Tom Van Asbroeck (LottoNl-Jumbo)(Image credit: ASO)
Davide Villella and his Cannondale-Drapac teammates at sign on(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Simon Clarke (Aus) Cannondale Pro Cycling(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
While the riders' association battles with the UCI over the use of disc brakes in the professional peloton, Cannondale-Drapac will become the first WorldTour team of the season to field its entire squad on disc brake bikes at the Ruta del Sol this week.
Rigoberto Uran, newcomer Hugh Carthy and sprinter Tom Van Asbroeck will be the team's top prospects for results in the race, which is also known as the Vuelta a Andalucia.
While Quick-Step Floors has had Tom Boonen using discs in the Vuelta a San Juan, and Marcel Kittel on them in Dubai, Cannondale-Drapac is following a plan it formulated before the season started. "Cannondale and Slipstream Sports came up with a disc-brake plan for the season, which includes different bike races throughout the year," sport director Andreas Klier said. "In all of those races we will use disc brakes for the entire team, not just several riders."
Klier said the riders would provide feedback for the team and its sponsor on the disc brakes, which could also help either confirm or assuage fears expressed by the UCI that mixing different braking technologies in the peloton is inherently dangerous.
The UCI re-introduced disc brakes on January 1 after a temporary halt to their use after last year's Paris-Roubaix. The CPA penned a strongly worded letter to the UCI this week, demanding that disc brakes be banned until the entire peloton could be on them at the same time.
Cannondale-Drapac for Ruta del Sol: Nate Brown, Hugh Carthy, Simon Clarke, Kristijan Koren, Pierre Rolland, Rigoberto Uran, Tom Van Asbroeck.
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