2019 Tour of Britain, 2019 Vuelta a España, Daily News Digest, Features, News, Sergio Higuita - September 12, 2019

Higuita solos to Vuelta stage 18 victory: Daily News Digest

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Welcome to your Daily News Digest. Here’s what’s happening today:

Sergio Higuita solos to his first WorldTour win on stage 18 of the Vuelta a España, Edoardo Affini wins the stage 6 time trial at the Tour of Britain as Mathieu van der Poel reclaims the race lead, Dimension Data extends Ben King and others. Those stories and more in today’s Daily News Digest.

Story of the Day: Higuita solos to his first WorldTour win on stage 18 of the Vuelta a España

Sergio Higuita soloed to an impressive first WorldTour victory on Thursday’s stage 18 of the Vuelta a España. The 22-year-old Colombian, who joined EF Education First in May, attacked out of the main breakaway on the descent off the day’s penultimate climb, and held on all the way to the line to take the win.

Overall race leader Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) led a select GC group across the line 15 seconds to nab second ahead of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and add to his lead.

Valverde reclaimed second overall after his teammate Nairo Quintana finished just over one minute down on the red jersey group.

More to come…

Moving Pictures

Believe it or not, ‘cross is … well, pretty much here actually. The UCI World Cup kicks off this weekend in the United States, where Iowa City hosts Jingle Cross and round one of the series.

If you need some help getting into the right mindset for the season, the UCI’s Twitter account has helpfully posted a highlight video from Katie Keough’s race win last year.

Winning her first #TelenetUCICXWC it was Katie Keough who triumphed in Iowa City last year!

???? Catch up with what happened ???? pic.twitter.com/6qUvQ1gx9F

— UCI Cyclocross (@UCI_CX) September 12, 2019

Race Radio

Affini wins Tour of Britain stage 6 time trial, van der Poel reclaims the GC lead

Edoardo Affini (Mitchelton-Scott) delivered an impressive performance on stage 6 of the Tour of Britain to win the 14.4-kilometer individual time trial by seven seconds.

The promising young Italian completed the course in Pershore in 16:39 early on in the afternoon and then spent nearly two hours in the hot seat before his victory was sealed. Sebastian Langeveld (EF Education First) took second in the TT with Dylan van Baarle (Ineos) in third.

Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus) set the sixth fastest time on the day, good enough to retake the overall race lead from Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott). He has a six-second advantage over Trentin as the race heads into its final two stages.

King, Gibbons, Gasparotto among six riders renewing with Dimension Data/NTT

Ben King, Ryan Gibbons, and Enrico Gasparotto will ride on with Dimension Data, to be known as NTT next year, after extending their contracts with the squad. The team announced renewals for six riders on Wendesday.

King, 30, enjoyed the biggest season of his career with Dimension Data last year, winning two stages at the Vuelta a España. The American joined the team in 2017.

Gibbons is a versatile talent who turned pro with the team in 2017. He counts a Tour de Langkawi overall title on his palmares, but also has a strong sprint, and the team is hoping the South African can continue to develop into a cotender for the fast finishes.

Gasparotto has continued to contest the Ardennes Classics even in the later years of his career. The 37-year-old Italian is a two-time Amstel Gold Race winner.

Jay Thomson, Nicholas Dlamini, and Amanuel Ghebreighzabhier also renewed with the team to be known as NTT next season.

New Orleans hopes for safer streets

New Orleans is hoping to make its streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians with a “rapid buildout” of new infrastructure.

Amid a general – and worrying – trend of rising cyclist deaths in the United States, the issue garnered more public attention in New Orleans last year when a driver hit eight people in a bike lane, killing two cyclists. Now, the city is planning “75 miles of lanes around the crash-heavy downtown core” for the next two years, according to Grist.org.

The full story is an interesting read.

Coming up at the Vuelta

Stage 19 at the Vuelta a España will be a treat for the history buffs, taking the peloton from Ávila, whose famed town walls have survived from the Middle Ages to today, to Toledo, where medieval and Renaissance buildings await around practically every corner.

A mostly flat profile should favor the sprinters, although an uphill final kilometer could make things interesting.