Having just completed their first Giro d’Italia, Team Barloworld is deep into preparations for the Tour de France.

While 2007 Tour de France King of the Mountains winner Mauricio Soler recovers from his wrist injury sustained during the Giro, the rest of the Team Barloworld ‘reds’ face two demanding races in the build up to the Tour de France. The CCT Correios in Portugal and the Euster Elektrotoer in the Netherlands.

All of the cyclists will be looking to have a strong performance in these two races, as they will be playing a deciding role in the team selection for every cyclists dream race, the Tour de France.

For the Portuguese race, which takes place between 12 and 15 June, Team Manager Claudio Corti has selected the formidable duo of Baden Cooke and Robert Hunter, along with Portuguese cyclist Hugo Sabido. The other cyclists who will be racing are the two Italians Diego Caccia and Gianpaolo Cheula, Moises Duenas, Kenyan Chris Froome and South African Daryl Impey.

The Dutch Euster Elektrotoer, being raced from 17 to 21 June, will see Team Barloworld’s Cooke and Hunter, along with South African John Lee Augustyn, Gianpaolo Cheula, Paolo Longo Borghini, Enrico Gasparotto and Geraint Thomas form a competitive line-up.