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Welcome to your Daily News Digest. Here’s what’s happening today:
Today we have dispatches from the third stage of the Giro d’Italia, a CERA positive from the Tour of San Juan, Greg van Avermaet wins Tour de Yorkshire, a look at international bike race fandom, a few questionable hair choices, and more.
Dispatches from the Giro
Viviani wins stage 2 with a well-placed shoulder
QuickStep Floors Elia Viviani took a chaotic, elbows-out sprint for his second victory in as many days. Rohan Dennis held on to pink.
The 229km stage from Be’er Sheva to Eilat was relatively uneventful until final 6km, when the road narrowed and took in a number of tricky corners and roundabouts. Bora-Hansgrohe’s Sam Bennett opened the sprint in the left side and swung wide right with Viviani on his wheel. Viviani, pushed up against the barriers, dropped his left shoulder into Bennett’s side to make a bit of room, then easily came past the Irishman for his second stage win. EF Education First’s Sacha Modolo snuck through to grab second place.
This video shows the maneuver:
Dennis’ overall lead was never in danger, despite a few mid-stage attempts to split the field in crosswinds.
Poll: The most surprising things in stage 3
The future of BMC
BMC is looking for a new sponsor for next year, and the team hopes that Dennis’ time in pink may spur things along. Dennis was asked about the future of the team at his post-stage press conference.
“At the moment, I haven’t heard anything about a new sponsor. We’re still waiting,” he said. “It would be a big shame if we don’t continue as a team. Just because Andy is not with us anymore doesn’t mean we have to end, it would be a shame.”
The sprinters’ power
Impressive numbers from the top sprinters today:
Tomorrow’s Giro stage
Tomorrow is a rest day, as riders make their way from Israel back to Italy.
Race marshall has very near miss
Fortunately nobody was hurt except for the front end of Astana’s Skoda…
Race Radio
Greg van Avermaet wins Tour de Yorkshire
Olympic champion Greg van Avermaet won the Tour de Yorkshire overall after leading the first chase group across the line following an aggressive final stage. Cofidis’ Stephane Rossetto took the stage solo.
The hilly stage from Halifax to Leeds saw the peloton split to pieces. By the finish there was no peloton to speak of, just groups of five to fifteen dribbling across the line. Van Avermaet led a group of ten behind Rossetto.
Bassetti, Cerra take crit wins at Redlands
Elevate-KHS’s Sam Bassetti hit out from the last corner of the Redlands downtown criterium and never looked back, securing his first stage win at the race. Hagens Berman Supermint’s Jessica Cerra used a different tactic: She went solo following a points sprint near the end of the race, put her head down, and crossed the line solo with a sizeable advantage.
Thomas Revard (Hagens Berman Axeon) and Katie Hall (UnitedHealthcare) maintained their overall leads.
Dope Digest
Can’t say we’re too surprised by this one: According to a report in Ciclismo Internacional, Argentinian Gonzalo Najar has returned an adverse analytical finding for CERA from the first stage of the Vuelta San Juan.
Najar, 24, won the overall at that race ahead of Oscar Sevilla.
A new entry to the canon of international fandom
Every country has its own version of cycling fandom.
The unfortunate American entry:
The Italian Alpini:
The classic roadside scultpure + artist collabo:
And now backwards tandem fellas from Israel:
Hair tales
Both of these questionable hair choices will be at the Tour of California, if you’d like to see them for yourself.
Happy birthday to…
Roman Kreuziger, Francisco Ventoso, and David De La Cruz.
