The Int'l Cycling Union's (UCI) Professional Cycling Council has confirmed the 2015 WorldTour calendar at its annual meeting at the World Championships in Ponferrada, Spain. The series once again starts with the Tour Down Under in January before the "elite men's peloton turn their attention to Europe for a series of one-day and stage races in Europe: Paris-Nice, Tirreno Adriatico, Milan-San Remo, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, E3 Harelbeke and Gent-Wevelgem." May is dominated by the Giro d'Italia. June will see the Critérium du Dauphiné and Tour de Suisse overlap before the Tour de France in July (CYCLING NEWS, 9/24). ... Despite Friday night's game between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Sydney Roosters being the "most hyped" National Rugby League game outside the grand final -- and the "first time these waring clubs have met in a playoff" since '38 -- ticket sales are "tracking for an elimination final crowd of 50,000 at ANZ Stadium." The "worrying projection means the second biggest game of the NRL season would fall short of this year's Homebush crowds for the Wallabies' Bledisloe Cup match, the Waratahs' Super 15 triumph," even the A-League All Stars-Serie A Juventus match (Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH, 9/25).
