News shorts: 16 teams for Critérium International, Horner shows off Airgas-Safeway wheels

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The final GC podium at Critérium International (L-R): Mathias Frank, Jean-Christophe Peraud and Tiago Machado(Image credit: AFP)

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The WorldTour stage race Volta a Catalunya announced seven teams which will receive wild card invitations to the race, in addition to the 18 WorldTour teams. Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, the only Pro Continental team in Spain, topped the list, which also includes three French squads, Europcar, Cofidis and Bretagne-Seche Environnement. The Colombia squad, Wanty-Groupe Gobert and CCC Sprandi Polkowice round out the selection.

“We are happy and proud of the trust Volta a Catalunya showed to us," Colombia manager Claudio Corti said. "It’s a race with a great tradition, and certainly suited to our climbers’ characteristics. To us, the Volta a Catalunya invitation is an acknowledgement of the team’s technical and organizational value, and of all the work we made through the past seasons: we are ready to stand up to this new challenge.”

Wanty has a focus on the Spring Classics, and will head to the race with the intention of backing Enrico Gasparotto, a former winner of the Amstel Gold Race. “A race of this level, with the depth of riders that takes the start and the length of the stages, is important as preparation for the Ardennes races Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège," sports director Hilaire Van Der Schueren said.

“When I heard Jim had started Knight Composites here in Bend, I knew we (Airgas-Safeway) had to meet with them and test their new wheels for the team,” said Horner. “I gotta say that they didn’t let me down. Knight wheels are stiff, they’re superfast with amazing braking power and built for everything the road and the weather here can throw at them. But then that’s pretty much exactly what I expected from the people Jim put together.”

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