Groenewegen pips Ewan to win Tour’s seventh stage: Daily News Digest
Welcome to your Daily News Digest. Here’s what’s happening today:
Dylan Groenewegen tops Caleb Ewan to win stage 7 of the Tour de France, Elizabeth Banks takes stage 8 of the Giro Rosa, Giulio Ciccone extends with Trek-Segafredo. Those stories and more in today’s Daily News Digest.
Story of the Day: Groenewegen pips Ewan to win Tour de France stage 7
Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) nabbed his first victory of this year’s Tour de France on Friday, sprinting to the stage 7 win in Chalon-sur-Saône.
The Dutchman narrowly out-kicked Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) in the bunch sprint at the end of a long, flat stage. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) nabbed third. Race leader Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) finished safely in the peloton to stay in possession of the yellow jersey.
“Every time I sprint against Caleb [Ewan], it’s always very close. He’s a very good sprinter, but today I could beat him and I’m very happy with this result,” Groenewegen said.
“The first day I crashed really hard, and the next days I was really f—ed, but yesterday I felt good again.”
Dylan Groenewegen celebrates his stage 7 victory at the Tour de France. Photo: Nico Vereecken/PN/Cor Vos © 2019
The 230-kilometer stage from Belfort covered mostly flat roads for the final hundred kilometers, making it a prime opportunity for the fast finishers in the Tour de France peloton. Breakaway duo Stéphane Rossetto (Cofidis) and Yoann Offredo (Wanty-Gobert) spent hours off the front but were never allowed to open up too much of a gap.
The peloton did allow the escape to hang on out front until inside the final 15 kilometers of the day before making the catch. Before long, the sprinters’ teams began jockeying for position, with Deceuninck-Quick-Step, Jumbo-Visma, and Sunweb all well placed at the front.
Deceuninck-Quick-Step led the way onto the finishing straight with multiple riders at the head of affairs for Elia Viviani, who was tucked in just behind seemingly in a great position for the sprint. When the lead-out men peeled off and the speedsters launched their sprints with around 200 meters to go, however, Viviani was overtaken on both sides, with the Italian telling RAI after the stage that he had sustained a front tire puncture.
Groenewegen and Ewan battled tightly into the closing moments, and it was Groenewegen who took the victory at the finish line. The win marks the fourth Tour de France stage winner of his career.
Getting really close with @CalebEwan today; every sprint @LeTour on the podium and sure we will celebrate in the next sprint stage. All the @Lotto_Soudal boys are fully confident on it and our plan, vision and ambition remain the same for the next 2 weeks: offiensive and victory pic.twitter.com/DCXTXBI0MU
— John Lelangue (@johnlelangue) July 12, 2019
Stage 7 results
1 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 6:02:44
2 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal
3 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
4 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
5 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates
6 Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
7 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Dimension Data
8 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
9 Michael Matthews (Aus) Sunweb
10 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
GC
1 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 29:17:39
2 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:06
3 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:32
4 George Bennett (NZl) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:47
5 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos 0:00:49
6 Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos 0:00:53
7 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:58
8 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:01:04
9 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First 0:01:13
10 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First 0:01:15
Beauty of Cycling
Thursday’s stage 6 at the Tour was a tough one, with La Planche des Belles Filles capping off a day well-suited to the climbers. As hoped, the first mountain stage of this year’s Tour offered great racing—and stunning photos too.
Check out the excellent work of the Grubers …
… and Kristof Ramon …
… in the photo gallery of Tour de France stage 6.
Race Radio
Banks wins stage 8 of the Giro Rosa
Elizabeth Banks (Bigla) won stage 8 of the Giro Rosa, attacking out of the day’s breakaway to take the victory on rain-slicked roads in Maniago. Bigla teammate Leah Thomas finished second to secure the one-two, with Soraya Paladin (Alé Cipollini) taking third.
Elizabeth Banks wins stage 8 of the Giro Rosa. Photo: Anton Vos/Cor Vos © 2019
Mitchelton-Scott’s Annemiek van Vleuten finished safely with the pack nearly three minutes after Banks hit the line to stay in the overall race lead.
The 133.3-kilometer stage from Vittorio Veneto was a good one for the break, featuring two sizable climbs and a gentle ascent to the line. The successful move got clear on the second climb. Banks bided her time until the final 15 kilometers, when she tried an attack, was brought back, and fired off the front of the group again for good.
The 28-year-old Briton held on all the way to finish to take the biggest victory of her career, capping off a great day for the Bigla squad—the team also announced on Friday that its partnership with sponsor Bigla had been extended through 2020.
The Giro Rosa continues Saturday with a 125.5-kilometer stage 9 from Gemona to Chiusaforte.
Stage 8 results
1 Elizabeth Banks (GBr) Bigla 3:38:17
2 Leah Thomas (USA) Bigla 0:00:30
3 Soraya Paladin (Ita) Ale Cipollini
4 Malgorzata Jasinska (Pol) Movistar
5 Sofie De Vuyst (Bel) Parkhotel Valkenburg
6 Kathrin Hammes (Ger) WNT-Rotor
7 Pauliena Rooijakkers (Ned) CCC-Liv
8 Shara Gillow (Aus) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
9 Ruth Winder (USA) Trek-Segafredo
10 Alice Maria Arzuffi (Ita) Valcar-Cylance
GC
1 Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Mitchelton-Scott 18:43:01
2 Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Boels-Dolmans 0:04:11
3 Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM 0:04:26
4 Lucinda Brand (Ned) Sunweb 0:05:26
5 Amanda Spratt (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:05:33
6 Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:46
7 Soraya Paladin (Ita) Ale Cipollini 0:06:06
8 Katie Hall (USA) Boels-Dolmans 0:06:23
9 Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (RSA) CCC-Liv 0:06:42
10 Erica Magnaldi (Ita) WNT-Rotor 0:06:52
Ciccone extends with Trek-Segafredo
Giulio Ciccone is having a great week. He rode into the yellow jersey on Thursday’s stage 6, and on Friday, his Trek-Segafredo team announced a contract extension for the Italian.
Giulio Ciccone rode into yellow on stage 6 of the Tour de France. Photo: ©kramon
Ciccone, who won the king of the mountains title at the Giro d’Italia, will be with the team through 2021.
“After my Giro, there were quite some teams interested but for me it was pretty clear I wanted to stay with Trek-Segafredo, where I feel so at home,” he said in the team’s announcement. “The team is giving me lots of opportunities to grow and learn and that’s truly amazing.”
Coming Up at the Tour
The Tour de France rolls on with Saturday’s stage 8 from Mâcon to Saint-Étienne.
The hilly stage features seven categorized climbs and a few more uncategorized rollers, which could make a great day for the breakaway or for the more versatile speedsters in the peloton.
Socially Speaking
Good news for Caroline Buchanan, who has faced some challenges lately:
In case you missed it …
How can Michael Matthews beat Peter Sagan for the green jersey?
Feature Image:Dylan Groenewegen wins stage 7 of the 2019 Tour de France. Photo: Nico Vereecken/PN/Cor Vos © 2019
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