The government of Burkina Faso has cancelled this year’s Tour du Faso due to fears of the ebola epidemic. The race had been scheduled for October 23-November 2.
The country has not had any reported ebola cases, nor does it border the lands which have been hardest hit by the illness. However, the government said, in light of the current situation, “we do not care to organize large gatherings. Our responsibility requires us to take even more precautions.”
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Keisse ends season with fracture in hip
Iljo Keisse has ended his road racing season after a crash in the Primus Classic Impanis-Van Petegem last month. The Omega Pharma-QuickStep rider expects to be able to start training for the track again in two weeks, and to ride his usual Six Day race programme.
The 31-year-old Belgian suffered a “small fracture to his left acetabulum,” the hipbone socket for the femur. It was only diagnosed this week.
“For me, I can ride my bike for a short ride or on the track, but we decided to stop my road season to avoid any risks connected to bad roads or cobblestones that in this moment can generate vibrations on my hip and possibly cause problems,” he said in a team press release.
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“I am sad to see my season end this way, but the injury will require only a couple weeks to heal. So, with such a short healing time, it would make no sense to take risks rather than simply focus on recovery and getting back to training as soon as possible."
Bos back on track
Theo Bos will bridge the gap from his current team of Belkin to his 2015 team MTN-Qhubeka by returning to the track. He has already claimed five world titles and an Olympic silver medal in track events.
He recently joined the Dutch team in a two-week training camp for the upcoming European Track Championships, where he will ride the team pursuit. The championships are to be held from October 15-19 on the French island of Guadeloupe.
"I've trained with the team in recent months, it's cool," Bos told Nieuwsblad.be. "It’s wonderful when it goes well, but also a terrible discipline if you fail. I noticed right away that it was doing something with my speed on the road. After the first training on the track I started winning sprints again.’”
This year the 31-year-old has won stages in the Tour of Poland and the Tour of Alberta, and has claimed 36 career wins on the road.
Cornelisse to MTN-Qhubeka
Michel Cornelisse will be a Sport Director for MTN-Qhubeka for the coming year, he has told telesport.nl. He has a one-year contract with an option for 2016.
“It is a very ambitious team,” said Cornelisse, who already worked for the team this season. “It’s nice that I can now continue with the team and that we can all take another step forward together.”
Cornelisse, 48, most recently worked as a directeur sportif for Vacansoliel. He rode professionally from 1987 to 2000.
