Bernal talks Tour plans, Vuelta wildcards unveiled: Daily News Digest
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Hello again, CyclingTips readers.
We head into the weekend with headlines from teams both big and not-so-big, as well as a dash of industry news to round things out.
Over at Team Ineos, it sounds like Egan Bernal is all-in on his own Tour de France chances this year. That’s not all that surprising in and of itself – he’s the reigning champ after all – but he has gone so far as to say on Spanish TV that he does not plan on sacrificing his chances for fellow Tour winners Chris Froome or Geraint Thomas. Assuming we actually get a Tour this year, we’ll be looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.
Meanwhile, the Vuelta a España has announced its wildcard invitations, granting spots to Burgos-BH and Caja Rural. That’s tough news for the Fundación-Orbea team, which jumped up to the second-division this year and yet won’t be in attendance at the Spanish Grand Tour.
And then there’s the somewhat confusing news out of Mavic, which has apparently been placed in receivership. At the moment, however, it’s not actually clear who owns the company.
We’ll keep an eye on that, of course. Stay tuned.
In the meantime, enjoy the weekend!
Dane Cash
News Editor
What’s news
| Bernal not planning to sacrifice his Tour chances for a teammate
When Egan Bernal lines up at the Tour de France this August (that is, assuming it goes ahead as planned), he will likely do so with two teammates both harboring their own overall ambitions in Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas. In an interview with Eurosport this week, Bernal said that he didn’t plan on sacrificing his chances for the Tour title for his teammates, nor did he expect that from them.
“Sacrifice myself, being at a hundred percent—I don’t think I’m going to do that, nor will [Froome], nor will anyone,” Bernal said when asked about the dynamic at Ineos. “We have not ridden, so we don’t know how each person will arrive [at the Tour]. It’s really good what the team is doing, waiting to see how each rider arrives, and then the road will put each one in his place.”
| Burgos-BH and Caja Rural-Seguros RGA earn Vuelta wildcards
The Vuelta a España has announced the two teams selected for wildcard invitations to this year’s race. Burgos-BH and Caja Rural-Seguros RGA will join the 19 WorldTeams and automatic invite Total-Direct Energie at the start line in the Basque Country this October (again, assuming the race goes ahead as planned).
Both teams have attended the past few Vueltas, so the decision does not come as a major surprise. With only two available spots at the Vuelta, however, one Spanish second-division squad was bound to be among those team left out. That team is Fundación-Orbea, which jumped up to ProTeam status this year but will nevertheless not be in attendance at the upcoming Vuelta.
| Moolman-Pasio and Meintjes win Tour for All finale, NTT and Tibco-SVB take overall titles
The Tour for All came to a close with its fifth and final stage on Friday, and it was a big day for South African climbers.
The stage culminated with a summit finish on the Alpe du Zwift, where Louis Meintjes overhauled Lucas Hamilton in the last few hundred meters to nab the win. Meintjes’s NTT teammate Stefan De Bod nabbed third, and it was the NTT squad that would take a convincing victory in the teams-oriented overall standings ahead of Mitchelton-Scott and Alpecin-Fenix.
On the women’s side, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio stormed to yet another virtual victory, her third of the week, with an impressive solo ride for the last few kilometers on the final climb. Ella Harris took second with Sarah Gigante in third. Tibco-SVB would claim the overall title ahead of Canyon-Sram, with CCC-Liv rounding out the team podium in third.
| Mavic placed in receivership
A French court has placed Mavic into receivership, according to an AFP report, and if that didn’t create enough uncertainty about the future the French brand, it is also emerging that there is further uncertainty about who actually owns the company, which dates back to 1889.
Private equity firm Regent was reported as having purchased the company from Amer Sports last year, but recent documents list another entity, M Sports International, as the brand’s owner in February of this year. At the moment, it’s not really clear who owns the company.
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SUBSCRIBE TO THE DAILY NEWS DIGEST PODCASTToday’s featured image of Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio pushing the pace at Strade Bianche comes from Cor Vos.
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