Cycling: The 2018 WorldTour season starts tonight with the Tour Down Under. However, the Sky and Lotto Soudal teams will be one man down at the start. The Belgian team is missing Bjorg Lambrecht, the British team has to do without Kristoffer Halvorsen.
Halvorsen returned to Europe after a fall
Actually it should People's Choice Classic just a casual warm-up before the start of the Tour Down Under. For Kristoffer Halvorsen, however, the short criterion was the end of the beginning, so to speak. Team Sky's Norwegian sprinter fell during the bunch sprint and injured his hand. As announced by Team Sky, he will not be able to compete in the Tour Down Under. On the contrary: Halvorsen has already left for Europe.
Updated: Team Sky's Kristoffer Halvorsen fractures hand in People's Choice Classic crash | https://t.co/Wa4k1L2Nxi #TDU pic.twitter.com/b7jAFp9S5A
— Cycling Weekly (@cyclingweekly) 15 January 2018
An administrative error prevents Lambrecht from starting
The Belgian team Lotto Soudal also has to compete in Australia with one man less. According to UCI regulations, Bjorg Lambrecht, who is only 20 years old, cannot be nominated. In order to receive official clearance, a driver must have been in the Whereabouts program for at least 42 days. Lambrecht did not receive his login data until December 15th. Instead of leaving early, the young Belgian will train in Australia for a week. After the Tour Down Under, he then travels from Adelaide to Melbourne with his teammates. There he will be at the start of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
Bjorn Lambrecht: “It's disappointing when you hear that you're not allowed to start. We came to Australia a week ago. I felt comfortable in the group and was looking forward to my first professional race.”
No @bjorg_lambrecht at #TDU: https://t.co/qpdUjnD3VL pic.twitter.com/LcyBeHoEwa
- Lotto Soudal (@Lotto_Soudal) 15 January 2018
Cover photo sources: left: Getty Images / right: Twitter @bjorg_lambrecht
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