The new-look Cannondale-Garmin team has confirmed to Cyclingnews that German coach Sebastian Weber will be the team's trainer for the 2015 season, with former Italian professional Fabrizio Guidi also joining the American team as a directeur sportif.
The Cannondale-Garmin team presented its 27 rider roster on Friday as the team gathered near the headquarters of title sponsor Cannondale in Wilton, Connecticut. The riders and staff will head to the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean for four days of sailing and team building activities.
Weber and Guidi will team up with team manager Jonathan Vaughters and existing directeur sportif Charly Wegelius, Andreas Klier, Bingen Fernandez and Robbie Hunter.
Weber worked with the HTC team after Bob Stapleton cleaned up the squad following the Telekom doping scandals. He joined Cannondale this year, introducing innovative forms of training after Paolo Slongo moved to Astana to reunite with Vincenzo Nibali.
Also moving across from the 2014 Cannondale team are Ted King, Moreno Moser Alberto Bettiol, Davide Formolo, Matej Mohoric and Davide Villella. Other news riders include Joe Dombrowski, Kristoffer Skjerping and Ruben Zepuntke. Team leaders are Dan Martin, Ryder Hesjedal and Andrew Talansky.
Frost quits directeur sportif role at Team Sky
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
According to a report on the website of Danish television channel TV2, Dan Frost will no longer be a directeur sportif with Team Sky in 2015, preferring to step away from professional racing to organise bike trips and collaborate with Tour de France organiser ASO.
The 53 year-old Dane joined Team Sky for 2014 after working with Bjarne Riis for nine seasons. Frost had a key role with Team Sky during the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana, when Chris Froome finished second overall behind Alberto Contador.
"I have been a sports director in the professional world for nine years and I feel that I have come to a point where I want to focus 100% percent on organizing bike trips," Frost said.
Team Sky has not announced its directors for the 2015 season.
Italian doctors and riders discuss racing in extreme weather
Members of the Associazione Italiana Medici del Ciclismo - the association of Italian cycling doctors, riders and their representatives have discussed the introduction of rules to protect riders racing in extreme weather conditions.
The round-table debate was held during the annual AIMEC congress held near Varese, Ivan Basso and Filippo Pozzato attended Saturday's session giving their own input and experience of racing in extreme heat and extreme cold. UCI Doctor Mario Zorzoli and Cristian Salvato the head of the Italian Riders Association also spoke during the meeting.
Cyclingnews understands that the UCI and the AIGCP teams association are discussing the introduction of rules to regulate racing in extreme conditions. The need for clear rules and pre-planned alternative race routes was confirmed during the Giro d'Italia when riders climbed the Passo Stelvio in the snow. Confusion reigned as race organiser RCS Sport tried to neutralise the racing to protect the riders but Nairo Quintana and other riders broke away on the descent as the rest of the peloton slowed to stay safe.
Modolo tops Italian winners list for 2014
Lampre-Merida sprinter Sacha Modolo has been crowned the most successful Italian rider of the 2014 season after notching up eight wins during the season.
Modolo started his season with a stage win at the Tour de San Luis in February and ended his season with victory on the final stage at the Tour of Beijing in October. In between he had an up and down season. He won two stages at the Three Days of De Panne but struggled in the Classics and quit the Tour de France during stage two to Leeds.
According to Tuttobiciweb, Modolo won two races more than fellow sprinter and former teammate Sonny Colbrelli and Elia Viviani (Cannondale).
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) also won six races including four stages at the Tour de France, the overall classification at the Tour plus the Italian national championships. If post-Tour criteriums are included with official UCI races, Nibali would have topped the list after also winning four criteriums.
