Rabobank’s Pieter Weening has left it too late to make the trip north and compete in this Wednesday’s Flèche Wallonne. Like so many others, Weening has been affected by the restrictions on air travel as a result of volcanic ash from the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull glacier in southern Iceland.
“This is a catastrophe, I have had three weeks of optimal preparation and now it’s all thrown away with this [volcanic] ash cloud,” said a disappointed Weening.
In lieu of the problems over the last several days, the situation should not come as a surprise to the Rabobank rider. Several riders, including Caisse d’Epargne favorites Alejandro Valverde and Luis León Sanchez, waited too long to make the trip north for the Amstel Gold Race this past Sunday. Others, such as RadioShack’s veteran Chris Horner, took control of the situation and drove 1800 kilometers to finish in tenth place.
The Dutchman would have faced a 2100 kilometer drive from the Sierra Nevada mountains in southern Spain, and based on his team’s lack of results in their home race yesterday, they could have used the extra support for the rest of the Ardennes Classics.
Weening will now do some additional altitude training in the Sierra Nevada mountains and look to next week’s Tour of Romandie as his final preparation for the Giro d’Italia on May 8th. This year the Italian Grand Tour will start at home in Amsterdam giving the team another chance to perform well in front of its fans.