He’s coming from an injury. He’s good and motivated. I do expect a lot from him to show us that he’s at the end of last year’s level. In the end, our goal is to go for the GC podium with Gino.”
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| Gino Mäder: “Two home races are coming up, and they are probably the highlight of my season. Especially after my last race (Romandie), I do hope to do well at this race as well. I’m looking forward to racing with and for Greenhope, rocking a little bit of green on our helmets, and hopefully doing something with an impact on and off the bike. I’m really looking forward to racing on the home roads, in the beautiful nature of Switzerland. As for the goals, I want to do better than last year. Last year I had a stage win, although this year, I’ll be aiming more for the GC. I’m going in the race ready to fight.” |
Performance is the core of what we do, but as a team, we do want to be an influence in communities and help charities. This is our 3rd year partnering with Greenhope at races in Switzerland to bring attention to their goal – to help children with cancer have a better life. For this cause, we painted our helmets green, and after the race, those helmets will be donated to Greenhope and auctioned by them.
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