The new Professional Continental BMC Racing Team is set to begin its season in the Tour of Qatar...
John Lelangue (Image credit: BMC Racing Team)
The new Professional Continental BMC Racing Team is set to begin its season in the Tour of Qatar this weekend. The race, which begins in Doha on Saturday, is known for being flat, fast and windy, and the team's new director John Lelangue is looking forward to using the race as a way to showcase the team's sprinters.
"For Qatar we will always want to be on the offensive. It is largely a sprinter's paradise, so we have brought three of our strongest sprinters in Martin Kohler, Danilo Wyss and Tony Cruz," Lelangue explained. "As for the other riders, we will be certain to make an appearance in every big breakaway and always stay on the offensive."
"We brought a team that would be strong enough to protect one of the sprinters each day, along with Mike Sayers who will be our master at positioning the sprinters for the last few hundred meters of each race. And then the rest of the guys will be working on getting in and even creating the winning breakaways."
Another important goal of the Tour of Qatar for BMC is to prepare its riders for a good performance in the team's home race, the Tour of California. "California is an important American event where many top teams from both America and Europe come to race. Naturally, America is a big market for us, so we will bring our A-List team. Scott Nydam, who is here in Qatar will be one for our California GC and is obviously in good shape. Also he will have the advantage of having six days of racing in his legs to blow out the cobwebs."
BMC Racing Team for Tour of Qatar: Danilo Wyss, Martin Kohler, Steve Bovay, Scott Nydam, Taylor Tollison, Jackson Stewart, Tony Cruz and Mike Sayers.
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Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.
