25 teams, 191 riders, cold and dry weather with temperatures reaching a mere 8 degrees at the Pino Cerami was going to be a tough day in the office for Team MTN-Qhubeka with some hard racing.
The team arrived in Frankfurt after their flight from a successful tour in Marocco and only having one day to recover there were no high expectations for this race. Jens Zemke, the team manager, therefore told the team, to go out and get the best results they could.
The team arrived in Frankfurt after their flight from a successful tour in Marocco and only having one day to recover there were no high expectations for this race. Jens Zemke, the team manager, therefore told the team, to go out and get the best results they could.
After 30 km a break four riders went clear. Astana took the responsibility to chase when the break away had a gap of 7 min, lots of crashes and punctures in the bunch caused this to be quite a difficult task. The MTN-Qhubeka riders stayed out of trouble and did not get caught up in any crashes. Songezo Jim nearly lost contact with the bunch when he went back to fetch bottles for the team and when he was riding back to the peloton and only 20 m behind the bunch a train crossing went down. After a remarkable effort and with some help he made it back to the bunch safely.
A break 21 riders broke away at 150km consisting of 21 riders including our rider Reinardt Janse van Rensburg. After a hard fight the peloton caught the break with 15 km to go. Unfortunately for Team MTN-Qhubeka Janse van Rensburg was unable to sprint due to the effort put into this break.
Team MTN-Qhubeka will take the 3 days before their next race to adapt to the European racing scene and recover from their intense racing schedule.
Results:
1. Gaetan Bille (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 4h52,11 (200km)
2. Romain Feillu (Fra) Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team
3. Jonas Vangenechten (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
75th Meron Russom (Eri) MTN-Qhubeka +31s
95th Reinardt Janse van Rensburg +35s
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