Four opportunities on Région Pays de la Loire Tour

Polti VisitMalta will compete this week in the four stages of the Région Pays de la Loire Tour, a competition in France with hard, final circuits and options for fast and powerful riders. In the meantime, a second group of the team has started its journey in the Tour de Hainan.

The terrain in the Pays de la Loire, a land of cyclists and cycling, always offers fantastic scenery. ‘Narrow roads, constant curves, ups and downs… almost like a gymkhana’, explains Jesús Hernández, sports director of Polti VisitMalta in France. On the terrain, the most accessible stage will be the first, but also the longest (over 200 kilometres). The always hilly profiles will invite the adventurous and the brave to move on the final circuits, with several passes over the finish line. The general classification should be decided on the third day at the tough finish in Hambers with the five times ascent of La Chapelle de Montaigu.

On the start line, the reference for Polti VisitMalta will be Giovanni Lonardi in all the stages in which he can compete for the victory. His speed and capacity for explosive efforts will make him the reference on the first, second and fourth day. Around him, a block of powerful riders with Gabriele Raccagni, Samuele Zoccarato or Aidan Buttigieg, while in addition to helping the leader, Alessandro Tonelli and Davide Bais, riders who move well in those classics-style days, could have options in the third stage.

Giovanni Lonardi: ‘I’ve had some rest since the last races and after the top-10 in Cholet I focus on this race in France, where I’m motivated. It will be a stressful and demanding race, as it usually happens there, but for sure we can be in the fight and we have several chances’.

Jesús Hernández, sport director: ‘The team will ride for Lonardi whenever it has a chance, but we don’t lose the attitude to fight for the overall in the more selective finishes. I trust that Tonelli and Davide Bais will help us to have a presence in the four stages’.