Boonen to start 2017 in Qatar and Oman?, Astana sign Nikita Stalnov, Giant-Alpecin team for Revolution Champions League #2
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Michel Thétaz presents the IAM Cycling jersey for 2016(Image credit: IAM / Merot)
Zico Waeytens almost missed the competition(Image credit: David Pearce)
Tom Boonen (Belgium)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Swiss WorldTour team IAM Cycling have released part one of its 'Keep Fighting' documentary which features behind the scenes footage of the 2015 Tour de France. Sports director Rik Verbrugghe is prominent in the 15-minute video as he discusses the plans and necessary detail that goes into preparing a GC rider for the French grand tour.
The team started the 2015 Tour with the aim of placing Mathias Frank inside the top-ten by the end of the race. Frank also features in the video as he discusses his training and preparation for the race.
Several staff members are introduced during the video and provide insight into their role with the team while Marcel Wyss also explains his comeback having been told in November 2014 that he would never cycle again.
Episode two will feature the insight into the racing at the Tour de France and will also be released on the team's Youtube channel.
Boonen's final classics campaign to being in Qatar and Oman
According to a report in Dutch newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, Tom Boonen will begin the final season of his career at the Tour of Qatar (February 6-10) and the Tour of Oman (February 14-19). Boonen will retire on April 9 once he finishes Paris-Roubaix.
It will be the first time Boonen has raced in the Gulf States since claiming the bronze medal at the 2016 World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
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Qatar has been a happy hunting ground for Boonen since his 2004 stage win with four overall titles and 26 stage wins in total. He has also won the points classification on several occasions. In Oman, Boonen has enjoyed just the one stage win which came back in 2010.
Boonen's Eitxx-QuickStep team were not invited to the Tour of Qatar in 2016 due to "for disciplinary reasons" but it appears they will return in 2017
The race programme for Boonen's final classics campaign is likely to be finalised in the coming weeks at the final team camps of the season.
Nikita Stalnov moves up from Astana City to Astana Pro Team
Nikita Stalnov, 25, will join the Astana Pro Team from next year with the Kazakh squad announcing his arrival. Stalnov has been racing at Continental level since 2012 with the contract his first at WorldTour level.
Third overall at the 2.HC Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey, and third overall at the 2.1 Tour d'Azerbaïdjan helped Stalnov seal the move along.
"Nikita is a young and quick progressing rider. He showed some good results during the last season, and we hope, that in our team he will grow up as a good professional rider, who could provide a strong support to our leaders," general manager Alexandr Vinokourov said of the rider who has a 2012 La Tropicale Amissa Bongo stage win to his name.
Stalnov will join Moreno Moser (Cannondale-Drapac), Oscar Gatto, Jesper Hansen, and Michael Valgren (all Tinkoff), Oleg Zemlyakov (Vino4Ever), Riccardo Minali (Team Colpack), Matti Breschel (Cannondale-Drapac), Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Sergey Chernetski (Katusha), and Zhandos Bizhigitov (Vino4Ever) as new Astana signings for 2017.
Giant-Alpecin name Revolution Champions League #2 team
For round two of the Revolution Champions League in London, Giant-Alpecin will be represented by Zico Waeytens and Nikias Arndt. Waeytens rode round one of the track event in Manchester this weekend just gone and finished seventh with Ramon Sinkeldam.
There will be change for London though as Waeytens will be partnering up with Arndt for the second and final of the events.
In total, seven WorldTour teams are taking part in the second round
