Three stages remain in the Tour of Qatar and with bunch sprints expected for each of those, the United Healthcare team will go all out to try to make the most of those opportunities. Speaking to VeloNation earlier in the race, German sprinter Robert Forster made it clear what the riders wanted to achieve prior to the end of the 2.HC event.
“The main goal is to win a stage with one of us,” he said in the video interview below. With time running out, the pressure is mounting.
Forster is one of the team’s big sprinters, a rider who has won a number of big races including a stage of the Vuelta a Espana. The other is the young American Jacobe Keough. There’s an eight year age gap between them and a huge difference in terms of experience; as the German explains, one of his roles is a mentoring one.
“Keough is a young guy, he is 26. I am here to teach him how the sprint goes on and to bring him into a good position for sprinting,” he explained. Of course he’s fast himself but, as he explained, coming from freezing Germany meant that he struggled somewhat in the opening days.
“For sure, at the end when my legs are better, I will try to go for a stage.”
He, and the team, have between now and Sunday to achieve that goal.
Click the image below to watch the full interview.