Ireland’s Philip Deignan chats with Thor Hushovd in the Tour de Suisse in June
Ireland’s Philip Deignan has been named in the Radioshack team for the Tour of Beijing, which will be his last stage race with the squad before he takes his place with US-based Unitedhealthcare.
While the Donegal man will join Nicolas Roche on the start line at the Olympic Bird’s Nest Stadium for Wednesday’s opening stage, an administrative mix-up has ruled out Irish national champion Matt Brammeier.
Deignan and Roche will both be looking for a good late season result in the five-day race in China, having both experienced a year when they were some way off their best.
They have both raced in China before, having ridden the Olympic road race in 2008.
Advertisement
Deignan’s Radioshack Tour of Beijing team will be led by Slovenian Janez Brajkovic. A former U23 World TT champion from 2004, he also won the Criterium du Dauphine in 2010 and the Tour of Georgia in 2007.
Related News
While Deignan will most likely assume a support role in China, he has spent recent months racing in the US where he rode the Tour of Utah and US Pro Cycling Challenge and showed some very good form in helping his team to GC victory in both.
He may get a chance to grab a result for himself in Beijing if the opportunity arises. Roche will be joint leader of his Ag2r squad, sharing that role with Jean Christophe Peraud, the former mountain biker who was 10th overall in the Tour de France this year.
Matt Brammeier’s HTC-Highroad squad were only confirmed for the Beijing race late in the day meaning the Irish road race and TT champion did not have enough time to get his visa in order.
Some teams were considering a boycott of the UCI-organised race as part of their ongoing dispute with the UCI over race radios. The boycott-based row was only resolved in recent weeks, leaving some of the teams with very little time to apply for visas and catching out Brammeier.
The race opens with an 11.3km individual TT in Beijing on Wednesday. It is the hilly stage 3 on Friday that is expected to shape the final GC, with the terrain likely to suit both Deignan and Roche.
The event ends next Sunday with a 118km race through the streets of Beijing, starting at Tian An Men Square.
Deignan will soon trade his Radioshack colours for Unitedhealthcare
Topics
