More calendar revisions coming, UAE’s Grand Tour plans: Daily News Digest
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Hello again, CyclingTips readers.
Italian racing fans have a few different storylines to follow this week.
For starters, media reports suggest that Il Lombardia and Milan-San Remo will be rescheduled from the initially published revised 2020 calendar, with Il Lombardia expected to run on August 8 and Milan-San Remo on August 15. It’s still too early to say whether things will actually go ahead as planned, of course, but if they do, Monument racing will return in less than two months, which will certainly be welcome news for Classics fans.
In other news, the UAE team has unveiled its Grand Tour plans for 2020, confirming that Fernando Gaviria will head to the Giro d’Italia, a race that has seen him take five stage wins over the course of his career. Meanwhile, the team will send Fabio Aru and Tadej Pogacar to lead the GC charge at the Tour de France, with former Vuelta a España winner Aru also slated to race the Vuelta later in the season.
Read on for more …
Dane Cash
News Editor
What’s news
| UAE confirms plans to send Gaviria to Giro, Pogacar and Aru to Tour
UAE-Team Emirates has unveiled its Grand Tour plans for the revised 2020 calendar, notably confirming that Fernando Gaviria will be the team’s featured sprinter at the Giro d’Italia with Tadej Pogacar, Fabio Aru, and Alexander Kristoff set to head to the Tour.
The announcement suggests that Gaviria will miss both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, which overlap with that the Giro on the calendar. Also of note from the announcement is the team’s plan to send American up-and-comer Brandon McNulty to the Giro, which will mark his Grand Tour racing debut.
After the Tour de France, Aru is set to head to the Vuelta a España, a race he won in 2015, with former world road champ Rui Costa and up-and-coming sprinter Jasper Philipsen also among UAE riders slated to make the start at the Spanish Grand Tour.
| Italian Monuments likely to be rescheduled in August
Il Lombardia seems set to be rescheduled to August 8 with Milan-San Remo likely to be rescheduled to August 15, according to La Gazzetta, after planning talks between race organizers and the UCI.
Stakeholders have been working on revisions to the revised calendar that take into account a variety of new variables, including the placement of national championship events on the calendar. The UCI is expected to make a final announcement on Friday.
| Trek outlines diversity initiatives, addresses sale of bikes to police
Amid widespread protests against racism and police brutality following the death of George Floyd, Trek Bikes has published a plan to promote diversity in cycling, while also addressing the topic of its sale of bikes to police departments.
Trek has faced questions over its sale of bikes to police, especially following the circulation of videos and images showing police using bikes against protestors. In a statement, Trek condemned the way its products have been used, but also affirming its support of police on bikes generally.
“Recently we have seen photos and video of Trek bikes that have been used by police in ways that are abhorrent and vastly different from their intended use,” read the statement. “For over 25 years, we have seen police on bikes, out of cruisers and offices, building relationships in the neighborhoods they serve. The past two weeks has turned the view of police on bikes from a community asset to a liability. A positive outcome of the recent protests is that we are starting to see real police reform being discussed at local and national levels. We believe bikes can play a positive role by continuing to get officers out of cars and armored trucks and into the community where trust can be built.”
In a separate statement, Trek published a six-point plan to live up to a “commitment to a better future.” Trek committed to creating 1,000 cycling industry jobs for people of color, to bringing bike shops to underserved areas, to establishing a fund to “provide funding for entrepreneurs of color and existing Trek retailers to open shops in underserved neighborhoods,” and to establishing a scholarship fund for NICA teams of children from diverse backgrounds. Trek will also require employees to complete diversity training as well as providing paid time off for volunteer efforts for non-profits working in communities.
| Zwift’s Tour For All raises $305,000
Zwift has announced that its Tour For All fundraising initiative, which ran through most of May, raised $305,000 for the COVID-19 Crisis Fund of Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières).
According to Zwift, the event saw athletes complete 383,161 Tour For All events (rides or runs), garnering $55,000 in donations from the community and $250,000 from Zwift.
| Schwalbe offering limited edition olive green tires
Said to be the result of an Instagram survey, Schwalbe is offering a limited edition version of its new G-One Ultrabite gravel tire in an olive green color.
The new color tire will only be available in a 700x40mm size. It features the German company’s tubeless easy technology along with Addix Speedgrip rubber compound. Expect to pay €60 for this one.
In case you missed it
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Strava has a new type of leaderboard, rewarding consistency, not speed.
| Who trains harder: male or female pro cyclists?
As Matt de Neef writes, a team of Dutch researchers analyzed years of data to compile what they claim is the first “detailed quantification of the training demands of female pro cyclists.”
| Everesting tips from a national champion
American road champ Ruth Winder just Everested for the first time, and she has some tips for those who are thinking about taking on the challenge.
| Dr. Tim Erwin on racism in cycling
Over at VeloNews, a conversation with Dr. Tim Erwin sheds light on the discrimination that black cyclists experience.
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SUBSCRIBE TO THE DAILY NEWS DIGEST PODCASTToday’s featured image of the final sprint at Milan-San Remo comes from Cor Vos.
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