Trek Factory Racing will start Paris-Nice without Fränk Schleck, who has not yet recovered from the injuries he sustained in a crash at the Vuelta a Andalucia last month.
Schleck made the announcement on Twitter today, stating, "It's the right decision we took together with @TrekFactory to not do Paris Nice and do a proper recovery."
Schleck was involved in one of the mass crashes near the finish of the first stage of the Ruta del Sol, and suffered deep contusions to his leg, but no fracture. He lost several days of training and did not expect to be at his best for the race.
Fatal collision with spectator in Belgian elite race
Carine Goyvaerts, the wife of former professional Ludwig Wijnants, died of injuries sustained in a collision with a rider competing in an elite amateur race in Brustem, Belgium on Sunday..
Goyvaerts was in the feed zone waiting for her son Arne Wijnants, who was also in the race, to come past when a rider of the Vastgoedservice Golden Palace team, Jordi Van Dingenen, a first-year U23 rider, collided with her at full speed. Goyvaerts was taken to a hospital in Hasselt with a skull fracture, and died of her injuries on Monday.
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Van Dingenen was also injured in the crash, suffering a fractured collarbone, a collapsed lung and a traumatic brain injury, and is still in the hospital.
His team issued a statement: "The entire Vastgoedservice Golden Palace Team wishes to express its deepest condolences to the Wijnants family at this dramatic news. Both the team management, sponsors and the entourage and the riders of our team are extremely shocked by the events of the last 24 hours."
The team quotes Van Dingenen as saying, "I am devastated. This is a nightmare for me. I would also like to express my deepest condolences to the family of the woman in question. At this time I cannot remember anything of what happened."
The team will race in the GP Samyn on Wednesday with black bands in memory of Goyvaerts.
Giant-Alpecin sends well-rounded team to Paris-Nice
Giant-Alpecin heads into Paris-Nice with a series of talents including John Degenkolb for the sprints, and both Tom Dumoulin and Warren Barguil, who will test themselves against the overall contenders.
"This year's Paris-Nice, as always, presents different opportunities over the week and we have a lot of aspects to the team here to challenge with,” said coach Christian Guiberteau. "We would like to try to go for a good overall result with Tom, but his chances will depend on how he recovers from recent sickness. With Warren, he is still building his form but there will be good opportunities for him to test himself and also to support others here.
"We have seen that John is in good shape already and his confidence and motivation is there so he can push to take his chances on the sprint opportunities here with good support. The first three road stages should suit the sprinters and after that we will see how the race pans out."
The three riders will be joined by teammates Roy Curvers, Koen de Kort, Georg Preidler, Ramon Sinkeldam and Zico Waeytens.
Giro del Trentino routes stage 4 along last year’s Italian National Championships course
Race organizers of the Giro del Trentino (April 21-24) have announced the details of the fourth and final stage of this year’s race. The four-day UCI 2.HC event will conclude with a 170km race that start in Malè, in Val di Sole, and finish in Cles, held on parts of the same course that Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) won the Italian national title on last year.
The race will include an intermediate sprint at the 47km mark, followed by two Cat 2 climbs at Fondo and Passo Predaia. The race will head toward the final circuit, which the peloton will do two times. Riders will go through Cles, Tuenno, Nanno and Tassullo, and will continue with the uphill finish to Cles. BMC’s Cadel Evans won the 2014 Giro del Trentino.
