In today’s edition of the Daily News Digest: Valverde outpaces Sagan to take stage four of Vuelta a España; Gerard takes stage one of Tour du Poitou-Charentes; Vekemans triumphs on stage three of Trophée d’Or Féminin; Kragh Andersen takes his second stage win in the Tour de l’Avenir; Chaves holds red jersey on tricky day; Kittel misses out on world championship selection; Adam Blythe moving from Orica-GreenEdge to Tinkoff-Saxo for 2016; Spectator tries cheeky move with Ben King’s bike; How Much Coffee?! GCN Asks The Pros At The Vuelta A España 2015; Man pushes female London cyclist into path of oncoming traffic; The GCN Show Ep. 137: Is This Really Cheating?! + The War On The Roads Continues

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Valverde outpaces Sagan to take stage four of Vuelta a España

With a strong climbing ability plus a well-known turn of speed, Alejandro Valverde was always seen as a potential victor on stage four of the Vuelta a España and that’s precisely how things turned out.

Valverde took on other riders who are also known for their abilities on punchy finishes, namely Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Dani Moreno (Katusha). The Movistar co-leader beat the Slovakian and the Spaniard to the line in Vejer de la Frontera, winning out of what was a 25 man front group.

Sagan did his utmost to follow up on Monday’s win with another success, but appeared to run out of ground before the line.

The trio overhauled Sky’s Nicolas Roche, who had attacked to cover a move made by Samuel Sanchez (BMC Racing Team) inside the final two kilometres. Roche sat on Sanchez’s wheel until the road kicked upwards again and then went, but he was unable to hold off the three quickest riders behind.

Race leader Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge) finished tenth and held onto his red jersey. He remains five seconds clear of Tom Dumoulin (Team Giant-Alpecin) and 15 ahead of Roche, while the ten second win bonus picked up by Valverde bumps him up from seventh to fifth overall.

Click here to read the full report on CyclingTips.

Gerard takes stage one of Tour du Poitou-Charentes

Frenchman Arnaud Gerard took a victory on home soil on Tuesday, notching up success on the opening stage of the Tour du Poitou-Charentes. The Bretagne-Séché Environnement rider beat compatriot Maxime Daniel (Ag2R La Mondiale) by one second, while the rest of the day’s break was a further two seconds back.

#TPC2015 E1 1.Gerard A. (BSE) 2.Daniel M. (ALM) 01"; 3.Vanmarcke S. (TLJ) 03"; 4.Poels W. (SKY) 5.Tulik A. (EUC) pic.twitter.com/hb41WjZax5

— la roue tourangelle (@rouetourangelle) August 25, 2015

This was led in by Sep Vanmarcke (Team LottoNL-Jumbo), with Wout Poels (Team Sky) and Angelo Tulik (Team Europcar) fourth and fifth.

They were all part of an eleven man break which went clear during the 187 kiloemetre race between Rochefort and Barbezieux, and which was driven along by former world time trial champion Tony Martin. The Etixx – Quick-Step rider is building form prior to next month’s worlds TT, and he made an unsuccessful attack inside the final ten kilometres.

While the other riders were able to haul him back, the eleven seconds gained on the main field should serve him well in terms of the general classification. There is a 23.2 kilometre time trial on Friday and he will likely excel there.

Vekemans triumphs on stage three of Trophée d’Or Féminin

The Belgian rider Anisha Vekemans was best on day three of the Trophée d’Or Féminin in France, outsprinting Daiva Tuslaite (Inpa Sottoli Giusfredi) into Villequiers.

.@anishavekemans tells the story of her incredible victory in stage 4 of #TropheedOr: http://t.co/VN6cKv3T1J pic.twitter.com/4kSJsD2C8A

— Lotto Soudal Ladies (@LS_Ladies) August 25, 2015

The 24 year old was part of a five woman break that was clear coming to the end of the three lap, 88.5 kilometre race. Tuslaite made her victory celebration too early and Vekemans was able to get past and clock up her first UCI win. Lara Vieceli (SC Michela Fanini Rox) was next best in third, three seconds back.

“The last turn was about one hundred metres before the finish. I knew I had to be in second position after it and so I did, I moved up in the last 500 metres,” she explained. “The rider who was riding in front after the last turn raised her hands too soon, she thought she already reached the finish line. I was just getting next to her and noticed it, I kept sprinting.”

Rachel Neylan leads overall, the Australian Orica AIS rider maintaining her twelve seconds advantage over Frenchwoman Edwige Pitel (SC Michela Fanini Rox).

Kragh Andersen takes his second stage win in the Tour de l’Avenir

Although a bunch sprint was anticipated on stage three of the Tour de l’Avenir, once again things didn’t work out that way. Despite the bunch being together with 15 kilometre remaining, things unravelled and a move of five riders slipped clear.

Søren Kragh Andersen @TREFORBluewater world class victory in stage 3 #Tourdelavenir http://t.co/7EV3sS7ydZ pic.twitter.com/PdGD23uSvh

— ollie (@ollieman56) August 25, 2015

These included the prologue winner Soren Kragh Andersen (Denmark), as well as Marlen Zmorka (Ukraine), Johannes Weber (Germany), Gasper Katrasnik (Slovenia) and Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands). While they didn’t gain more than 20 seconds, the bunch wasn’t able to haul them back before the line in Tournus.

After a foiled attack by Zmorka inside the final two kilometres, Kragh Andersen won the gallop to the line. He beat van der Poel and Weber, with Fernando Gaviria (Etixx – Quick-Step) taking the bunch gallop for sixth place, seven seconds back.

The overall lead remains with the Swiss rider Tom Bohli He is nine seconds ahead of Jose Luis Rodriguez.

Click here to read more on espoirscentral.

Chaves holds red jersey on tricky day

Although his rival Nicolas Roche (Sky) attacked in the finale of stage four, potentially putting his grip on the red jersey under threat, Esteban Chaves held onto the race lead in the Vuelta a España.

He said afterwards that he was nervous about the conclusion of the stage. “It was a really really difficult final. You went down a big road at 60-70km per hour, then you needed to brake and then in one moment you start a 10% climb.

“It’s really difficult to stay in the front when it’s like this so Simon Gerrans, Daryl Impey, Cameron Meyer and Mitch Docker put me in the front. Their work is really amazing and really important for me.”

Chaves, who took over the race lead when he won stage two, crossed the line in tenth place and maintains his five second advantage over Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin). Roche remains 15 seconds back, having lost out on the possible win bonus when he was caught inside the final 100 metres.

“I started (the final four kilometres) alone, because the guys used all the energy to help me before,” said Chaves. “But I just had to follow Purito (Rodriguez), (Alejandro) Valverde and Peter Sagan to try to stay with them in the final.”

Kittel misses out on world championship selection

Having been passed over for the Tour de France earlier this year, Marcel Kittel will miss out on another likely season target after not being selected for the world road race championships.

The German sprinter has not been listed on the 14 man long list for selection announced by that federation. Of those 14, nine will like out in the elite men’s road race on September 27.

The course is believed by some as potentially coming down to a bunch sprint, but Kittel – who clocked up a total of eight Tour stage wins in 2013 and 2014 – won’t be there. Instead, Giant-Alpecin team-mate John Degenkolb and André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) will be the quickest gallopers on the team.

“The team is built around the course conditions of Richmond, with the dual leadership of Degenkolb and Greipel,” explained the German cycling federation official Udo Sprengen on Rad-net.de. “We have our goals set on medals.”

Kittel has had a season to forget, missing several races and many results due to a virus. He was disappointed not to be selected for the Tour de France by Giant-Alpecin, but the team felt that his form was too unpredictable.

Click here to read more on VeloNews.

Adam Blythe moving from Orica-GreenEdge to Tinkoff-Saxo for 2016

Having spent one year with Orica GreenEdge, helping riders such as Caleb Ewan in bunch sprints, Adam Blythe is moving on to fill the same role with the Tinkoff-Saxo team in 2016.

The 25 year old Briton will have the main goal of supporting Peter Sagan’s Classic campaign and said that past contacts were important in helping him secure the slot. “Sean Yates was a sport director at NFTO [where Blythe raced in 2014] and I got on with him very well. When he mentioned to me there was an opportunity, I didn’t think twice about it!

“I consider Tinkoff-Saxo to be the best team in the world that has the best Classics rider in the world, Peter Sagan. It will be an honour for me to help him in the Classics and do a great job for him.”

Blythe said that he had been described as the most ‘economical’ rider in the peloton this season and was pleased with that.

“I’m someone who knows where to place himself, weathering the wind, always in a good position,” he explained. “You could call it a sneaky rider and that is, I think, important when helping a team leader.”

Sagan joined Tinkoff-Saxo prior to the start of this season, being given a multi-million euro deal. He is yet to win one of the top Classics but has gone close.

Spectator tries cheeky move with Ben King’s bike

Cannondale-Garmin rider Ben King had a bizarre moment during the fourth stage of the Vuelta a España. Having had his Garmin computer stolen after a crash, a topless male spectator smoking a cigarette appeared to try to ride off on his bike. The video below shows the incident unfolding.

? Quand un spectateur veut piquer le vélo de Ben King / When a spectator would like to take @BenKing89's bike #LV2015 pic.twitter.com/zrTxivykaz

— Josselin Riou (@josselin_riou) August 25, 2015

Don't know if he was "helping" or taking off as I was searching people for my stolen Garmin. What a cluster! https://t.co/8FeWKyVZyZ

— Ben King (@BenKing89) August 25, 2015

How Much Coffee? GCN Asks The Pros At The Vuelta A España 2015

Man pushes female London cyclist into path of oncoming traffic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adcZlicV4ho

Note: Following an appeal for information about the aggressor in the video, the individual in question has turned himself in to London police

The GCN Show Ep. 137: Is This Really Cheating?! + The War On The Roads Continues

What You Missed

And finally this morning, here are a few things you might have missed at CyclingTips in the past few days:

• Roadtripping Iceland
• A crash course in European bunch etiquette for Australia’s development riders
• Road to Rio: Tiffany Cromwell visits Rio, returns nervous yet driven
• Daily News Digest: Tuesday August 25

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