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Iserbyt and Kastelijn win at Koppenbergcross: Daily News Digest

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

Eli Iserbyt and Yara Kastelijn win at Koppenbergcross, OVO Energy ends its sponsorship of the Tour of Britain and the Women’s Tour, Trek-Segafredo reveals 2020 kits. Those stories and more in today’s Daily News Digest.

Story of the Day: Iserbyt and Kastelijn take Koppenbergcross victories

Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) and Yara Kastelijn (777) continued their impressive early-season runs on Friday, taking victories in the opening round of DVV Trofee series at Koppenbergcross in Oudenaarde, Belgium.

The 777 team swept the podium in the women’s event. Kastelijn battled with Eva Lechner (Creafin-Fristads) in the early goings of the race before Kastelijn surged clear into a solo lead that she would not relinquish for the remainder of the hilly race. 777’s Annemarie Worst emerged as the clear next best rider on the day, taking runner-up honors 11 seconds behind Kastelijn, with 777’s Alica Maria Arzuffi pipping Lechner for the final spot on the podium.

Yara Kastelijn wins Koppenbergcross. Photo: Nico Vereecken/PN/Cor Vos © 2019

“It was very difficult today,” Kastelijn said. “I was happy that we were in the final lap, because I was completely dead. Annemarie came very close in the last descent, but I was ready for the final climb.”

In the men’s race, Iserbyt dueled with Tom Pidcock (Trinity) throughout the race. Iserbyt was a short ways ahead of Pidcock going into the fifth lap, but sustained a mechanical heading into the climb of the Koppenberg, allowing Pidcock to pull even again.

Iserbyt finally pulled clear of Pidcock on the last lap, going over the Koppenberg with a growing gap and holding on to take the win over the Briton by 31 seconds. Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) was third, 1:29 down.

Eli Iserbyt wins Koppenbergcross. Photo: Nico Vereecken/PN/Cor Vos © 2019

With the victory, Iserbyt has the series leads in both the World Cup and the DVV Trophy, and he has also won both of the Superprestige races he has started. The competition will soon heat up, however, with reigning world ‘cross champ Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus) making his first start of this year’s cyclocross season on Sunday at Superprestige Ruddervoorde.

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Race Radio

Tour of Britain and Women’s Tour look for new sponsor

The Tour of Britain, the Women’s Tour, and the Tour Series are all in the market for a new sponsor. Organizers announced on Friday that 2019 was OVO Energy’s last year as the main sponsor of the two stage races and the British criterium series.

The Tour of Britain celebrated its 15th edition this year, with Mathieu van der Poel taking the overall title, while the Tour Series rounded out its 10th year. The Women’s Tour, whose fifth edition was won by Trek-Segafredo’s Lizzie Deignan this June, has emerged as one of the marquee events on the women’s racing calendar.

“All three events headline the British cycling calendar and will no doubt continue to do so over the next decade as we work with partners, stakeholders, teams, riders and fans to inspire the next generation,” said Hugh Roberts, CEO of race organizer SweetSpot.

“We thank OVO Energy for their support of the events and look forward to beginning new chapters in the already illustrious histories of the Tour of Britain, Women’s Tour and Tour Series in 2020 and beyond.”

Trek-Segafredo’s 2020 kit unveiled

Trek-Segafredo has unveiled both its men’s and women’s kits for 2020, with Giulio Ciccone and Lizzie Deignan showing off the new threads from Santini.

You can get a full look at the 2020 kits here. Trek-Segafredo’s 2020 men’s kit has some updates to the shoulders and sleeves, while the women’s kit is very reminiscent of the 2019 look with a few small changes.

Tour of Poland retires bib number 143 for Bjorg Lambrecht

The Tour of Poland announced on Friday that bib number 143 would never be worn again at the race, in tribute to Bjorg Lambrecht.

Bjorg Lambrecht at the Critérium du Dauphiné. Photo: ©kramon

The promising young Belgian, wearing number 143 during this year’s edition of the weeklong Polish race, died on August 5 at just 22 years old after crashing on stage 3.

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Feature Image: Eli Iserbyt battles Tom Pidcock at Koppenbergcross. Photo: Nico Vereecken/PN/Cor Vos © 2019

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