webmaster
© Copyright DEHAI-Eritrea OnLine, 1993-2010
All rights reserved
From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Wed Dec 01 2010 - 10:20:44 EST
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/daniel-teklehaimanot-still-looking-for-a-team-in-2011
Daniel Teklehaimanot still looking for a team in 2011 By: Pierre
Carrey Published:
December 1, 12:27, Updated: December 1, 12:31
Eritrean star fresh from Tour of Rwanda win
Former Cervélo Test Team stagiaire and current UCI World Centre member
Daniel Teklehaimanot does not have any concrete professional offer for 2011.
The Eritrean prodigy’s entourage is talking with a North-American Pro
Continental team and a new Continental project in China. Despite his five
Africa Continental Champion crowns and his Tour of Rwanda win in the last
three weeks, the 22-year-old Teklehaimanot did not manage to convince a
ProTour squad to recruit him.
However, his uncertain future isn't particularly worrying, says his French
coach and adviser Michel Thèze, who is in charge of examining the
professional offers, alongside his countryman Frédéric Magné, UCI World
Centre's Director.
“We need to be sure that the team where begins will be the safest and most
helpful for Daniel, otherwise we'll wait,” Thèze told *Cyclingnews*. “It's a
pity that Cervélo folded because we can be almost sure they would have
signed Daniel and they were the precise kind of team we are looking for.”
Teklehaimanot rode the last two seasons for the UCI World Centre, based in
Switzerland. In the U23 Nations Cup, he finished 6th in the Tour de l'Avenir
in 2009 and won a stage at the Ville de Saguenay, Canada last June. He
crashed six times between August and September, struggled in the U23 World
Championships and wanted his season to stop.
Eventually, he went on to ride in Italy with Cervélo as a stagiaire to
prepare the African Continental Championships and the Tour of Rwanda, where
he overcame the Moroccan and South African riders. He leads the Africa Tour
86 points ahead of the Moroccan Jelloul and 103 points ahead of his teammate
Russom.
“Daniel is very focused on his results,” his mentor Thèze adds. “His bad
Worlds were more stressful for him than the questions about his future. He
really wants to turn professional but he is staying very cool. He's upright,
fair, altruistic and clean. He's the kind of athlete cycling needs. That's
why we are so protective of him.”
Teklehaimanot will ride in January’s Tropicale Amissa Bongo, in Gabon, with
the Eritrean team. He will then train at the UCI Continental Centre based in
South Africa before a possible switch back to the UCI World Centre if he has
no professional team. He may also divide his 2011 schedule between the World
Centre and a Continental or Pro Continental squad.
For now, he is enjoying some holidays near Asmara, the Eritrean capital. He
received a triumphant welcome at the airport on Sunday morning on his return
from the Tour of Rwanda. The Commissioner of Eritrean Sports and the
Minister for Public Works was on hand to congratulate. A meeting may be
planned in the coming days with the President of the Republic. Teklehaimanot
and other Eritrean riders' success in Rwanda (six stages wins out of nine)
inspired a statement of the Ministry of Information which underlined the
status of sport and especially cycling in the country: “Sports events
constitute the building blocs of culture that reinforce broad-based
psychology and nationalism.” The statement concludes by saying,
“Congratulations to the Eritrean people! Glory to the ever-champion Eritrean
youth!”
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----