IPT seeks strong end to unforgettable 2024 season at Gree – Tour of Guangxi

After a year of great success in stage races, Israel – Premier Tech is looking to end the season on a high in the final UCI WorldTour race of 2024, the six-day Gree-Tour of Guangxi, which begins on Tuesday.

IPT has claimed four GC victories to date this year, with the overall winner of the Tours of Rwanda and Taiwan – Joe Blackmore – among those racing in China. The team’s 26 wins in 2024 also includes eighteen stage victories, including one apiece from Ethan Vernon and Riley Pickrell, both of whom feature in the squad for Guangxi.

“We’ve got two goals: to get a win with the sprinters – we have Ethan and Riley here, and both are really motivated – and to look towards the GC with Joe,” says Sports Director Sep Vanmarcke.

“It’s the end of the season so it’s hard to say what the level of everybody else here will be. But Joe has proven over the last few weeks that he’s still in good shape.”

Five of the race’s six stages seem favorable for the sprinters, with stage five (Saturday
October 19) being the exception. That day’s finish line at the Nongla Scenic Spot comes after a 3.3-kilometer climb that averages 6.6%, with the last 1.2 kilometers of it ramping up to an unrelenting 14.8%. That aside, the fast men look set to take the majority of the headlines here.

“I’m really motivated,” says Vernon (pictured above). ”I’ve been training really hard for this with the aim of ending the season well. The shape has been getting better and better every week since the Olympics and I’ve been feeling really good on the bike. I’m excited to see how I get on.

”I think we have four and potentially five sprints, so there are a lot of opportunities here. Hopefully I can end the year as I started it at the Tour des Alpes Maritimes – with a win!”

IPT has only raced in Guangxi on two previous occasions (2019 and 2023), so it’s not a major surprise that none of the team’s seven-man roster have experience of the event. However, with wide, straight roads commonplace here, inside knowledge of the parcours isn’t particularly precious.

Vanmarcke adds: ”The racing here is different – it’s more like at the UAE Tour, where the roads are three or four lanes wide and positioning for corners most of the time isn’t a major problem.”

IPT at Gree – Tour of Guangxi

Riders: Joe Blackmore (GBR), Chris Froome (GBR), Riley Pickrell (CAN), Nadav Raisberg (ISR), Guy Sagiv (ISR), Jake Stewart (GBR), Ethan Vernon (GBR)

Sports Director: Sep Vanmarcke (BEL)