2010 champion to miss 1.HC race
A total of four UCI ProTeams will dispute this year’s Japan Cup, with the Garmin-Cervélo squad of defending champion Dan Martin not taking part this time round. The Irishman soloed to victory last year but it appears that his season will end in this Sunday’s Giro di Lombardia rather than continuing on until the October 23rd date of the Japanese race.
A stage winner and thirteenth overall in the recent Vuelta a España, Martin has made Lombardia his big target for the end of the season. He showed good form ten days ago with third place in the Memorial Marco Pantani.
The top-level teams travelling to the 1.1 event are Liquigas-Cannondale, Saxo Bank-Sungard, Lampre-ISD and Astana.
As noted by Cyclism’Actu, there is just one Continentale Pro squad, namely Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli. The field will also include eight Continental teams, including Jelly Belly Cycling, D’Angelo & Antenucci – Nippo, Genesys Wealth Advisers, Azad University, Aisan Racing, Bridgestone Anchor, Matrix Powertag, Shimano Racing and Utsunomiya Blitzen.