Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
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2019 Tour de France | 2019 Giro d'Italia
Forgiveness is God's command. - Martin Luther
Upcoming racing:
- Jan 1: GP Sven Nys
- Jan 19-26: Schwalbe Classic & Tour Down Under
- Jan 20-26: La Tropicale Amissa Bongo
- Jan 26 Feb 2: Vuelta a San Juan
- Jan 30-Feb 2: Challenge Illes Balears
- Feb 2: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
- Feb 2: GP la Marseillaise
- Feb 22: GP Leuven
Latest completed racing:
- Dec 29: Superprestige Diegen
- Dec 27: Azencross
- Dec 26: World Cup Heusden-Zolder
- Dec 22: World Cup, Namur
- Dec 15: Vlaamse Druivencross
- Dec 7: IKO Cyclocross-Essen
Deceuninck-Quick Step to Race Torquay and Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
The team posted this update:
January is going to be quite a busy month for Deceuninck – Quick-Step, who’ll kick off its 18th season in Australia, where the team will be at the start of three races in the space of just a few weeks. Two of these events will be Race Torquay, a new addition to the UCI calendar, scheduled on January 30, only four days after Australia’s National Day. Held in the iconic surf town on a 13.3km-long rolling circuit which the peloton will cover ten times, the race should favour the sprinters, although a late attack going all the way to the line can’t be taken out of the equation.
The riders will then remain in the beautiful state of Victoria for the sixth edition of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race (171.1 kilometers), a World Tour event our team has won on two occasions (2015 and 2019). A hillier route, featuring three ascents of the demanding Challambra Crescent, should make for an exciting race which could go down to the wire.
Elia Viviani wins the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Race in 2019.
Winner of the UCI World Team Classification in the past two seasons, Deceuninck – Quick-Step will field for the two events a strong and versatile seven-man team, capable of being in the mix: João Almeida, Shane Archbold, Irish Champion Sam Bennett, Mattia Cattaneo, Dries Devenyns, Iljo Keisse, and three-time Danish Champion Michael Mørkøv.
“We are really looking forward to these two races. Torquay is a new race, but we trained in the past in that area, so it’s not like it’s unknown to us. On paper, the up-and-down parcours shouldn’t be selective, as could very well be the case in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, where both attackers and sprinters will have a strong chance of fighting for victory. We won the latter twice, and in Dries and Sam we have two riders who can cover several scenarios, and that makes us confident we can come out of these appointments with some nice results”, explained sports director Rik Van Slycke.
Nicholas Dlamini update
Note: Nicholas Dlamini suffered a broken arm after being stopped and roughly handled by park officials at Table Mountain Park in South Africa.
Here's the NTT Pro Cycling Team's Facebook post:
Nicholas Dlamini would like to make the following statement:
Many thanks for the huge number of kind messages following recent events. I am overwhelmed by the support offered by everyone at home and around the world, especially from the world of cycling. This has been an extremely upsetting experience and your support means a lot to me.
Nicholas Dlamini at the 2019 Tour Down Under. Sirotti photo
My first step was to undergo surgery and I am told that this went well, but the surgeon is unable to make a prognosis at this early stage. So, for the moment, I am unable to say when I’ll be back on a bike. My surgeon and the care team will be liaising with the NTT team doctor to establish this.
For now, I need to receive expert care and physio at hospital or rest at home until I’m well enough to leave and make a statement to the police. I am not sure yet when this will be, but for now things are a little uncomfortable and I am still coming to terms with what happened.
I will be represented by the international law firm Norton Rose Fulbright following this terrible incident. Norton Rose Fulbright have enormous experience in dealing with contentious issues such as this and are currently dealing with Caster Semenya’s case against the IAAF. Our thanks for the many numerous offers for legal representation from concerned people willing to help me.
Lastly, with the help from my fantastic support team, my manager and the guys at NTT, I will be taking legal advice on the next steps from Norton Rose Fulbright, and for this reason I hope you can understand why I cannot give any more detail to anyone at this stage. I look forward to giving you more detail as soon as I can.
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