The revamped Barloworld team will make its debut in the GP Costa degli Etruschi in Donoratico, Italy on Saturday. The squad will be directed by Alberto Volpi, and will put its strength behind sprinters Giosue Bonomi and Enrico Degano, with Mauro Facci, Tiaan Kannemeyer, Tom Southam, Hugo Sabido and neo-pro Alex Efimkin providing support. As well as this, several members of the Barloworld team will be racing in the Tour de Langkawi, which starts today. Defending champion Ryan Cox, Rodney Green and Jeremy Maartens will race as part of the South African national team.
Igor Astarloa expects to debut on February 14 in Trofeo Laigueglia in Italy. Astarloa has had to delay the start of his season slightly after experiencing a problem with his right hand at the team's recent training camp in Montecatini in Tuscany. After seeing hand specialists Dr. Carlo Giammattei and Dr. Pierpaolo Lunati at the Lucca hospital, Astarloa was diagnosed with a detached tendon in the upper part of his thumb. The problem was caused by a wrist fracture Astarloa suffered last year in France, and he will have an operation to reconstruct the tendon at the end of this season.
