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Broken Ribs Ends Chris Horner’s Season

chris_horner_vueltaVuelta a España champion Chris Horner is effectively ending his season after breaking ribs in a high speed crash at the World Championships last Sunday. The RadioShack rider, who was one of many riders involved in a huge pile-up in the first lap of the road race, broke ribs on the back side of his body and will not be able to participate in the races he was scheduled to ride, most notably Il Lombardia and the Tour of Beijing.

 

Horner commented: ‘Everything went well in the last couple of months, except for the World Championships. Broken ribs are really painful and I’ll be off the bike for at least two or three weeks. It’s sad that I can’t finish my season on a good note in Lombardy or China…’

 

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Chris Horner Misses Drugs Test

Chris Horner Misses Drugs TestChris Horner, who became the oldest Grand Tour race winner on Sunday with victory at the Vuelta a Espana has become embroiled in a row with anti-doping testers after apparently switching hotels to stay with his wife and missing a routine test.

 

In a strongly worded statement to the press Horner’s Team, RadioShack Leopard Trek, asked that: ‘the media to report correctly on this matter and will seek compensation for this matter with the responsible anti-doping agencies…’ RadioShack went as far as releasing an email from Horner to the officials, which, they say, substantiates his claims that he updated everyone on his whereabouts.

 

In their statement RadioShack said: ‘Chris Horner updated his whereabouts with USADA before the start of the final stage, giving the agency the name of his hotel for the night, phone number and room number for his one hour window between 6 and 7 AM. This is all according to the rules and Chris Horner received a confirmation email… The anti-doping inspectors from the Spanish Anti-doping Agency that were asked to do the test by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) showed up at the wrong hotel in Madrid, where the team was staying but Horner was obviously not to be found.’

 

They concluded their missive: ‘The team believes the communication between the Spanish Anti-doping Agency and the media is a violation of the privacy of Chris Horner, especially since it comes down to a clear mistake by the tester.’

 

Neither Horner nor the USADA (or their Spanish counterparts) have, so far, added any further comment or response.

 

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Fränk Schleck Dropped by Leopard

Fränk Schleck Dropped by LeopardRadioShack Leopard Trek have formally announced that they will be ending their association with Fränk Schleck, the older brother of Andy, winner of the 2010 Tour de France. The decision comes ahead of Fränk Schleck’s doping suspension for the use of the diuretic Xipamide in the 2011 TdF coming to an end.

 

An official statement from Leopard read, ‘With the end of Fränk Schleck’s suspension approaching, Leopard and its partners have assessed the situation in view of a possible renewal of the collaboration with Fränk Schleck. Having finalized this assessment in a broad and objective way, Leopard has decided to not renew the collaboration between Fränk Schleck and the RadioShack Leopard Trek cycling team.’ It concluded, perhaps a little curtly: ‘Leopard wishes Fränk Schleck a successful continuation of his career.’

 

It may seem a little ironic that Andy Schleck’s 2010 win at the Tour de France was awarded as a result of Alberto Contador’s disqualification for doping.

 

It was recently announced that Trek Bicycle had reached an agreement with Leopard SA to acquire the WorldTour license following RadioShack’s decision earlier this year to end their funding support of the team (more on Cyclo here). With the team reshaping for the start of the 2014 season they have confirmed the signing of 2013 Ronde Van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix champion, Fabian Cancellara – more here.

 

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Fabian Cancellara Wins Eighth National TT

Fabian Cancellara Wins Eighth National TTIn hot conditions RadioShack Leopard Trek’s Fabian Cancellara has won the Swiss Time Trial Championships to take his eighth national TT title. Despite a slow start, which saw him seven seconds down on the competition at the first split, the former Olympian and double Road Race Champion completed the 38.8km course around Satigny (near Geneva) in 50’35”, beating Martin Elmiger and Reto Hollenstein into second and third respectively.

 

Team Manager Luca Guercilena, commented on the heat of competition: ‘Besides a recon ride of the lap, Fabian didn’t do an real warm-up. The temperature was over 36 degrees, so that was a deliberate strategy of ours. He started off a bit slower than Elmiger, to get the machine working, but then he picked up speed and really started going fast. He was sweating like a horse!’

 

For his part Cancellara added, ‘It never gets boring to win your National Championships. For me it’s an honor to wear the jersey, so I really went for it… It was really, really hard. The course was up and down the whole time and with these temperatures, it made for a tough ride. I still felt the Tour de Suisse in my legs, despite the good feelings on the bike yesterday. For me it was also a test to see where my shape is at. I’m certainly satisfied.’

 

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RadioShack Announce Tour de France Squad

Andy SchleckRadioShack Leopard Trek have finalised and confirmed their team for the 100th edition of the Tour de France, which begins in Corsica on June 29. Andy Schleck, the 2010 TdF champion, will lead the squad with support from Jan Bakelants, Laurent Didier, Tony Gallopin, Markel Irizar, Andreas Klöden, Maxime Monfort, Jens Voigt and Haimar Zubeldia. The Tour marks Schleck’s full return following on-going health problems after the pelvis fracture he suffered during the 2012 Critérium du Dauphiné.

 

RadioShack’s Team General Manager, Luca Guercilena, commented on the announcement, ‘We are happy to see that Andy is back… Little by little he has come back to the level where we expect him. The Tour de Suisse encouraged and convinced us to give him the role he deserves and to give him the opportunity to have dedicated riders surrounding and supporting him. Of course we don’t put pressure on our champion. After the last twelve months it would be unrealistic to expect a podium place. On the other hand, the lack of stress and pressure can be a positive stimulus to a brilliant performance…’

 

In addition to Schleck’s not inconsiderable TdF form RadioShack’s chances are bolstered by the presence of Andreas Klöden and Haimar Zubeldia, both Tour de France specialists; Klöden has twice finished second overall whilst Zubeldia has finished four times in the top ten places.