They are only a two-month-old outfit but Al Nasr Pro Cycling Team are already making a name for themselves on the international stage and have been racking up the victories this week at the Grand Tour d’Algerie.
The newly-formed Emirati professional cycling team, that aims to drive UAE talent towards the highest echelons of the sport, are currently contesting the gruelling tour in Algeria that is comprised of 10 different stages races and one-day races, taking place from March 4-28.
Al Nasr’s Jesus Alberto Rubio won the Circuit International d’Alger, a 105km one-day race that kicked off the action last Friday, before the UAE outfit pulled off a podium sweep in the three-day Tour Internationale d’Oranie, with Luca Wackermann winning the General Classification jersey on Monday, Essaid Abelouache placing second and Tomas Vaitkus coming third. On Tuesday, Vaitkus won the 120km one-day race Grand Prix de la Ville d’Oran.
The team consists of a mix of European, North African, and Emirati riders and the goal is for the local UAE cyclists to learn from their team-mates who have been on the professional scene much longer than they have.
Wackermann is a 23-year-old Italian who used to ride for WorldTeam, Lampre-Merida, while Vaitkus rode for GreenEDGE and Astana, where he competed in Grand Tours with cycling giants like Alberto Contador.
. @tomasvaitkus @V_Al_Nasr_Dubai wins Grand Prix de la Ville d'Oran (1.2) » (120k)https://t.co/pI26xZ25Xdpic.twitter.com/hd53SwWEbn
— ProCyclingStats.com (@ProCyclingStats) March 8, 2016
Al Nasr’s exploits so far in Algeria have seen them claim six victories, which ranks them in the top 10 amongst all professional teams worldwide in terms of race wins this season.
“I was surprised we won all those races,” team manager Vitor Carvalho told Sport360. “We’re a new team and these victories, which give us a lot of UCI points, will help us get invited to bigger races, it’s great that we can show that we have all these points.
“I have a lot of confidence in the guys. They allowed me to choose the riders that would join this young team and I recruited Tomas, Jesus and Luca.
“Jesus and Luca are young riders, I had been following their careers for some time now.
“They’re 23, they still have a lot of developing to do but they are high quality riders. I know they had some internal issues in their previous teams, so we’re trying to give them all the comfort at Al Nasr, so they feel free, with no pressure. We want them to take their time, so there is no rush and automatically things will work out.
“Those three riders will allow locals like (UAE No1) Yousif Mirza and the others in the squad to follow their lead in the professional races.
“It’s the first year for the locals to compete as professionals so there is still a long way to learn, how to train, how to work in the peloton… Riders like Tomas and the others can guide them.
“We are seeing the progress already.”
Mirza, who is the UAE’s top-ranked cyclist, and Majid Al Balooshi joined their team-mates in Algeria on Tuesday as the squad will be swapping some of the riders for the individual races within the 24-day tour.
The Grand Tour d’Algerie resumes on Thursday with the Tour International de Blida, a three-stage race with a 2.2 categorisation.
