New calendars, six-rider teams at MSR, Burgos begins: Daily News Digest
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Hello again, CyclingTips readers.
Tuesday was a busy day for racing news as competition got underway at the Vuelta a Burgos, the UCI unveiled the men’s and women’s WorldTour calendars for next year, and two former US road champions signed contract extensions (among other news items).
Building on a dominant run at the Sibiu Cycling Tour, Bora-Hansgrohe added to its string of recent successes at the Vuelta a Burgos, where Felix Grossschartner leads after taking the opening stage. In other news from Burgos, Jumbo-Visma’s Gijs Leemreize had to undergo surgery to reattach the tip of a finger after a crash. Fortunately, his team has since said that the operation was successful.
Meanwhile, the UCI unveiled the 2021 men’s and women’s WorldTour calendars on Tuesday. Among the notable news items from the reveal was confirmation that next year’s Tour de France will be moved up so as not to overlap with rescheduled Olympics.
Then there’s the contract-related news: Larry Warbasse and Coryn Rivera, both former American national road champs, have extended their contracts with their expected teams. Warbasse will ride on with Ag2r-La Mondiale through 2022, while Rivera signed on to stick with Sunweb through 2021.
Read on for more …
Dane Cash
News Editor
What’s news
| Vuelta a Burgos: Grossschartner wins stage 1
Felix Grossschartner nabbed the opening stage of the Vuelta a Burgos on Tuesday. 157 kilometers after the peloton set out from the Burgos Cathedral, Grossschartner ascended to victory solo on the short Mirador del Castillo finishing climb.
João Almeida rode to runner-up honors on the day eight seconds later with Alejandro Valverde nabbing third on the same time. Grossschartner leads the general classification ahead of stage 2, a 168-kilometer trek from Castrojeriz to Villadiego.
In other news from the race, Dutch youngster Gijs Leemreize pulled out of the race and was operated on after going down with some 50 kilometers to go. Leemreize had to have a fingertip reattached by a plastic surgeon following the crash.
| 2021 Tour de France moved up as UCI unveils next season’s WorldTour calendars
The UCI unveiled the WorldTour calendars for 2021 on Tuesday, confirming dates for 35 men’s events and 25 women’s events.
The UCI’s announcement revealed new dates for next season’s Tour de France, which has been rescheduled to avoid overlapping with the Tokyo Olympic Games, which were postponed from 2020 to 2021. Originally slated to run from July to July 25, the 2021 Tour has officially been moved up to run from June 26 to July 18. The Vuelta a España has also been moved up by a week.
Also notable from the calendar unveiling is the absence of the RideLondon-Surrey Classic and the Tour of California from the men’s WorldTour calendar. The RideLondon Classique will, however, return to the women’s calendar.
The Women’s WorldTour calendar also adds two events in Spain next year: the Itzulia Women and the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas.
| Milan-San Remo changes
The Milan-San Remo race route and the size of team rosters have changed ahead of the upcoming Italian Monument.
Organizers had to alter the planned route of the event, which is scheduled for August 8, after the mayors of several towns along the coast refused to approve the passage of the race. As such, neither the Passo Turchino nor the small Capi climbs in the run-in to the finale will feature in the 2021 edition of Milan-San Remo, which will instead take on other uphill challenges through the first several hours of the race. The final 35 kilometers or so, featuring the iconic Cipressa and Poggio climbs, remain unchanged.
Meanwhile, team roster sizes have been reduced from seven riders to six, making room for two more invited squads, with the additional wildcard slots expected to be given to Italian ProTeams.
| Rivera extends with Sunweb
Coryn Rivera will stick with Sunweb through the end of the 2021 season, her team announced on Tuesday. The 27-year-old American, whose career palmares includes wins at the Tour of Flanders and the Women’s Tour as well as a US national road title, joined the squad in 2017.
“We have worked well together over the last four years: learning and achieving a lot together,” Rivera said. “There is a very promising group of young girls here and I’m excited to help them develop in the WorldTour. 2021 will feel like somewhat of a do over of 2020, so I am hoping for a healthy and normal schedule of the spring classics and a focus on the Olympics and summer one-day races later in the year.”
| Warbasse will ride on with Ag2r through 2022
Speaking of former US road champions signing contract extensions, Larry Warbasse has signed on to stay with Ag2r-La Mondiale for a further two seasons.
The 30-year-old has been with the team since 2019.
| Liv’s new Brava Advanced Pro cyclocross racer
One week after Giant announced its 2021 TCX Advanced Pro platform, the women’s-specific bike brand Liv has announced its equivalent new bike. The Brava Advanced Pro shares many of the new technical features as the Giant TCX, but does it with a women’s specific geometry and tailored touch points.
Like the TCX, the new Brava Advanced Pro is available in three price points.
| Lazer’s new TT helmet
Lazer’s new Volante helmet is made for racing against the clock and is said to be the company’s fastest helmet made to date. It features a noticeably smooth and sealed off profile with a detachable visor, while those worried about cooking inside it can make use of the “ice stuff box” for a slow cool drip of melting ice.
The company says “it’s shaped by air,” what more do you want from a time trial helmet?
| Pirelli P Zero Race get tubeless options
Pirelli has launched two new road tubeless models which now sit at the top of its performance tire range. The P Zero Race TLR is the all-rounder tire in the range and offers a reinforced casing, while the P Zero Race SL is dedicated to racing and is said to be the company’s lightest and highest performing option.
Both tires feature Pirelli’s new SmartEVO rubber compound that’s said to improve grip, speed and comfort. And both models conform to the “latest ETRTO standards,” something we suspect aligns with the much anticipated new standards that a number of wheel brands (such as Zipp) have been teasing.
Both tires will be available in 24, 26, and 28 mm widths, while the Race TLR gets a 30 mm option, too.
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SUBSCRIBE TO THE DAILY NEWS DIGEST PODCASTToday’s feature image of a Felix Grossschartner taking a real, outdoor, UCI-sanctioned victory on Tuesday’s opening stage of the Vuelta a Burgos comes from Cor Vos.
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