Nick Nuyens, already rumoured to not participate in the Worlds, has been confirmed to not make it to Stuttgart. Sportwereld.be reported that following his crash team selector Carlo Bomans made clear that "there is a difference between training and racing." It is doubtful the Belgian will participate in other races this season. Nuyens himself had consulted with a specialist and then agreed that the decision to not race the Worlds was the right one.
Italian head coach Franco Ballerini had dinner with Paolo Bettini Wednesday night at the Vuelta. The defending champion will surely be heading to Stuttgart. But the same cannot be said for Damiano Cunego. Ballerini was skeptical that the former Giro winner would be getting fit again quickly enough following his crash on stage one in the Spanish stage race. Cunego seemed to be going well, having won stage 4 in the Deutschland-Tour. The Italian couldn't confirm that he was not invited. "I have not heard yet that I will have to pass on the Worlds. I see Bettini as the man for the finale and [Filippo] Pozzato, [Davide] Rebellin and myself to be able to control the breaks."
Including defending champion Bettini the Italians can nominate ten riders. It looks as if Bettini, Danilo Di Luca, Pozzato, Rebellin, Alessandro Ballan, Alessandro Bertolini, Andrea Tonti and Marzio Bruseghin will definitely make it to Stuttgart, with Daniele Bennati, Vincenzo Nibali, Giovanni Visconti, Matteo Tosatto and Luca Mazzanti fighting it out for the remaining two spots, should Cunego really not get an invitation.
