Pogacar gets his first win of the 2021 season: Daily News
Hello again, CyclingTips readers,
Tuesday saw Tadej Pogacar take his first victory of the 2021 season as the UAE Tour peloton ascended Jebel Hafeet. After three days of racing in the first WorldTour event of the year, only Adam Yates is within one minute of the defending Tour de France champ’s time on GC.
Read on for the latest from the world of cycling.
Dane Cash
News Editor
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Pogacar extends UAE Tour lead with stage 3 win
Tadej Pogacar ascended to his first victory of 2021 on stage 3 of the UAE Tour, extending his GC lead.
The 166 km stage from Al Ain Strata Manufacturing featured over 150 km of flat before finishing at Jebel Hafeet, where the stage was decided after Thomas De Gendt and then Tony Gallopin, who had spent most of the day off the front, were caught. A select group led up the finishing climb, with Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates teammates and then Adam Yates’s Ineos Grenadiers teammates pushing the pace. Inside the last 5 km, Sepp Kuss put in a dig that only Yates and Pogacar followed.
The trio distanced the rest of the field but then Kuss dropped back, leaving only Yates and Pogacar. Despite Yates’s best efforts, he could not drop Pogacar, who surged past in the last few hundred meters to nab the stage win. Yates settled for second on the same time with Sergio Higuita taking third 48 seconds later. Pogacar now leads the general classification by 43 seconds over Yates, with João Almeida in third, 1:03 back.
Tour of Flanders team selections announced
Tour of Flanders organizers announced the team selections for both the men’s and women’s events on Tuesday.
On the men’s side, B&B Hotels-KTM, Bingoal WB, Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise, and Total Direct Energie have received wildcard bids to join the 19 WorldTour squads and automatic invitees Alpecin-Fenix and Arkéa-Samsic.
All nine Women’s WorldTour teams will be in attendance for the women’s race, along with Aromitalia Basso Bikes Vaiano, A.R. Monex, Bingoal Casino-Chevalmeire, Ceratizit-WNT, Ciclismo Mundial, Doltcini-Van Eyck-Proximus, Drops-Le Col, Hitec Products, Jumbo-Visma, Lotto Soudal, Massic Tactic, Multum Accountants, Parkhotel Valkenburg, Tibco-SVB, and Valcar-Travel & Service.
Van Vleuten set for Movstar debut at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
Movistar has unveiled its men’s and women’s rosters for the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, where Annemiek van Vleuten will make her first start with the squad.
The defending champion will be joined by fellow Movistar newcomers Leah Thomas and Emma Norsgaard, as well as Jelena Eric, Aude Biannic, and Barbara Guarischi.
Iván García Cortina will lead the way for Movistar in the men’s race, where he will be joined by Imanol Erviti, Johan Jacobs, Juri Hollmann, Mathias Norsgaard, Sebastián Mora, and Gonzalo Serrano.
Plugge optimistic that Dumoulin will return
A month removed from Tom Dumoulin’s announcement that he would be stepping away from pro cycling, Jumbo-Visma manager Richard Plugge expressed optimism in an appearance on Dutch television program Zesdaagse TV that the former Giro d’Italia winner would return to racing.
“I do think this is a pause,” Plugge noted, going on to say, “I think it will work. I have faith in it.”
According to Plugge, the possibility that Dumoulin could return in time for the 2021 Tour de France remains on the table for now.
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