Thursday's British news round-up

• Thursday, 5 February 2009
• Andrew Canning
• 0 Comments

---

FLEEMAN TO LANGKAWI
Britain’s Dan Fleeman will make his debut for the Cervélo Test Team at the Tour de Langkawi, which starts on Monday of next week.

Fleeman will be the sole Briton in the race; a strong climber, it will be interesting to see how competitive he is in a race in which he has often ridden well.

The new team is currently riding very strongly at the Tour of Qatar and clearly has designs at Langkawi, with the inclusion of some of the team's strongest climbers, with Fleeman and young Spaniard, Oscar Pujol, two names to watch out for.

Cervélo Test Team line-up for the Tour de Langkawi: Dan Fleeman, Phillip Deignan, Jose Angel Gomez Marchante, Joaquin Novoa, Oscar Pujol, Marcel Wyss

2009 Tour de Langkawi: February 9-15

See this week’s Cycling Weekly for an interview with the British riders on the Cervélo team.

---

CAVENDISH IN CALIFORNIA
Britain’s Mark Cavendish will make the journey across the Atlantic next week to ride in the Tour of California.

Cavendish, who yesterday won a stage in the Tour of Qatar against his nemesis Tom Boonen, will once again come up against the Belgian plus Juan José Haedo, Francesco Chicchi and Thor Hushovd.

Columbia line-up for Tour of California: Mark Cavendish, George Hincapie, Thomas Lövkvist, Michael Rogers, Michael Barry, Mark Renshaw, Adam Hansen, Kim Kirchen

2009 Tour of California: February 14-22

---

SPORTS BEANS UPDATE
January was a month of anticipation for the Sports Beans squad, looking ahead to what will be an action-packed domestic season.

The team took delivery of its bikes for the new season, the brand-new Wilier Cento Uno; first reports from the riders have been positive with Will Bjergfelt even hitting 70km/h while motor-pacing.

The new team kit will be arriving soon and will look largely the same as last year’s. Looking ahead to the racing season, the Sports Beans squad was pleased to discover it is one of ten UK-based teams to have been invited to compete in the new Tour Series criteriums.

The first target of the season, however, will be the Perfs Pedal Race this Sunday, with Bjergfelt and Marcin Bialoblocki both gunning for the win. Then it’s off the mountains in Granada, Spain for an intensive pre-season training camp.

---

BRAMMEIER DEBUT FOR AN POST
Britain's Matt Brammeier is currently making his debut for the AN Post team at the Etoile de Bessèges stage-race in France.

Brammeier finished with the pack in a bunch sprint on the first stage, although lost a sizeable chunk of time on the second.

The race concludes on Sunday.

---

SKIN-SUITS SHREDDED
The skin-suits used by Britain’s cyclists at the Beijing Olympics have all been shredded to stop any other nation gaining a competitive advantage, according to the BBC.

None of the Team GB squad, who between them won eight medals in China, have been allowed to keep the skinsuits.

British Cycling’s performance director, Dave Brailsford, is adamant that the technology behind the skinsuits shall remain a secret until at least the 2012 Games in London.

If you have any British news you would like to share, please contact andrew_canning@ipcmedia.com

RELATED LINK:
Tuesday’s British news round-up