Adam Blythe, Daily News Digest, Features, News - November 1, 2019

Katusha Sports to sponsor Bigla team, Blythe retires: Daily News Digest

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

Katusha Sports will co-sponsor the Bigla women’s team in 2020, Adam Blythe hangs up the wheels, Michael Albasini will retire next year. Those stories and more in today’s Daily News Digest.

Story of the Day: Katusha to co-sponsor Bigla team in 2020

Katusha Sports will become a title sponsor of the women’s squad currently racing as Bigla Pro Cycling, the team has announced.

The team, which counts riders like Leah Thomas on its roster and has signed Clara Koppenburg for 2020, will be called Bigla-Katusha.

The Switzerland-based Katusha Sports brand launched in 2016 as the clothing sponsor of the Katusha-Alpecin men’s WorldTour team. When Israel Cycling Academy made its plans to buy Katusha-Alpecin’s WorldTour license public last month, Katusha Sports announced that it would stay on as a backer of the new team, while also linking up with a then-unnamed women’s squad—now revealed to be Bigla.

“When we set up Katusha Sports in 2016 we created the company with the overlying purpose of supporting professional cycling, and shaking up the standard model of sponsorship in this sport,” said Katusha Sports CEO Alexis Schoeb.

“We’ve had three very successful years of working with the UCI men’s WorldTour as our main partner, and we’re now at a time where we are ready to extend our reach. We believe fully in women’s cycling and we couldn’t be more excited to kick off this project.”

Beauty of Cycling

Plenty of cyclists find beauty in aero design, but British Cycling’s recently unveiled track bike for the Tokyo Olympics may garner varied opinions in the aesthetics department.

View this post on Instagram

Some of the team have been lucky enough to get their hands on the bike already! ???????? @ed.clancy ???? @Hopetech and @lotuscars ???? #LotusEngineering #HopeTech

A post shared by British Cycling (@britishcycling) on Oct 30, 2019 at 7:00am PDT

For more on the unusual new bike, click here for the full story.

Race Radio

Blythe retires

Former British road racing champion Adam Blythe (Lotto-Soudal) is retiring.

“It’s time for me to hang up my wheels as a professional bike racer,” he wrote on his Instagram page.

Adam Blythe at Dwars door Vlaanderen. Photo: ©kramon

Blythe, 30, turned pro in 2010 at just 20 years old with Omega Pharma-Lotto after showing promise as a junior on the road and the track. Over the course of his career, he would go on to also spend time with BMC, NFTO, Orica-GreenEdge, Tinkoff, and Aqua Blue. Along the way, he put his fast finish to work toward a handful of victories, including the British road title in 2016, while sometimes playing the role of lead out man as well.

Recently, Blythe has been spending time in front of the camera as a Eurosport pundit, and he said in his retirement announcement that he plans to stay involved with cycling even as he retires from racing.

“I love cycling, and can’t imagine not being a part of the sport in some way, so I look forward to exploring whatever new opportunities come my way to keep me working in the sport, and with the people I love,” he wrote. “See you all soon.”

View this post on Instagram

Its time for me to hang up my wheels as a professional Bike racer…. The bike has been everything to me from a young age. From racing around the country with the my mates who I could still race with now, to riding grand tours and winning my home Classic race, Ride London. I have grown up in the sport and it has been some journey to get me to where I am today. I have a lot of stories, and an awful lot of good memories. I have seen the sport change a lot over the past decade, with the sacrifices getting greater and greater for a pro to keep competing at the top level. With this in mind, the time is now right for me to step away from racing, spend more time with my beautiful Mrs and three beautiful children, while focusing on what else I can do in the sport. I love cycling, and can’t imagine not being a part of the sport in some way, so I look forward to exploring whatever new opportunities come my way to keep me working in the sport, and with the people, I love . See you all Soon x

A post shared by Adam Blythe (@adamblythe89) on Oct 31, 2019 at 1:30am PDT

Albasini to retire in 2020

Michael Albasini will retire next June, his Mitchelton-Scott team has announced.

The 38-year-old from Switzerland will call it a career at the Tour de Suisse, where he has nabbed three stage victories over the course of his career.

“It’s great to finish your career in a race that you really like as a rider,” Albasini said. “It’s a race I’ve always had a good relationship with, it’s a home race and for any rider it is great to be able to finish at home.”

Tech News

Pegoretti introduces the Round, a new flagship racer

The world might have lost Dario Pegoretti but his name lives on in the bicycle company he founded. The Round is the small Italian frame shop’s latest model and aims to replicate the Mxxxxxo road racer in Columbus XCR stainless steel tubing.

The new frame also introduces 3D printed stainless dropouts to Pegoretti frames for the first time, while a new rear triangle and brake bridge are said to aid in stiffness. All frames are supplied with a Pegoretti-designed Falz carbon fiber fork and Chris King D11 headset.

The name, Round, is the sign-off handle of Dario himself, while the frame features an original graphic inspired by Dario’s love for the music of Stevie Ray Vaughan, the city of Austin, Texas, and a cowboy belt brought back from the city.