AG Insurance – Soudal to the UAE Tour

AG Insurance – Soudal to the UAE Tour

Our squad aims to fight for some strong stage and GC results this week.

Three flat stages and another one culminating atop the Jebel Hafeet will make up the course of UAE Tour, the season’s third World Tour event, taking place between 5-8 February. Besides the gruelling 10km climb where the maximum gradient reaches 11%, also the crosswinds could play a role in the final outcome of this fourth edition, on which AG Insurance – Soudal hopes to leave its mark.

Our team, who has enjoyed a fine start to the year in Australia, will take on the UAE Tour with a versatile squad capable of being in the mix regardless of the terrain. Third overall last year, Kim Le Court-Pienaar is set to lead a solid AG Insurance – Soudal team that will also include Belgian Champion Justine Ghekiere, Marthe Goossens, Alexandra Manly, Ilse Pluimers and Gladys Verhulst-Wild, who scored a pair of top-ten stage results in the UAE last season.

“We are going to this race with a very good team. Everybody is full of confidence and in good shape, and after last year’s result, we hope to be again in the fight for the general classification. We’ll see what Kim and Justine can do on Jebel Hafeet, but our squad can be competitive also on the flat, where we’ll rely on Gladys – who has a solid lead-out there – for the bunch sprints. The legs will speak for themselves this week and we hope to rack up some nice results”, said team manager Jolien D’hoore.