Two Canadian cyclists miss the Games
The Commonwealth Games have seen a large number of top athletes cancelling their plans to participate, and two more cyclists have abandoned at the last minutes. Canadian cyclists Svein Tuft and Alison
Testroete have both given up their spots on the national team shortly before they were scheduled to depart for New Delhi.
“Svein’s presence will be missed in Delhi,” said Jacques Landry, performance director of Canadian Cycling. “Given Svein’s ride in Melbourne it has become apparent that the weight of a full season has caught
up to him and he is in dire need of a mental and physical rest.”
Most cancellations have been the result of severe infrastructure problems and a long list of safety issues, including the sanitation, Dengue fever and the possibility of sectarian violence.
It is for these reasons that the multi-national members of Team Sky have dropped out one by one, ultimately spurring the entire British cycling team to back out. Australian Mark Renshaw was the next to
quit, citing that there was nobody left worth competing against.
''To be honest, now the whole British team has pulled out,” said Renshaw. “The point comes where [you ask] is it worth going when we are only going to be racing against India and a couple of these other
countries. It's not going to be a 100 per cent strong field.''
The Canadians have cited their own reasons for leaving, though it’s clear they are less willing to push themselves under the circumstances. Tuft has chosen to end his season and slowly settle into his
winter training, while Testroete has left due to injury. The 27-year-old cyclist was involved in a minor accident while training in Italy and has cited a jaw injury as keeping her off her bike.
“Our thoughts are with Alison as she lives through this,” said Landry. "We sincerely hope that she will be on the road to recovery and we are disappointed that she will not be part of the Canadian delegation
in Delhi as she is a valuable asset to our team given the type of road course at these Games. Her presence will be missed.”
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