Barloworld for three weekend races

Robert Hunter will lead Team Barloworld in Paris-Tours, the ProTour race to be held this coming weekend. The 256-kilometre race is mostly flat, with a sprint finish expected. The team notes that Hunter "is one of the favourites after his sprint success in the Tour de France in July."

The team is also sending Enrico Degano, Fabrizio Guidi, Giosuè Bonomi, Diego Caccia, Paolo Longo Borghini, James Perry and Hugo Sabido.

The team will have another squad in Italy for two races over the weekend. Saturday is the Giro dell'Emilia, a 198-kilometre race with a "tough uphill finish." That is followed Sunday by the GP Beghelli, which is "definitely a lot easier," since the final 100 kilometres feature only a few short climbs.

Those two races will see Pedro Arreitunandia, Félix Rafael Cárdenas, Giampaolo Cheula, Alexander Efimkin, Kanstantsin Siutsou and stagiaire rider Ben Swift.