Michael Matthews will bring his winning sprint to RideLondon Classic for the first time, leading a powerful Orica-BikeExchange roster. The 200km, classics-style race, which uses various portions of the 2012 London Olympics route, will cater to the Australian's classic skills.
The race starts in Horse Guards Parade and then sends the peloton climbing up Leith Hill, over the Ranmore climb three times, and finally Box Hill before returning finish on The Mall.
"We are expecting it to be a very attacking race," Sport director Matt Wilson said in a team press release. "We have options for the different scenarios that could unfold.With Matthews, he is a clear leader for the race but like any one-day event anything can happen so we will still be keeping are options open."
Matthews most recently won stage 10 at the Tour de France in Revel.
Orica-BikeExchange will field six riders, along with Matthews will be Paris-Roubaix winner Mathew Hayman, Svein Tuft, Sam Bewley, Mitch Docker and Damian Howson.
"The guys are all in good shape," Wilson said. "Obviously Matthews and Hayman are coming straight from the Tour and the other guys have been racing lots so we have a really good, strong team going into the weekend."
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Dimension Data look for more success at Clasica San Sebastian
What a month it's been for Dimension Data after they came away from the Tour de France with five stage wins. The team isn't about to stop there as they look for more success at the upcoming Clasica San Sebastian, a debut race for the team.
It will be hard to top the success of Mark Cavendish's four stage wins and Stephen Cummings' single stage win at the French Grand Tour. At Clasica San Sebastian, the team will look to the likes of Serge Pauwels, Kanstantsin Siutsou and Adrien Niyonshuti for strong performances before the trio head to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
"Clasica San Sebastian is a famous and respected event which we are thrilled to be participating in for the first time," said directeur sportif Jens Zemke. "We will have an ambitious team taking to the start of the 36th Clasica San Sebastian, and we will aim for a top result. Serge Pauwels will bring the great vibe of a successful Tour de France with him to San Sebastian. Three of our riders will use the Clasica San Sebastian as their final race before going to the Olympics, Pauwels, Kanstantsin Siutsou and Adrien Niyonshuti. Some of our other riders will continue on to the Vuelta Burgos next week, so they are all motivated. Igor Anton, our Basque rider, will lead our African charge in his home event as we race to shed further light on our #BicycleChangeLives campaign this weekend in Donostia."
Dimension Data for Clasica San Sebastian: Serge Pauwels, Kanstantsin Siutsou and Adrien Niyonshuti, Nathan Haas, Jacques Janse van Rensburg, Merhawi Kudus and Songezo Jim
Rally Cycling's Britton brings climbing legs to Tour of Utah
Rally Cycling's Rob Britton will be on the start line at the Tour of Utah ready to climb with the best in the world. The race, which begins on August 1, is billed as the toughest stage race in America and the Canadian climber hopes to finish on the podium upon its conclusion on August 7.
“I’m really excited to be back racing with all the guys,” said Britton. "I’ve been up in Nederland, Colorado, preparing for the last two and half weeks and it's been going really well. The team has always performed well at the Tour of Utah, and we have great depth in terms of riders who can go for the general classification. I don’t see a repeat of last year’s success as something that is out of the question. I’m certainly not going there just to take in the sights.”
Last year, Rally Cycling (formerly called Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) had ample success winning two stages with Eric Young and Mike Woods, who held the leader’s yellow jersey before finishing second overall to Joe Dombrowski (Cannondale). Woods joined Cannondale-Drapac for the 2016 season, while Rally brought in Britton as the team's climber after he finished third overall at the USA Pro Challenge last year.
