Mancebo back to Skydive Dubai, Lotto extends with Gallopin, Roelandts and Wellens
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Spain's Samuel Sanchez in relaxed mood at the 2012 Tour de France(Image credit: Sirotti)
Paco Mancebo (SkyDive Dubai)(Image credit: El Pedal de Frodo - www.elpedaldefrodo.com)
Tony Gallopin (Lotto Belisol) wins stage 11 of the 2014 Tour de France(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tim Wellens (Lotto Belisol) in the race leader's jersey(Image credit: Sirotti)
Julian Arredondo (Trek) had already confirmed himself as best climber when he won stage 18 of the Giro d'Italia(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Beijing Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez is days away from deciding if he will continue racing or retire from the sport, according to a report on El Comercio. The 2008 Olympic road race winner rode with BMC this season but was not offered a contract for 2015.
"I do not know," Sanchez told the Spanish newspaper. "I have an offer, but I need to know that such a project would be motivating."
Sanchez, 36, had planned to end his career at Euskaltel-Euskadi where he started his career in 2000, possibly riding through the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. Those plans changed, however, when the team folded after the 2013 season. Sanchez found a spot on BMC this year after the team released Alessandro Ballan.
Sanchez supported Phillipe Gilbert in the Classics and Cadel Evans at the Giro d'Italia this year, and he finished sixth at the Vuelta a Espana. He told El Comercio he believes he can still ride at a high level, but the decision to race or retire is not a matter of life or death.
"I'd like to continue in cycling," he said. "It is not everything in my life, but it is my passion."
Mancebo back with Skydive Dubai in 2015
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Francisco Mancebo will continue riding with Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team in 2015, according to a report on BiciCiclismo. Mancebo, 38, reportedly signed for one more season with the UCI Continental team.
The former Spanish National Champion won a stage and the overall this year at the Tour de Kumano, a UCI 2.2 race in Japan. He was also third at the Tour of Thailand, fifth at the one-day Melaka Chief Minister Tour and fourth at the Sharjah Tour earlier this month.
Mancebo started his professional career in 1998 with Banesto, where he raced until 2005. He moved to Ag2r Prévoyance in 2006 but was implicated in Operación Puerto on the eve of that year's Tour de France and his team did not allow him to start the race.
He returned in 2007 with Relax-GAM, followed by Fercase-Rota dos Moveis in 2008, Rock Racing in 2009 and Heraklion Kastro-Mucia in 2010. Mancebo moved to the US in 2011, riding for RealCyclist.com, Competitive Cyclist and 5-hour Energy in succession before signing with Skydive Dubai this year.
Lotto extends Gallopin, Roelandts and Wellens through 2017
Lotto Belisol, the Belgian WorldTour team that will race as Lotto Soudal next season, announced today on Twitter that it has extended the contracts of Tony Gallopin, Jurgen Roelandts and Tim Wellens through the 2017 season.
Gallopin, 26, won a stage at this year's Tour de France and was third at the Grand Prix Montreal. Roelandts, 29, was third this year at the Tour of Qatar and finished third at the 2013 Tour of Flanders. Wellens, 23, won s stage and the overall at this year's Eneco Tour and finished second during two stages of the Giro d'Italia, his first Grand Tour. Wellens also finsihed fourth at Il Lombardia.
Arredondo wants Tour de France stage win and mountain jersey
On his grand tour debut at the Giro d'Italia in May, Julián Arredondo won a stage and the mountain classification. The Colombian wants to replicate these accomplishments at the Tour de France as he looks to improve upon his first year in the WorldTour.
"Last year I did a lot of races where I finished in the top 10 and this leads me to expect a better 2015," he told Teleantioquia.
The mountainous Tour parcours suits the characteristics of Arredondo but he won't enter the race with any expectations of impressing on the overall classification.
"We have a group good enough, I think we'll be protagonists: I would like to win a stage and fight for the mountain classification," he said. "It's hard, hard, hard 'UnTour', the problem is the pavé stage, but we go for other purposes not for the general classification".
Arredondo will begin his 2015 season at the Tour of Oman.
