Alex Dowsett breaks British 25 mile time trial record

Alex Dowsett breaks British 25 mile time trial record

Movistar's Alex Dowsett has broken the national British 25 mile time trial record in a time of 44:29 minutes becoming the first rider to break the 45-minute barrier.  Matt Bottrill held the previous best time, set in September 2014, with 45:43 minutes.

Dowsett, the former world hour record holder, made his attempt on the E2/25 course, east of Cambridge, uploading his ride onto Strava.

The 27-year-old has won four of the last five national time trial titles and will line up in late June for his fifth career win in Stockton-on-Tess.

Broken elbow for Johan Van Zyl in final stage Giro d'Italia crash

Johann Van Zyl was just over 30km away from finishing his debut Giro d'Italia before disaster struck and the South African found himself on the ground, nursing a broken elbow. The 25-year-old made his grand tour debut at last year's Vuelta a Espana, finishing in 128th position, and entered the final stage of the three week race in 79th position.

Having finished the Giro in an ambulance, Van Zyl provided an update on his injury, Tweeting "Not the best way to end a beautiful race. Unfortunately I have broken my elbow which needs to be pimped tomorrow".

Van Zyl was aggressive on stage 3 of the Giro when he made a late bid for victory from the day long breakaway but ultimately came up short.

Gilbert and BMC head to Tour de Luxembourg 

Philippe Gilbert's return to racing from injury at the Tour de Luxembourg has been confirmed by his BMC team with the American team naming its seven rider squad. It will be the former world champions first appearance at the 2.HC race,

"I am very happy to be back racing again and I am looking forward to lining up at the the SkodaTour de Luxembourg for the first time in my career. I have a lot of friends and fans in Luxembourg and my family are originally from Liège which is not too far away so they will be able come to see me and that gives me more motivation to be strong and do my best," Gilbert said of his return.

Sports director Jackson Stewart explained the team's aim for the race is to animate the five stages and bring home some stage wins.

We will be taking a strong, well-balanced roster to the SkodaTour de Luxembourg with experienced riders such as Philippe Gilbert and Jempy Drucker, who will be racing on home soil. We will also be looking for equal success from the four younger riders on the squad. Everyone is coming into this race following some good weeks of preparation and we are looking forward to being competitive in Luxembourg," Stewart said.

Jempy Drucker has also been selected for what is his home race and provides the team with an option in the sprints.

The race starts on June 1 with a 2.8km prologue in Luxembourg City, concluding June 5 with a 178.2km stage from Mersch to Luxembourg.

BMC Racing for the Tour de Luxembourg: Tom Bohli (Sui), Marcus Burghardt (Ger), Jempy Drucker (Lux), Floris Gerts (Ned), Philippe Gilbert (Bel), Dylan Teuns (Bel), Peter Velits (Svk and Loïc Vliegen (Bel).

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