David de la Cruz (Quick-Step Floors), Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) and Daniel Moreno (Movistar) headline the 15-man pre-selection named by Spanish national coach Javier Minguez for the World Championships in Bergen, Norway later this month.
The Spanish team will be without six-time Worlds medallist Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), who fractured his kneecap in a crash on the opening stage of the Tour de France, and Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo), who will bring the curtain down on his professional career on Sunday's final stage of the Vuelta a España.
There are no fewer than eight Movistar riders in the pre-selection, with Moreno joined by Jonathan Castroviejo, Carlos Barbero, Imanol Erviti, Jesús Herrada, Gorka Izagirre, José Joaquín Rojas and Marc Soler.
ADVERTISEMENT
Caja Rural-Seguros RGA has three riders in the pre-selection in the form of Lluis Mas, Diego Rubio and Héctor Sáez. The roster is completed by Luis Angel Mate (Cofidis) and Juanjo Lobato (LottoNL-Jumbo), who sprinted to a stage win at last month's Tour de l'Ain. There is no place for Mikel Landa (Sky), who is expected to ride Il Lombardia the following week.
Minguez will select a final team of nine riders from the 15-man longlist.
Spain enjoyed a flurry of success at the Worlds in the decade after Abraham Olano became the first Spanish world road race champion in 1995, with Oscar Freire claiming a hat-trick of titles and Igor Astarloa winning in Hamilton in 2003. Freire's third title in Verona in 2004 remains Spain's last rainbow jersey, however, and Minguez acknowledged that his team did not have a favourite in its ranks this time around.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/2xjhjVM
No comments:
Post a Comment