George Hincapie To Miss Spring Classics - Triathlon Week

Robert G. · 03-18-2003, 05:02 PM

NO SPRING CLASSICS FOR HINCAPIE
Due to a viral infection that has hampered his endurance and has left him feeling run-down and feverish, George Hincapie, the leader of the one-day Classics team for the U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team, will not compete in April in order to prepare himself for the Tour de France, World Championships and other events later in the cycling season.

"He is suffering from a viral infection that does not have a clear definition as to what it is, but we have determined the only therapy is rest," said Johan Bruyneel, the team's Director Sportif.

"The fact that he has been training and racing with this has caused him great fatigue. The only solution is to rest until his body recovers." Bruyneel said if Hincapie were to continue to race, the fatigue would continue in a vicious cycle. "So for him," Bruyneel said, "this means no Classics and probably no races until the end of April or the beginning of May."

Hincapie has done well in the spring Classics the last handful of years, led by four top-six finishes at Paris-Roubaix the last four seasons. He also became the first American to win Gent-Wevelgem, in 2001.

However, since before the team's training camp in January, Hincapie has been plagued with a virus that has left him sluggish and unable to recover from long training rides. Hincapie said that in races so far this season, he has lacked endurance and also has been waking up constantly feverish. "It's hard to ride your bike feeling like that," he said.

"It's going to be tough, to be honest," Hincapie said about sitting out the spring Classics. "As soon as I get better, I will have amazing motivation to train and get back as quickly as possible. But, to sit around and watch the Classics....It will be pretty tough for me."

"He is very disappointed, obviously," added Bruyneel. "He wanted to keep going and to try all the possible options to get ready, but we have decided that he would never be 100%, or not even 75%, and we didn't want to put him in danger for the rest of the season. I'm confident we took the right decision to have George at 100% for the second part of the season, for the Tour de France and all the races after the Tour."

"This will be very different for George,," Bruyneel said, noting since Hincapie won't be participating in the Classics, his first peak will be at the Tour de France, then the after-Tour Classics and the World Championships. "This is something new for him," Bruyneel said. "This is a big change."

Source: http://www.hincapie.com/