At the team presentation for the opening stage of the Tour de Normandie in France on Monday morning, the An Post-Chainreaction only had five riders on stage after one of the riders was caught up by flight disruption caused by French air traffic control strikes.
By Brian Canty
The An Post-Chainreaction team was dealt a major pre-race blow on Monday when top Aussie rider Calvin Watson couldn’t make the start of the Tour de Normandie.
He fell victim to the French airport strikes that have grounded some flights and halted many more.
The 23-year old had been on the Irish team’s six-man squad for the seven-day race.
And apparently without enough time to organise a replacement, Kurt Bogaert's and Sean Kelly's team had no choice but to press on and start with just five men.
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It was a less than ideal scenario at the beginning of what will be a testing race. Watson was clearly not amused and took to twitter to voice his anger at the events.
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Unfortunately can't make it to the start line of @tourdenormandie Flight cancelled due to French air strike! #shattered
— Calvin Watson (@calvin_watson) March 20, 2016
Connor McConvey, Jack Wilson, Nicolas Vereecken, Jasper Bovenhuis and Emiel Wastyn make up the rest of the team's line-up.
Normandie is a race where most squads taking part at Continental-level like An Post-Chainreaction.
Team Joker from Norway have a strong line-up, as do the Rabobank Development, JLT-Condor and SEG Racing teams.
Connor McConvey warms up for his opening prologue time trial effort in France this morning.
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