Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) has said that he has no particular preference on which Grand Tours he rides in 2014. While his former Sky teammate Chris Froome has already expressed misgivings about the nature of the 2015 Tour de France parcours, Uran is relaxed in his outlook on the merits of riding the Tour or the Giro d’Italia.
“Both the Giro and the Tour are equally important,” Uran said, according to Biciciclismo. “I’ll be ready to go anywhere. I have nothing confirmed. The only thing that’s confirmed is that I’m on holiday, brother.”
Uran has finished second in the past two editions of the Giro and he has ridden the Italian race and the Vuelta a España in each of the past three seasons. His last Tour de France appearance came in 2011, when he finished 23rd in Paris.
A strong climber, Uran has made strides as a time triallist since joining QuickStep and he won the Barolo time trial in this year’s Giro. He acknowledged that the relative lack of mileage against the clock means the 2015 Tour will be a novel one.
“The course is very different. The Tour usually has one or two long time trials but in 2015 there’s just one very short one,” he said. “The Tour has a lot of explosive finishes too, so it’s changed a lot.”
Uran explained that he will not define his race programme for 2015 until he returns to Europe for QuickStep’s first pre-season training camp in December.
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Wanty-Groupe Gobert continues to builds roster for 2015
Antonini recently won the Giro della Regione Friuli while racing for Marchiol Emisfero. “In Antonini we get a young Italian within the team who has the possibility to progress and who has the ability to climb,” sports director Hilaire Van Der Schueren said.
Dron raced with Wallonie-Bruxelles where he was second at the GP Zottegem in 2013. “Dron is a rider who rides well from the beginning to the end of a season,” sports director Van Der Schueren said. “He is attacking a lot, is motivated and has plenty of room for improvement too.”
The team also announced re-signing Frederik Veuchelan and Jan Ghyselinck.
