Belgian football team to wear cycling inspired kit, Dynamo Pro Cycling adds three Australians to inaugural roster, Haig looking to ride Tour Down Under
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Richie Porte and Mikel Landa on the Giro del Trentino podium(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Sven Nys, Bart Wellens, Bart Aernouts and Rob Peeters pose along the Ohio River.(Image credit: Photopress.be)
Benjamin Dyball (Huon - Genesys) won in the queen stage at Tour of Japan 2013(Image credit: Sonoko Tanaka)
Jesse Kerrison wins by a clear margin(Image credit: Tour of Taihu)
Ben Hill (Donkey label Racing) all smiles before the start of the Uptown Minneapolis Criterium(Image credit: Matthew Moses/Moses Images)
Best young rider, Jack Haig (UniSA)(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
The 40th edition of the Italian 2.HC race Giro del Trentino will feature a familiar format of a team time trial, a medium mountain stage and two high mountain stages although the race will be dedicated to the memory of Nerino Ioppi who was involved in all 39 previous races, passed away two months ago aged 82.
The race organisers announced that they would continue to try and attract the biggest GC names in the peloton with the likes of Vincenzo Nibali, Cadel Evans, Bradley Wiggins and Fabio Aru all appearing in recent years.
First held in 1962, the first Giro del Trentino was won by Enzo Moser with Guido De Rosso winning the follow year. A hiatus followed with no race held between 1964 and 1978 but has been held every year since. Damiano Cunego holds the record with the most wins on three although Nibali could join him on that tally next year with the Astana looking to claim a second Giro title in 2016.
Richie Porte won a stage and the overall of the Giro del Trentino this year with Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r), Mikel Landa (Astana) and Bora-Argon 18 claiming the other stages.
Mikel Landa, Richie Porte and Leopold König on the podium (Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Cycling inspired away kit for Belgian national football team
Belgium, the current number one ranked football team, have unveiled its away kit for the 2016 European Championships to be held in France next June which has been called a "cyclist's uniform" by team manager Marc Wilmots. Having worn white then black away strips, the new Belgian jersey is a faint blue with the national flag across the chest recalling the national kit worn by the Belgium team at the World Championships.
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The Adidas made football jersey is matched with black shorts although both garments are rather loose fitting compared to the BioRacer kit of the national cycling team. Let us know what you think of the jerseys.
Dynamo Pro Cycling sign Ben Dyball, Ben Hill and Jesse Kerrison
New Continental team Dynamo Pro Cycling has announced the addition of three Australians to its 2016 roster. The Welsh French team has added Ben Dyball from Avanti Racing Team, Ben Hill from CharterMason-Giant and Jesse Kerrison from BMC Development Team.
"Ben is a discrete cyclist but with great talent. He is a good climber that can hold his own ... He will have is opportunity in stage races. In recent years he impressed me with strong performances at the tours of Japan and Korea", said the team's director of performance Yann Dejan of Dyball.
Hill spent the majority of the season racing the National Road Series (NRS) in Australia but also enjoyed a stint of racing in North America and Dejan believes the 25-year-old.
"He results have been impressive this year with victories in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and America," Dejan said. "He has a style, an instinct that immediately attracted me. His versatility will be an asset in most races we have planned. I look forward to working with him."
Dejan added that he believes 21-year-old Kerrison, who won two stages of the Tour of Taihu Lake last year, is one the most promising young sprinters in Australia and is handy addition to the squad.
"With us he will find a balance and I'm sure he will do wonders with the help of Benoit Salmon and Sébastien Duclos. I have rarely seen a young powerful sprinter, he's a racing car," he said.
Jack Haig looking to have big Australian summer of cycling
Orica-GreenEdge neo-pro Jack Haig is aiming for a big start to his professional career with starts at the Tour Down Under, Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and the Jayco Herald Sun Tour. Haig has ridden all three events in the past, winning the best young riders jersey at the 2014 TDU and finishing third at the Herald Sun Tour in the same year. However he memories aren't so fond of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race where he crashed and broke his elbow earlier this year.
"I'll learn more about the race schedule in Canberra but I'm hoping to do the road nationals in Ballarat to probably help out (Simon Gerrans), then Tour Down Under, Cadel's race and hopefully Sun Tour. I'd love to do a couple of those, they are all great events," Haig told the Bendigo Weekly.
Haig's first outing in the Orica-GreenEdge colours will be the Australian national championships in Ballarat, Victoria.
