Leezer's fifth place in Tirreno time trial an error, Longo Borghini to miss Trofeo Alfredo Binda, Fominykh has successful surgery
Image 1 of 5
Philippe Gilbert (BMC) wins the Vuelta a Murcia(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Tom Leezer (LottoNL-Jumbo).(Image credit: Cyclingnews)
Elisa Longo Borghini finds a quiet spot between the motorhomes to warm up - Ronde van Drenthe 2016, a 138km road race starting and finishing in Hoogeveen, on March 12, 2016 in Drenthe, Netherlands.(Image credit: Sean Robinson/Velofocus)
Gilbert: Missing Milan-San Remo is a precautionary measure
Philippe Gilbert (BMC) says that missing this weekend’s Milan-San Remo is a precautionary measure. Gilbert fell ill with a respiratory infection just before the start of Paris-Nice, and while he started the race he eventually abandoned following stage 2.
Gilbert has not fully recovered and has decided that it would be better for the remainder of his Classics campaign to skip the first Monument.
"Overall, I feel okay, but the breath test proved that I'm not 100 per cent," Gilbert told Lacapitale.be. "There is the danger that if I force it, I will compromise the other Spring Classics. So I agreed with the advice of the team doctor."
Gilbert is also set to miss the Tour of Flanders, according to the article, but the race was never on his schedule. Greg Van Avermaet, who recently won the overall classification at Tirreno-Adriatico, will lead the BMC team at Milan-San Remo.
To subscribe to the Cyclingnews video channel, click here.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
LottoNL-Jumbo admit to Leezer timing error
Tom Leezer's fifth place performance in the final Tirreno-Adriatico time trial was one of the surprises of the day. His result was equally as surprising to his LottoNL-Jumbo directeur sportifs, who had timed his run as slower than that of his teammate Maarten Tjallingii.
They could have easily accepted the result and moved on but the team decided to call the jury and point the error out.
"I followed Tom during his time trial and I measured a time that was 20 seconds slower than Maarten Tjallingii's," said directeur sportif Jan Boven. "Because we want the sport to be as fair as possible, we called the jury to say that the result was incorrect."
After the correction, Leezer moved from fifth place down to 103rd, over a minute down on the stage winner Fabian Cancellara.
Longo Borghini to miss Trofeo Alfredo Binda
Elisa Longo Borghini will not be part of Wiggle-High5’s line-up at this weekend’s Trofeo Alfredo Binda after falling ill. Longo Borghini is a former champion at the Italian one-day race, beating Emma Johansson to the victory in 2013.
"No Trofeo Binda due to the influence that I don't want to leave it alone this year! We hope for better days and in the meantime, tea and lemon as if there wasn't a tomorrow," Longo Borghini wrote on her Facebook page.
It will be Johansson, who joined Wiggle-High5 over the winter, who will lead the team on Sunday. The American, Mara Abbott has also been named in the line-up.
"Binda is always a nice race because it has a bit of everything," Johansson said in a press release. "The long climb followed by a fast lap with the shorter one is something that suits us well. That the finish is slightly uphill is also a good thing."
Fominykh has successful surgery
Danill Fominykh (Astana) has undergone successful surgery after a terrifying crash during the final stage of Paris-Nice on Sunday. The Astana team posted a picture of Fominykh in hospital giving the thumbs up.
"The doctor Bronsard of the Pasteur, informed us the operation on the back of Fominykh was a success! #ForzaDaniil," read the photo’s caption.
Fominykh missed a corner on a descent during stage 7, and went over a wall and down a ravine. His rescue took around 20 people and required the road to be closed for the duration. He was left with two fractured lumbar vertebrae following the incident. Teammate Michele Scarponi also had successful surgery on his left-collarbone which he fractured at Tirreno-Adriatico.
