Colombian rider Eduard Beltran, seen here signing for Tinkoff-Saxo earlier in the year will not make the Giro start in Belfast on Friday due to visa problems.
Nicolas Roche's Tinkoff-Saxo team have been hit by visa problems ahead of Friday's Giro d'Italia start in Befast.
"Unfortunately, some of my team-mates are still on standby for the Giro because of administration problems," Roche wrote in his Irish Independent diary at the Tour of Romandie on Sunday.
"Of our nine-man Tinkoff-Saxo team, we have two Russians (Nikolay Trusov and Ivan Rovny) and our Colombian Edward Beltran still waiting on visas from the British Embassy.
"They will only know tomorrow, four days from the start, if they will be riding the Giro. If not, we have three other riders on standby ready to replace them, but it's a bit of a mess, and is happening with other teams too."
Advertisement
While Rovny and Trusov got their visas on Monday, new signing Beltran didn't and will now miss the chance to ride his first Grand Tour in Ireland.
Related News
Beltran is not the only Colombian rider to have visa problems lately with Omega Pharma Quickstep and other squads also complaining about the delays in getting their riders visas to race.
Team Colombia were recently sidelined from the Tour of Turkey due to administration delays while Russians Maxim Iglinsky and Alexi Lutsenko also failed to get visas for Northern Ireland and will not be on the Giro start line for Astana.
Beltran will be replaced on the Tinkoff-Saxo team by Australian rider Jay McCarthy.
Nicolas Roche is settling in in Belfast and has been meeting plenty of Irish fans; seen here with Banbridge CC's Steve Prentice
Topics
