Greg Boasson Henderson to take Hagen’s spot in Tour of Flanders.
Or something to that effect. Hagen, Team Sky’s big classics gun, is still suffering from tendonitis in his Achilles tendon and will not be taking part in Flanders but still hopes to be ready for Paris-Roubaix.
“We’re making a prudent decision regarding Edvald’s injury and by way of precautionary measure, this is for sure the right thing to do. He is on the right road to recovery, but since he still has some problems with his Achilles, we’re not taking any risks. By doing so, he’ll still be able to train progressively and focus on Paris-Roubaix and hopefully be able to make his mark there.” says Team Sky’s director, Scott Sunderland.
Team Sky will now transfer their full support to Greg Henderson. “We started calling him Eddie Junior, which is Edvald’s nickname. And he’s taken over Boassen Hagen’s seat in the team bus,” said Sunderland. “We brought in a speech coach to work on his Norwegian accent. He’s actually pretty good. Nobody will know the difference if he doesn’t say too much.
The Norwegian rider was crestfallen — not about losing the nickname but about not going to Flanders.
“I’m sad miss out on Tour of Flanders as I have been looking forward to this race for a long time. But I still haven’t gotten completely rid of my tendonitis, so I need to save myself a little, so I can still be competitive in Paris-Roubaix.
“This is clearly not what I had hoped for, but I’m very hopeful that I have a good chance of getting ready for Paris-Roubaix and that race is still a very big goal for me”, said Boasson Hagen.
That’s bike racing. Scratch one big name off Tom Boonen’s “riders to mark” list.
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