Bennett wins again at the Volta ao Algarve: Daily News
Hello again, CyclingTips readers,
As we head into the weekend and the first Grand Tour of the 2021 season, the Daily News Digest is set to go on hiatus. We’ll still be covering all of the news from the Giro d’Italia and the wider world of cycling as we move forward, but we’ll be changing up our approach over the coming weeks, which will mean focusing more clearly on the individual stories instead of aggregating them into a single digest. Stay tuned to CyclingTips.com this month and beyond for your coverage of all things cycling.
Dane Cash
News Editor
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Bennett wins stage 3 of the Volta ao Algarve
Sam Bennett nabbed his second win in three days on Friday’s stage 3 at the Volta ao Algarve.
The 203.1 km stage from Faro to Tavira came down to a bunch kick, where Deceuninck-QuickStep, as the team has done so many times already this year, put on another show of its lead-out strength. Bennett’s teammates helped pull him to the front of the pack inside the last kilometer with Michael Morkov leading the way in the last few hundred meters. Then, when Bennett jumped, nobody could catch him.
Danny van Poppel took runner-up honors on the day while Morkov held on to nab third. Overnight leader Ethan Hayter finished safely in the peloton to retain his GC lead.
Volta ao Algarve em Bicicleta (2.Pro) Faro → Tavira
HAYTER Ethan
BENNETT Sam
RODRIGUES João
QUINN Sean
INEOS Grenadiers
Alonso wins stage 2 of the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana
Sandra Alonso nabbed stage 2 of the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana on Friday.
The 130 km stage from Castellón de la Plana to Vila-Real was decided in a sprint after long-range attacker Kristabel Doebel-Hickok was reeled in with only about 5 km left to race. In the final kick, Alonso surged past Sheyla Gutiérrez to take a narrow win with Gutiérrez settling for second and Arianna Fidanza in third.
Stage 1 winner Annemiek van Vleuten finished safely in the pack to stay atop the GC standings.
V Setmana Ciclista Valenciana - Vuelta Comunitat Valenciana Feminas (2.1) Castellón de la Plana → Vila-Real
VAN VLEUTEN Annemiek
SHAPIRA Omer
RÜEGG Noemi
Movistar Team
Froome on doubters: “It just makes me laugh”
In a video posted to his YouTube channel on Thursday, Chris Froome addressed those who have sent him messages suggesting he should call it a career. Froome continues to work towards getting back to his best nearly two years after suffering multiple injuries in a serious crash at the Critérium du Dauphiné.
“Obviously, over the last couple of races I’ve seen quite a lot of people on social media getting in touch and saying, ‘Listen, mate, hang up your bike. You’re done. You’re finished. You’re never going to get back there.’ And it just makes me laugh,” Froome said in a video entitled “Chris Hits Back!”
“First of all, I don’t think those people know just how bad my injuries were and how far I’ve had to come just to get back to a professional level of racing. But those people clearly don’t know me either as a person. I’m not just going to hang it up. I know I can get there.”
Sagan talks Groenewegen return: ‘It is good he is back in the peloton’
Peter Sagan discussed the Giro d’Italia and more in a media appearance ahead of the race on Friday. As VeloNews reports, the three-time world champ said that he is currently focused on the sprints at the Giro and that it is not yet decided whether he would race this year’s Tour de France. He also touched on the subject of Dylan Groenewegen, against whom he will be sprinting at the Giro. The Giro marks Groenewegen’s return to racing after he was suspended for nine months for his role in causing a crash at last year’s Tour of Poland that left Fabio Jakobsen seriously injured.
“Of course, what happened at the Tour of Poland was an accident,” Sagan said, according to VeloNews. “In life and in sport, everyone can make a mistake. I do not judge him. I’ve done many sprints against him in the peloton, and I think that it is good he is back in the peloton.”
Van der Poel, Ferrand-Prevot take Albstadt World Cup short track wins
Mathieu van der Poel and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot took the wins in Friday’s short track events at the Albstadt round of the MTB World Cup.
Van der Poel finished two seconds ahead of runner-up Victor Koretzky in the men’s race, with Nino Schurter rounding out the podium in third. Ferrand-Prevot bested Linda Indergand by one second in the women’s race, with Annie Last taking third on the day.
Qhubeka-Assos signs multi-year deal with Goodyear
Qhubeka-Assos and Goodyear have announced a “multi-year agreement” that will see the former racing on the latter’s tires this season and beyond.
Qhubeka-Assos is the first WorldTour team to be racing on Goodyear tires. According to a press release, the deal went into effect earlier this season on February 3.
Chamois Butt’r announces $5,000 grant campaign
Chamois Butt’r announced on Thursday that it is making donations totaling $5,000 to non-profits to celebrate National Bike Month.
The chamois cream company will donate $1,000 each to Outride, Bike Club OKC, No Kid Hungry, and NICA Kansas, and a crowdsourced fifth donation recipient will be announced at the end of the month. Nominees for that grant can be entered here.
Coming up …
The 2021 Giro d’Italia gets underway on Saturday with an opening time trial of 8.6 km. It will be flat and it should be fast. World TT champ Filippo Ganna looks like a strong contender for the stage, with Remco Evenepoel, Rémi Cavagna, and Victor Campenaerts among the others in attendance who could nab the win.
In case you missed it …
- Get the latest from the world of women’s cycling in the Women’s Cycling Weekly.
- The latest Strava update makes some big layout changes.
- As Iain Treloar writes, the story of this year’s European Track Championships is getting weird.
- Filippo Ganna will be sporting a custom paint job as he takes on the opening TT at the Giro d’Italia on Saturday.
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