The Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team doesn’t have a good showing in Vuelta Extremadura in Spain. For some riders the race is simply too hard, just one week after arriving to Europe; others got sick or crashed.
The trouble began before the race started, as Dean Iversen is injured and probably cannot race for a long while; the Chinese riders got delayed as their visa procedure took too long and Kenji was called up as emergency replacement.
The team started with 5 riders only; Kenji dropped out in the first stage, already. Then Thijs and Pol crashed, causing Thijs to drop out. Pol still racing, but not feeling well; all scratches and bruises and a sore back.
Then Robin got sick and also dropped out, so the team is down to two in the last stage. Loh is suffering a lot in his first stage race in Europe this year and Pol hoping every day that the next day will feel better.
With Yutong and Xing Yan Dong due to arrive and two Dutch one day races on the program next week (Overijssel and Kempen), hopefully things will get better soon!