50 trips up the Muur, no Volta a Catalunya in 2020: Daily News Digest
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Welcome to another week!
Do you have big rides on the horizon, whether they’re indoors or outdoors?
Remco Evenepoel has already gotten one big ride in this week. The rising Belgian star decided to climb the famed Muur van Geraardsbergen not one, not two, not three … but fifty times on Monday. Because why not? Evenepoel had planned on taking on the challenge a few days ago but publicly called it off for fear that too many fans would gather; instead, he kicked off this week by completing the challenge without making it widely known until after he was done.
In less fun news, the Volta a Catalunya apparently won’t be held again until next year. Organizers had initially postponed the race hoping to run it later on this season, but apparently that won’t be happening now. As such, the 100th edition of the Volta a Catalunya will be held in 2021.
Until next time, readers.
What’s news
| Evenepoel rides the Muur van Geraardsbergen 50 times
Not long after calling off a planned challenge of riding the iconic Muur van Geraardsbergen multiple times, Remco Evenepoel went through with it on Monday without widely publicizing the event until afterward.
According to images he shared on social media, Evenepoel squeezed his 50 ascents of the climb into a training ride of 216.9 kilometers that lasted over eight hours, just one day after a training ride that covered 256 kilometers, the length of Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
| No Volta a Catalunya in 2020
Volta a Catalunya organizers have announced that the race will not be held in 2020.
The Volta was initially scheduled to run from March 23 to March 29. On March 12, organizers decided to postpone the race amid coronavirus concerns, hoping to find a date to reschedule the event later in the year. In a statement on Monday, however, organizers said that the contraction of the cycling calendar led them to the decision to not hold the event until 2021.
“The cycling calendar that the UCI has made official has been reduced to practically three months, and what we are clear about is that we want to celebrate a 100th edition with maximum guarantees and the best cyclists in the world,” organizers said.
| Valverde in favor of shortened Grand Tours
Speaking of the contracted cycling calendar, Alejandro Valverde is in favor of shortened the Grand Tours this year to help fit as many races as possible into the reshuffled calendar.
“This year is a special year and I think there is no point in keeping the three weeks of the big three because then we are going too far in the season,” Valverde said, according to Marca. “Fifteen days of competition are more than enough for the fan to enjoy and the greats get ahead.”
| Contador likes Froome’s chances for a fifth Tour win
In an interview with Cyclingnews, Alberto Contador said that he thinks the rescheduled Grand Tours “will favor riders who are strongest mentally.” Moreover, Contador sees four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome potentially benefitting from a longer period of recovery time after his 2019 injury.
“This delay suits him a great deal. Because he had an accident, a really bad one, even if we saw in February his comeback is going very well,” Contador said. “But the competitors who’d had a good winter as well were still ahead of him and it maybe was hard for him to be at their level.”
| Ganna eyes Hour Record
It’s hard to say at the moment when he will get his chance, but Filippo Ganna is hoping he’ll have the opportunity to take on Victor Campenaerts’s hour record at some point in the not-too-distant future.
As Ganna said in an interview with Tuttobiciweb, “If there is more clarity about which races we can still ride this year, I will speak to the team. And if there is time, why not try it?”
In case you missed it
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As Dave Rome writes, Ritchey’s Outback has been overhauled for 2020 into a bike that is suited to adventure.
| Watch: Tugende, the documentary of the Race Around Rwanda
Ryan Le Garrec documented the inaugural edition of the Race Around Rwanda in the film Tugende.
| How to pick the best gravel race bike: Field Test 2020
If you’re looking for some advice on how to select a gravel-racing rig, we’ve got you covered.
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SUBSCRIBE TO THE DAILY NEWS DIGEST PODCASTToday’s featured image of Remco Evenepoel winning stage 2 of the Volta ao Algarve comes from Cor Vos.
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