Strakhov third Russian barred as trio files CAS appeal, Broken collarbone for Gerts ahead of Vuelta a Burgos TTT, More stagiaires added to team rosters
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Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale - Drapac)
Sergio Henao Montoya rides during the 183 km second stage of the 103rd edition of the Tour de France
Viktor Manakov, one of the few remaining Russian track cyclists, training at a hotel car park
Floris Gerts (BMC) on his TT bike(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Best Chinese rider JIang Zhi Hui(Image credit: Tour of Taihu)
The Colombian Cycling Federation announced that Rigobert Uran and Sergio Henao have withdrawn from the time trial event in order to focus solely on the road race at the Olympic Games.
President of the federation Agustin Moreno Aristizabal and general manager Jorge Ovidio Gonzalez confirmed the decision in a statement Wednesday.
"Due to an agreement between cyclists, technical body, federation members and the head of mission of the Olympic delegation, Ciro Solano, only the road race on Saturday, August 6 will be raced."
The team competing in the men’s road race on August 6 include Uran and Henao along with Estaban Chaves, Miguel Angel Lopez and Jarlinson Pantano, who replaced Nairo Quintana on the roster.
"In agreement with Sergio Luis Henao and Rigoberto Uran, registered for [both events], all efforts will be concentrated on the road race. It is a demanding route of 256 kilometers."
According to the press release, the Colombian team has previewed the men’s road race course on several occasions. The five-an team will arrive in Rio de Janeiro on August 4.
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Russian team pursuiters bring appeals to CAS from Rio
Already in Rio de Janeiro, training on the velodrome for the Olympic Games track cycling events that begin on August 11, Russian team pursuiters Kirill Sveshnikov, Dmitry Sokolov and Dmitry Strakhov are among 18 cases to be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ad hoc division in Rio.
Following the doping scandal in athletics, the World Anti-Doping Agency launched an independent investigation into allegations of state-supported doping in other Olympic sports. The McLanen report said that 26 positive samples from cyclists vanished without disciplinary action being pursued.
The International Olympic Committee's Executive Board, facing a tight time frame to decide whether to ban the entire Russian delegation from the Games, allowed some athletes to compete but barred all with past doping offences and any athletes whose samples were positive but had not gone through the disciplinary process from competing in Rio.
The UCI agreed to exclude men's road racer Ilnur Zakarin, women's road race and time trial rider Olga Zabelinskaya, and team pursuiter Sergey Shilov, and stated that three cyclists were under investigation. Kirill Sveshnikov and Dmitry Sokolov were named by a report in TASS as two of those riders. Strakhov brings the number to three named. He was due to compete in both team pursuit and individual sprint.
Only one team pursuiter on the Russian team was not named as under investigation or with prior doping offences, Viktor Manakov.
The Russian team train on the velodrome in Rio.
Floris Gerts breaks collarbone in training ride before Vuelta a Burgos team time trial
BMC's Floris Gerts recon of the Vuelta a Burgos stage 2 team time trial proved to be unsuccessful as the Dutch neo-pro crashed and fractured his left- collarbone. While Gerts was a DNS for the stage, his teammates rode into second place, nine second in arrears to Astana.
Following the crash, Gerts was taken to hospital and BMC team doctor Giovanni Ruffini providing an update on his condition.
"Floris suffered a dislocated fracture of his left collarbone which will require surgery to secure the fracture. He will travel to Belgium tomorrow where he will undergo surgery as soon as possible," Ruffini said. "Providing all goes well he should be able to train on the rollers after one week, and be back at a racing level in three weeks' time. We will have a clearer idea after his surgery, following which we can make any necessary adjustments to his recovery plan."
It's the second serious injury of the season for Gerts after he crashed at Le Samyn in March, fracturing two ribs. However, he bounced back to enjoy a debut professional victory at the Volta Limburg Classic in April.
More stagiaire announcements for remainder of 2016
LottoNL-Jumbo have announced SEG Racing's Zhi Hui Jiang will join its team for the remainder of the 2016 season as a stagiaire, while Italian Pro-Continental squad Wilier Triestina-Southeast have brought onboard Moldavian national champion Cristian Raileanu and Spaniard Xuban Errazkin Perez.
"Jiang lives in the Netherlands for two years now and learned the language," Technical Director Nico Verhoeven said. "He is an all-round cyclist. We want to see what he's capable of in the future. At the moment, he is working towards the Chinese championship, the road race and time trial."
Jiang, 22, added that his goals revolve around improving his time trialling and the 'queen of the classics', Paris-Roubaix.
"I'm really looking forward to race with Team LottoNL-Jumbo. I've competed with the team before in the Tour de Hainan, and it's such a strong team," he said.
Raileanu, 23, has been one of the riders to watch in the Italian U23 racing scene while 19-year-old Perez won the opening stage of the Volta a Portugal do Futuro and has shown his abilities as a climber.
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