Australian team robbed during fire evacuation at athlete's village in Rio - News Shorts

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Members of the Australian team participating at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro were forced to evacuate the building they are staying at in the athlete's village due to a fire. Upon return to their quarters, some had found their belongings had been robbed, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.

The report noted that some 100 members of the team were evacuated for 30 minutes due to a fire suspected to have been started by a worker's cigarette in the basement of the building. The stolen items included Zika-protective shirts and a cycling official's laptop.

In addition, workers had been given permission to disable the fire alarm, without notifying the Australian team, and so it was not functioning during the time of the fire. "Obviously that is completely unacceptable that (a) the fire alarm was disabled and (b) that if it had to be, that we weren't warned about that," Australian chef de mission Kitty Chiller said in the report.

Tony Martin on his way to Rio

Tony Martin has decided to travel to the Olympic Games after a knee injury left his participation in doubt. Racing for the German national team, Martin is a key contender for the time trial on August 10.

He abandoned the Tour de France during the finale stage 21 citing knee pain that started during the previous day's stage 20. On Tuesday, Martin announced on his website that he would in fact be travelling to Rio.

"After some indecision the last few days because of my knee pains, I finally left for Rio today. During my last test today I had no pain and I hope to come through the Games well. I have seen a lot of my doctor and physio the last few days and we debated a long time as to whether I should give another cyclist the chance to start. But together we decided that we will give it a go.

"I am now looking forward to my second Games and the very special mood at the Olympics. I will report again from Rio."

Tour of Britain announces final three teams

Organisers of the Tour of Britain announced the final three Continental teams that will participate in the event to include JLT Condor presented by Mavic, Madison Genesis and NFTO. The race takes place from September 4-11.

The first 17 teams were announced in July. "The three remaining teams secured their places in Britain’s biggest professional cycle race as a result of their performances across the Motorpoint Spring Cup and Grand Prix Series events and UCI events held in Britain, culminating in the weekend’s Prudential RideLondon – Surrey Classic," read a statement from the organisation.

Current list of teams to race at the 2016 Tour of Britain

• An Post Chain Reaction (IRL)
• Bardiani CSF (Ita)
• BMC Racing Team (USA)
• Cannondale Drapac Pro Cycling Team (USA)
• Caja Rural – Seguros RGA (SPA)
• Great Britain national team (GBR)
• Lotto Soudal (BEL)
• ONE Pro Cycling (GBR)
• Orica BikeExchange (AUS)
• Movistar Team (SPA)
• Team Dimension Data (RSA)
• Team Giant Alpecin (GER)
• Team LottoNL Jumbo (NED)
• Team Sky (GBR)
• Team WIGGINS (GBR)
• Trek Segafredo (USA)
• Wanty Groupe Gobert (BEL)
• JLT Condor p/b Mavic
• Madison Genesis
• NFTO

Lampre-Merida hires three trainees

Lampre-Merida has signed three trainees to debut in August including Edward Ravasi, Oliviero Troia and Fausto Masnada, all from Team Colpack.

Ravasi will have his second experience as a trainee with the WorldTour team after last year. Troia is a member of the Italian national team and has experience racing both domestically and internationally. He attended a training camp with Lampre-Merdia and is familiar with the team already. Masnada won in Giro del Medio Brenta this year and the Piccolo Giro di Lombardia last year.

"Our project for valorizing the youth talent finds an additional confirmation from the experience as trainees which will be lived by our three riders," said team manager from Team Colpack, Antonio Bevilacqua. "We're very happy for Edward, Oliviero and Fausto, who'll have the opportunity to test themselves in the pro world. Many thanks to Lampre-Merida and to Giuseppe Saronni for their support to our team and to these athletes, with a special thank to Fabrizio Bontempi, who's working in close contact with us in order to make this cooperation as more incisive as possible."