Irish rider Philip Lavery is set to take part in both the Cape Town Cycle Tour and Tour of Good Hope in South Africa in preparation for his return to French team AC Bisontine next season.
The Tour of Good Hope takes place from the 29th February to the 4th of March. The Cape Town Cycle Tour takes place on Sunday 6th of March.
The Cape Town Cycle Tour is 109 kilometres long and has been won in the past by the likes of Allan Davis, Robbie Hunter, Russell Downing and Reinardt Janse van Rensburg.
Lavery will ride with the South African team, Team Alfa BodyWorks, who announced the news on their Facebook page. Their statement was as follows:
Team Alfa BodyWorks is Proud to announce that Philip Lavery will be included as part of our 6 man Pro line up for 2016 @Cape Town Cycle Tour and Tour of Good Hope.
The acquisition of Lavery for these events clearly show the new teams intention to boost South African Cycling and its young team and is a major coup for the team and South African cycling
Philip will use the Tour of Good Hope and Argus to hone his form before before he kicks off his European Season with AC Bisitone in France.
Alfabodyworks are ecstatic about securing the services of Lavery for these events , something that is sure to give the younger riders a real boost.
Our squad will surely reap the benefit’s from his wealth of experience as a bike rider.
During his previous stint with AC Bisontine, Lavery notched up numerous wins including the Prix des Vallons in Schweighouse-sur-Moder, a stage of the Tour de Franche-Comté, Le Souvenir Jean Lacroix and the Tour du Charolais, in addition to finishing in second place in the National Championships.
These performances gained him a stagiaire contract with Cofidis, where he performed solidly. Amongst his results were 15th on a stage of the Tour du Poitou Charentes (UCI 2.1) and 16th in Châteauroux Classic de l’Indre Trophée Fenioux (UCI 1.1)
At the time, he was told that he would get a place with the team if they received a WorldTour licence, as they had hoped. However, that didn’t happen and he was left out in the cold. He left the sport only to return in 2014 for a short spell with Synergy Baku.
