2019 GP Quebec, 2019 Tour of Britain, 2019 Vuelta a España, Daily News Digest, Features, Mathieu van der Poel, Michael Matthews, News, Tadej Pogacar -

Pogacar solos to his third stage win of the 2019 Vuelta: Daily News Digest

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Tadej Pogacar solos to his third stage victory of this year’s Vuelta on the final day in the mountains as Primoz Roglic all but seals the overall title, Michael Matthews tops Peter Sagan to defend his GP Québec crown, Mathieu van der Poel wins the eighth stage and the overall title at the Tour of Britain. Those stories and more in today’s Daily News Digest.

Story of the Day: Pogacar solos to victory on the Vuelta’s final mountain stage

Fast-rising star Tadej Pogacar (UAE-Team Emirates) soloed to his third stage victory of the 2019 Vuelta a España on Saturday’s stage 20. The 20-year-old Slovenian, making his Grand Tour debut, powered off the front of the GC group with around 25 kilometers to go on what was the final mountain stage of the race, and held out all the way to the Plataforma de Gredos uphill finish line.

Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde finished second on the day, 1:32 back, with Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) in third. Race leader Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) finished a few seconds back in fifth, all but wrapping up his overall victory with only Sunday’s sprinter-friendly finale remaining.

Pogacar’s big effort nabbed him not only the stage 20 victory, but also a spot on the provisional final podium, knocking Movistar’s Nairo Quintana into fourth.

“My legs were good but my mentality was not super good in the first part of the stage. But then I saw that everyone was uncomfortable in the cold and rain,” Pogacar said. “I chose the right moment and rode full gas to the finish.”

More to come …

Socially Speaking

The “how to pack your cycling equipment like a pro” tweet was one of the biggest things in the world of cycling media this week, for better or worse. We prefer Phil Gaimon’s method instead.

Back at the Vuelta, stage 19 winner Rémi Cavagna (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) is still only 24 years old, so you can forgive him for struggling to pop the champagne properly.

Race Radio

Matthews defends his GP Québec title

Michael Matthews (Sunweb) successfully defended his crown at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec on Friday, putting in a powerful uphill sprint in a battle to take the victory ahead of Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Greg Van Avermaet (CCC).

Michael Matthews wins the 2019 GP Québec. Photo: Oran Kelly/Cor Vos © 2019

The 201.6-kilometer circuit race in Quebec City concluded with a furious finale. After the break was caught on the penultimate lap on the lumpy course, the final two kilometers of the lap saw a powerful surge from Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) that drew a small selection off the front, with both Sagan an van Avermaet in the move.

A hard-charging peloton closed down the split shortly after the flamme rouge, however, setting up a sprint battle on the Grande Allée. Alaphilippe led out on the left side of the road, but defending champion Matthews jumped to the right and wound up to a speed no one could match to take the clear win, his first in a WorldTour one-day race this year.

“I’m not exactly sure how I did that,” said the 28-year-old Australian. “I made a big mistake at the bottom of the climb. I wasn’t in a good enough position and when all the big favorites went I wasn’t in the position to go with them. I’m angry with myself about that but they came back and I had the legs for the sprint.”

Van der Poel nabs final stage and overall title at Tour of Britain

Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus) won the overall title at the Tour of Britain and put an exclamation point on the result with a victory in Saturday’s eighth and final stage.

Mathieu van der Poel wins the final stage of the Tour of Britain. Photo: SWPics/Cor Vos © 2019

The 166-kilometer stage from Altrincham to Manchester came down to a sprint, which van der Poel won by the narrowest of margins ahead of Sunweb’s Cees Bol. Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) took third.

Van der Poel stood atop the final GC podium with Trentin earning runner-up honors and Lotto-Soudal’s Jasper De Buyst in third overall. His victory in the UCI 2.HC-rated event marks van der Poel’s biggest win in a stage race thus far in his young career.

Powless signs two-year deal with EF Education First

Neilson Powless, who has been busy at the Vuelta this month defending the lead of Jumbo-Visma teammate Primoz Roglic, will join EF Education First next year. After two seasons with Jumbo, the 23-year-old American has signed a two-year contract with EF.

“I see him as a guy with a massive upside, from time trials to short stage races, and eventually the longer stage races, too,” said team CEO Jonathan Vaughters. “His climbing is improving every year. He can already be a leader in week-long stage races that are more time-trial focused.”

Coming up at the Vuelta

Only one stage remains at the 2019 Vuelta a España.

Stage 21, which runs 106.6 kilometers from Fuenlabrada to Madrid, should be one for the sprinters – although this is the Vuelta, and as sprint star Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) and company have learned on numerous stages so far at this year’s race, anything can happen in the season’s final Grand Tour.

In case you missed it …

Was Movistar in the wrong on stage 19 of the Vuelta?

Eurobike 2019 gallery, part seven: HED, DT Swiss, Tune, and more

Feature Image: Tadej Pogacar wins stage 20 of the Vuelta a España. Photo: Luis Angel Gomez/Cor Vos © 2019

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