After teammate Carlos Barbero crashed and broke his hand during training camp in Lucca last week, Nick Dlamini will return to racing a week earlier than expected and will compete in Burgos as part of NTT Pro Cycling. Dlamini, from South Africa, will be racing for the first time since his arm was broken by a park ranger near Cape Town.

The 24-year-old Dlamini was training in the Silvermine area of Table Mountain National Park near Cape Town in December when four SANParks rangers stopped him. One of the rangers grabbed him roughly and twisted his arm behind his back, breaking his humerus in two.

The incident was caught on video and led to Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creasy suspending the rangers and condemning the violence for which Dlamini was arrested.

The fracture required surgery and 10 weeks of rehabilitation before he could resume training outside, but a coronavirus outbreak interrupted his season before he could begin racing.

"It's been about 10 months since I've worn a number, and I'm excited and nervous," Dlamini said in a team press release. "I've done all the preparation and I'm feeling really good. I'm really looking forward to standing on the start line and carrying the number."

"We have a strong lineup and it's really great to get a late call-up for this race. Being able to start the race earlier than originally planned is good for me. Burgos was a really good race and my first race as a stager.

Dlamini told the Daily Maverick (opens in new tab) that Norton Rose Fulbright's lawyers are still pursuing the case.

"There has been progress on the lawsuit, but I can't say too much about it. My attorneys are working on it and there has been a lot of correspondence."

Dlamini said the team's camp is ready to step up another notch.

"Training camp was great, the whole team was in great form and very motivated. We worked especially on anaerobic capacity, which confirmed that we are ready to take it to another level. We kept in touch through the team platform, but not personally, so the camp was really useful just before the season resumed.

"The camp allowed us to run together, suffer together, and motivate each other to play to our strengths. I also got to meet some of the new staff that I will be working with since I missed a few camps earlier this year due to an arm injury. It was also an opportunity to meet Bjarne Riis (the team's new general manager) and learn from him. He used his experience and taught me new tactics every day. The whole team is very excited to be back racing."

NTT Pro Cycling in the Vuelta a Burgos: Giacomo Nizzolo, Ben O'Connor, Luis Meintjes, Max Valscheid, Danilo Wyss, Nick Dlamini, Ben Dyball