News Shorts: Bora-Argon 18 announce Tour de France long list
Cycling club auctions Wiggins' California jersey for charity; Three US riders named to UCI Athletes Commission; Boonen to lead Etixx-QuickStep at Rund um Köln
Bora-Argon 18 announce long list for Tour de France roster
Bora-Argon 18 has announced the long list of riders being considered for this year’s Tour de France, the second time that the German Pro Continental team has received a wildcard invitation.
Three weeks before the start of the world’s most prestigious race, team manager Ralph Denk picked the extended line-up of 13 riders that will be pared down to nine for the July race.
"We will start with a dual leadership in this year’s Tour de France,” Denk said. “Therefore, we decided already on the key positions in our squad. After the very successful first half of the season, Sam Bennett will make his debut in a Grand Tour. He is one of the fastest men in the peloton and he deserves to compete with the best sprinters in the biggest race of the world.
"In addition, Dominik Nerz is our man for the general classification,” Denk said. “We work with him very hard on his preparation since the beginning of the year. After a setback in the winter by an illness, we are now completely on schedule.
"In accordance with this, we’ll add riders to our tour line-up who support Sam in the sprint preparation and are helpful for Dominik in the mountains. The squad further will be completed with riders who can achieve a result at selected stages, such as Jan Barta in the time trial.”
The team will make the final selection of nine riders after the Ster ZLM Toer on June 23.
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Long list Bora-Argon 18 for the Tour de France 2015:
Jan Barta (30, CZE), Cesare Benedetti (27, ITA), Sam Bennett (24, IRL), Emanuel Buchmann (22, GER), Zakkari Dempster (27, AUS), Bartosz Huzarski (34, POL), Patrick Konrad (23, AUS), Jose Mendes (30, POR), Dominik Nerz (25, GER), Cristiano Salerno (30, ITA), Andreas Schillinger (31, GER), Björn Thurau (26, GER), Paul Voss (29, GER)
Georgia Gould will represent mountain biking on the UCI Athletes Commission.
Boonen headlines Etixx-QuickStep roster for Rund um Köln
Etixx-QuickStep today announced the selection that will participate in Rund um Köln, a 196.7km one-day race on Sunday.
Participating in the race for Etixx-Quick-Step will be Carlos Verona, Lukasz Wisniowski, Nikolas Maes, Gianni Meersman, Petr Vakoc, Yves Lampaert, Guillame Van Keirsbulck and Tom Boonen.
"The parcours of the race in the first part is quite demanding, with up-and-down continuously," said team director Tom Steels. "So it is difficult to control. It should be an opportunity for a breakaway to establish itself.
“The team will have to stay focused and maybe jump into a few actions. Then, in the last 50 kilometres, it is completely flat. So the chance is always there for the bunch sprint. We will try to race smart, be in good actions, and be there in case of a bunch arrival.
“This is also an important moment for two guys like Carlos Verona and Lukasz Wisniowski, as they are returning from injury and this gives them important competition to build their condition. We'll see what they can do and we are happy they return to competition after a few weeks off."
Tom Boone wil compete this weekend at Rund um Köln. (Tim de Waele/TDWSport).
