Hincapie, Evans back in action
Riders boasting two of the most distinctive jerseys in the peloton – George Hincapie and Cadel Evans – both return to action this weekend following some serious injuries.
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Riders boasting two of the most distinctive jerseys in the peloton – George Hincapie and Cadel Evans – both return to action this weekend following some serious injuries.
Hincapie and Evans, riding in the U.S. national champion’s jersey and the world championships jersey, respectively, line up again this weekend with BMC.
Hincapie is slated to start the pair of Canadian ProTour races while Evans will race in Paris-Bruxelles and GP de Fourmies. Both events will help hone their form ahead of defending their respective titles in the coming weeks.
Hincapie crashed out of the Tour of Utah on August 19, which left him with 18 stitches in his knee and cuts to his shoulder and face.
“We’ll see how it goes in the coming days and if he has the possibility to race the two ProTour races in Canada, just to get him two more racing days and more training,” said BMC director John Lelangue in a team statement. “I hope to see him at 100 percent for the nationals because it’s a special race, he’s the defending champion and he’s at home.”
Hincapie, Alessandro Ballan, Karsten Kroon and Mauro Santambrogio will be joined by the Americans Chad Beyer, Brent Bookwalter and Jeff Louder, plus the Swiss rider Danilo Wys. World road race champion Cadel Evans had originally been scheduled to take part but his ongoing recovery from an elbow fracture sustained in the Tour de France led to him deciding to stay in Europe and compete instead there.
In all, each of the 18 ProTour teams will field eight riders. The top-class lineup will also include wildcard invitations to four other squads, namely the BMC Racing Team, BBox Bouygues Télécom, Cofids and the Canadian National Team.
Over in Europe, Evans will race for the first time since breaking his elbow during the Tour de France in July. Lelangue said Evans will be seeking race conditioning now that his elbow is fully healed.
“The good thing is that he can extend his elbow completely with no pain,” Lelangue said. “He will be racing to help the team and regain the conditioning that he is missing. Cadel was unable to come to Canada because it was necessary to totally stop training after the Tour and do physical therapy. Since then, he’s done some good altitude training.”