In this morning’s edition of the CyclingTips Daily News Digest: Bauke Mollema wins Japan Cup; Scott Sunderland wins the 100th edition of the Melbourne to Warrnambool; Kiryienka wins Chrono des Nations; Mattia Gavazzi takes overall win at Tour of China II; UCI clarifies absence of women at Cycling Gala; Vulpine seeks crowdfunded investment; and more…
Bauke Mollema wins Japan Cup
Bauke Mollema ends his 2015 season with a victory in the Japan Cup road race Sunday, outkicking Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) and Yukiya Arashiro (Japan National Team).
“I was just following attacks until the last time up the climb, and then I saved all my energy for the finish,” Mollema explained. “I knew it would most likely come to a sprint with a small group and it was better to save all my energy for this, but I still was not sure to win because the others were faster than me. But in the end I was strong enough to do it.”
ICYMI: http://t.co/D854YWFN81
@BaukeMollema wins #JCRR and #TFR sweeps the two-race event. #JapanCup2015 pic.twitter.com/YGIkHTOhPB
— Trek Factory Racing (@TrekFactory) October 18, 2015
The 144.2-kilometer race in Utsunomiya, based on the 1990 World Championships route, included 14 laps of a 10.3-kilometer tough circuit with the Kogashi Forest climb taking its toll and whittling the peloton to nine riders by the final lap.
The final time up the Kogashi climb pared the select group to three with Mollema, Ulissi and Sky’s Sebastian Henao cresting the climb with a few seconds lead. Arashiro bridged on the descent, and a few other stragglers caught the leaders, but the final uphill to the finish left the four strongest to fight out the sprint.
“The race was hard, but the team did such a great job; the guys pulled hard all race to bring back the breakaway,” Mollema added. “I am happy that I could pay them back with a win, and also for all the fans. This is my first time in Japan, and I have to say that the fans are just unbelievable, just crazy for cycling, it was really nice to see. I have enjoyed being here a lot, and now with this win, and also yesterday with Fumy’s (Beppu) win, it has been just a really great experience.”
| 1. |  |
MOLLEMA Bauke
Trek Factory Racing
|
03:53:40 |
| 2. |  |
ULISSI Diego
Lampre - Merida
|
- |
| 3. |  |
ARASHIRO Yukiya
Team Europcar
|
- |
Scott Sunderland wins the 100th edition of the Melbourne to Warrnambool
Olympic track sprinter Scott Sunderland (Budget Forklifts) has won the 100th edition of the Melbourne to Warrnambool on Saturday. Alexander Edmondson (SASI) came in second in a bunch kick of nearly 70 riders behind Sunderland while defending champion Ollie Kent-Spark (Search2Retain) took third.
After an incredibly uplifting performance from his teammates, Sunderland was delighted to be able to finish off their hard work.
“The team rode superb with Jack Bobridge and Jake Kauffman in the breakaway, setting it up beautifully for the finish.”
“I rode this race last year and it was difficult after an early crash, which helped me put a plan in place for today, and I felt good all day with my team around me. It was great to get the win.”
“The run to the finish was really fast, everyone was closing gaps quickly, and there was a lot of nervousness coming in, but the team got together well and did a perfect job in that final kilometre.”
Click here to read the full race report, results and highlights video on CyclingTips
Kiryienka wins Chrono des Nations
Vasil Kiryienka (Sky) showed that he is still on form after he won the Chrono des Nations individual time trial in dominant fashion. The Belarusian covered the 51.53km course in 1.04.36 to beat Marcin Bialoblocki (One) by 1.12 while Johan Le Bon (FDJ) had to settle for third, 1.37 behind.
Super Kiry!!! Very cool to see world champ Vasil Kiryienka take the win today at the Chrono des Nations time trial pic.twitter.com/HQjepd1IdR
— Team Sky (@TeamSky) October 18, 2015
| 1. |  |
KIRYIENKA Vasil
Team Sky
|
01:04:36 |
| 2. |  |
BIALOBLOCKI Marcin
One Pro Cycling
|
1:12 |
| 3. |  |
LE BON Johan
FDJ
|
1:37 |
Mattia Gavazzi takes overall win at Tour of China II
Nicolas Marini (Nippo Vini Fantini) won the final stage of the Tour of China II, but it was Mattia Gavazzi’s consistant placings in the sprints that crowned him the overall winner of the 2015 Tour of China II.
Il #TourofChina II è di Mattia #Gavazzi. Volata tris di @MariniNicolas93
? http://t.co/yr1AIq6YGY pic.twitter.com/fQoH1JigX9
— BICITV (@bicitv) October 18, 2015
Mattia Gavazzi said: “I owe everything to my teammates. I can never thank them enough for their work these days. I’m a sprinter who has always defended by myself but here the story was quite different, we wanted the general classification, there I was aiming for more than a month and without them I would not have ever done it.”
All six stages of the UCI 2.1 race ended in a bunch kick where Gavazzi won three of those sprint finishes.
Final Classification: > - Stage Result
Sunday 18th October 2015
| 1. | |
GAVAZZI Mattia
Amore
|
16:18:58 |
| 2. | |
MARINI Nicolas
Nippo - Vini Fantini
|
0:05 |
| 3. |  |
SHPILEVSKY Boris
RTS-Santic Racing Team
|
0:29 |
Gavazzi
Freiberger
Gavazzi
NetherlandsUCI clarifies absence of women at Cycling Gala
Whether the talk is about UCI’s inaugural Cycling Gala last weekend or the Abu Dhabi Tour that preceded it, there was one question that keeps popping up in social media: where were the women?
Yet only new world hour record holder, Molly Shaffer Van Houweling, was in attendance at the Gala. World champion and world cup series winner Lizzie Armitstead announced that she was unable to attend, but where were the others? Was it cost prohibitive? Should the awards have been held closer to the world championships – which is the end of the season for many athletes?
Ella Editor Anne-Marije Rook reached out to the UCI for comment and spokesperson Sébastien Gillot said:
“Invitations were sent as soon as the 2015 UCI Road World Championships in Richmond were completed and of course travel and accommodation was provided,” clarified Gillot. “We were extremely honoured to have had Molly Shaffer Van Houweling with us on Sunday at the inaugural UCI Cycling Gala. Unfortunately, the other recipients were unable to attend.
“Given this, the decision was taken to delay the presentation of the awards for the female riders who weren’t there. We are in the process of contacting the riders to arrange a time when we can present their awards.”
Read the full story on Ella
Vulpine apparel seeks crowdfunded investment
Vulpine, founded in 2012, is seeking $1M AUD (£500,000, $720,000 USD) investment to finance the next stage of the apparel company’s development – and owner Nick Hussey is turning to crowdfunding to raise the money and give customers and the public a chance to share in its success.
In the past three years since Vulpine was founded, their sales have doubled annually and it now sells almost 90 different products across three separate ranges, one of them a collaboration with six-time Olympic gold medallist, Sir Chris Hoy.
Money raised through Crowdcube, where the campaign goes live on Monday 19 October – the company’s customers have been invited to invest from today – will help expand the HOY Vulpine range, which has already achieved revenue of £350,000 since its launch eight months ago.
The investment being sought will also help finance international expansion in the United States and Asia with Hussey, who chose not to seek private equity funding, targeting the Japanese and South Korean markets in particular.
Ultimately, his goal is to develop Vulpine into “an international lifestyle brand, bringing stylish casual apparel to enthusiasts and casual cyclists alike.”
Read more at Road.cc and see the crowdfunding campaign at Crowdcube.
3000: A Journey Across America
The Race Across America (RAAM) is a 3000 mile non-stop bicycle race across the country that attracts ultra-endurance athletes from around the world. Adam Bickett is an American cyclist that has been training in this discipline for the last several years. The 2015 edition of the race marks his first solo attempt of this gruelling journey.
What You Missed
And finally this morning, here are a few things you might have missed at CyclingTips in the past few days:
- Digging into the paincave – the psychology of suffering
- Behind the scenes of the Abu Dhabi Tour on-bike live coverage experiment
- The 2015 CT Awards: the season’s best performers
- The allure of ‘the Warrny’: what makes the Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic so special
- Biggest female field ever at 100th Melbourne to Warrnambool
- Daily News Digest: Friday October 16