US national road race champion George Hincapie will make his return to top-level competition on Friday when he lines out in the first of two Canadian ProTour events. The BMC Racing Team rider has recovered well from his crash on August 19th in the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, where he suffered a large cut to his knee which required 18 stitches to close up.
He also incurred cuts to his right shoulder and face in the fall.
As Hincapie is still building form, he is likely to play a supporting role for the team’s three designated leaders in the races, which begin with the Grand Prix Cycliste ProTour Quebec-Montreal. Former world champion Alessandro Ballan is hungry for success, and wants to show that he is coming into shape before this year’s worlds in Geelong on October 3rd. Also in good condition are Karsten Kroon and Mauro Santambrogio and, together, the trio are aiming to make their mark on the race.
Hincapie is hugely experienced and will be of important assistance to them as they work towards their targets. Crucially, the races will also enable him to sharpen his own form prior to the US national road race championships in his hometown of Greenville, South Carolina, on September 19th.
Friday’s Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec covers 189 kilometres through Québec’s old city and the Parc des Champs-de-Bataille. It takes in 15 laps of 12.6 kilometres and will total approximately 3,000 metres of climbing, making it a very arduous contest.
Sunday’s Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal is equally tough, scaling the climb through the park of Mount Royal, then the ascent of the Cote de la Polytechnique on each of the 15 12.1 kilometre laps.
Hincapie, Ballan, Kroon and Santambrogio will be joined by the Americans Chad Beyer, Brent Bookwalter and Jeff Louder, plus the Swiss rider Danilo Wys. World road race champion Cadel Evans had originally been scheduled to take part but his ongoing recovery from an elbow fracture sustained in the Tour de France led to him deciding to stay in Europe and compete instead there.
In all, each of the 18 ProTour teams will field eight riders. The top-class lineup will also include wildcard invitations to four other squads, namely the BMC Racing Team, BBox Bouygues Télécom, Cofids and the Canadian National Team.
Providing Hincapie can get a good workout, he will be pleased with the speed of his return from his injuries. Just after his crash, directeur sportif John Lelangue outlined his hopes for his comeback. “We'll see how it goes in the coming days and if he has the possibility to race the two ProTour races in Canada, just to get him two more racing days and more training," Lelangue said at the time. "I hope to see him at 100 percent for nationals because it's a special race, he's the defending champion and he's at home.”
The fact that he has been able to meet that schedule is encouraging, both for Hincapie and also his many fans.