Headwind Championships halted early, Pogacar wins in Spain: Daily News Digest
(Want to get the Daily News Digest delivered directly to your inbox? Here’s the sign-up.)
Hello again, CyclingTips readers!
The weekend brought quite a bit of racing news from all over the globe, with stage races from Victoria, Australia, to Valencia, Spain, crowning champions.
There was Tadej Pogacar starting his season off in style with the overall victory and two stage wins at the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana. Then there was Jai Hindley, winning a GC and two stages of his own at the Herald Sun Tour.
One of the most compelling events of all, however, was unfortunately stopped early thanks to Storm Ciara. That’s right, the Dutch National Headwind Championship race was halted while in progress in the face of extreme winds.
It’s only February but we may already have a heavy favorite for ironic news story of the year.
Until next time, readers!
What’s News
| Pogacar wins Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
Tadej Pogacar wrapped up the overall title at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana on Sunday.
The Slovenian youngster stormed to his second stage victory of the race on Saturday’s stage 4 and then finished safely on Sunday’s final stage to seal the deal. Jack Haig and Tao Geoghegan Hart rounded out the GC podium.
Fabio Jakobsen nabbed the final stage in Valencia, out-sprinting Dutch compatriot Dylan Groenewegen and John Degenkolb to get his first win of the year.
| Hindley takes Herald Sun Tour overall
Jai Hindley claimed the overall title at the Herald Sun Tour, padding his race lead with a second stage victory on Saturday’s stage 4 and finishing with the pack on stage 5.
The 23-year-old topped an all-Australian GC podium ahead of Sebastian Berwick and Damien Howson. Kaden Groves sprinted to victory in the final stage with Mitchelton-Scott teammate Dion Smith taking runner-up honors ahead of Moreno Hofland.
| Cosnefroy triumphs at Étoile de Bèsseges
Benoît Cosnefroy won the Étoile de Bèsseges, climbing to the top of the GC standings on stage 4 and putting in a solid ride in the stage 5 time trial to secure the victory.
Ben O’Connor nabbed stage 4 ahead of fellow Australian Simon Clarke, while Alberto Bettiol won the stage 5 TT, ascending into second overall ahead with Alexys Brunel rounding out the GC podium.
| Van Aert gets his first win since Tour crash at Krawatencross
Wout van Aert won Saturday’s Krawatencross, marking his first win since a crash at the Tour de France cut his 2019 campaign short. The Belgian bested Quinten Hermans and Toon Aerts in the final round of the DVV Trofee series.
“It might not be my biggest victory, but it certainly feels like it,” van Aert said after the win.
| Bastianelli wins Vuelta CV Feminas
Marta Bastianelli got her 2020 campaign off to a strong start with a victory in the one-day Vuelta CV Feminas.
The 32-year-old Italian out-sprinted Barbara Guarischi and Teniel Campbell to get the win in Valencia.
| Bauhaus wins Saudi Tour
Phil Bauhaus won the inaugural Saudi Tour, moving to the top of the leaderboard with a victory in Saturday’s final stage. With Bahrain-McLaren teammate Mark Cavendish leading him out, Bauhaus bested Nacer Bouhanni in a sprint at Al Masnak, overhauling the Frenchman in the GC standings in the process.
Rui Costa rounded out the GC podium.
| Jones takes Langkawi stage 2, Walscheid wins stage 3
Saturday’s stage 2 at the Tour de Langkawi saw a 19-year-old win for the second straight day. After Yevgeniy Fedorov won the opener, it was Australia’s Taj Jones out-sprinting Max Walscheid and Jérémy Lecroq for the win in Kerteh.
Walscheid earned a bit of revenge with the stage 3 victory over Riccardo Minali and Ahmet Örken on Sunday. Fedorov continues to lead the race.
| Dutch National Headwind Championships stopped early due to Storm Ciara
The highly anticipated sixth edition of the Dutch National Headwind Championships was halted while in progress due to extreme weather conditions, with Storm Ciara lashing northern Europe this weekend.
Although many riders were unable to race, Max de Jong and Lisa Scheenaard did complete the event to top the final results, and, at the very least, there was enough riding to produce the fine video content the race is known for.
De ploegen fietsen nu ook. Dit is geen slow motion beeld. ????#nktegenwindfietsen pic.twitter.com/uv1LrKr6JX
— NK Tegenwindfietsen (@NKTegenwind) February 9, 2020
In case you missed it
| Breakaway deception and a leg-lock cramp
Spending the day off the front is never easy, as Matt de Neef reports.
| Women’s cycling survey
CyclingTips is hoping to get some input from you (our audience) as we work to improve our coverage of women’s cycling. Click here to take our survey—we’d love to hear from you.
|
|
SUBSCRIBE TO THE DAILY NEWS DIGEST PODCASTToday’s featured image of Tadej Pogacar en route to victory on stage 4 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana comes from Cor Vos.
The post Headwind Championships halted early, Pogacar wins in Spain: Daily News Digest appeared first on CyclingTips.