Nick Nuyens out of Tour of Flanders
Nick Nuyens of Team Saxo Bank Sungard was aiming the Tour of Flanders as the biggest goal of his 2012 season.
However, his crash during the opening stage of the Paris-Nice has now ruined his chances to ride the Tour of Flanders, starting on April 1st, 2012.
Nuyens started the second stage of the race but the fatigue of the crash was clear as he stumbled his way towards the finish-line.
He had to abandon the race and has now ruled himself out of the Tour of Flanders. Nick is extremely disappointed about missing out on the opportunity.
“This is an enormous blow to me personally and to the team, and I'm of course very sad right now, I really felt I was on schedule to peak again in the Tour of Flanders, and I was looking very much forward to defend my victory,” he briefed.
Nick further added, “But now I know this is not going to happen. Crashes do happen in cycling, that's just the way it is, and I have to accept that, but this crash couldn't come at a worse time”.
Bjarne Riis of Team Saxo Bank is already going through a difficult time and Nuyens’ exclusion from the classic is definitely a big blow to his team.
The Danish team was left shattered after its star rider, Alberto Contador, was banned from professional cycling, earlier in February 2012.
Alberto was accused of using clenbuterol at the Tour de France 2010 and Court of Arbitration for Sport handed him a two-year ban.
The Spaniard has also been stripped-off from all his victories since the 2010 version of the French race.
The ban prevents him from riding most of the major cycling events of the season, namely the Tour de France, Giro d’ Italia and the London Olympics.
Contador will return back to professional cycling in August and his home Grand Tour is the only major race available for him.
Only time will tell how Team Saxo Bank plans for the coming races, as its two main soldiers are now out of its army for the first half of the 2012 season.
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