Porte storms to TDU lead, Cavendish to headline Saudi Tour: Daily News Digest
(Want to get the Daily News Digest delivered directly to your inbox? Here’s the sign-up.)
Hello again, CyclingTips readers!
Here’s hoping you’ve had a chance to catch the Tour Down Under, where Richie Porte took the race by the horns on Thursday. The 34-year-old Australian stormed to victory in Paracombe on stage 3, and he now leads the race with the Willunga Hill stage still to come.
After the offseason – which, as you can probably imagine, is a long time for your Daily News Digester to go without any marquee races to watch – it’s been a pretty enjoyable return for WorldTour action so far.
Until next time, readers.
What’s News
| Porte storms into TDU lead with stage 3 win
Richie Porte leads the Tour Down Under after climbing to victory on Thursday’s stage 3 into Paracombe.
Porte attacked at the start of the final ascent and held on to the finish line with a five-second gap over Rob Power and Simon Yates and the rest of a small group to nab his eighth career stage win in the race. Porte now has a six-second lead over defending champion Daryl Impey as the race heads into stage 4.
| Honoré recovering after hit and run
Mikkel Honoré of Deceuninck-Quick-Step is recovering after a hit and run, his team said on social media on Thursday. Fortunately, he was released from the emergency room after a few hours following what the squad said were “normal” medical scans.
| No power meters at races for Vini Zabù-KTM
Luca Scinto, manager of Italian ProTeam Vini Zabù-KTM (the former Neri Sottoli squad), has decided to prohibit his riders from racing with power meters, La Gazzetta dello Sport reports.
Opining that cyclists have become “obsessed” with power numbers, Scinto says that he feels they are good for training but wants his cyclists to “ride around freely.”
| Armstrong’s $30,000 holiday trip
As various media outlets have noticed this week, Lance Armstrong and George Hincapie are hosting a cycling vacation trip in Mallorca with a not-insignificant price tag.
Travel company Out There lists “The Move Mallorica” as six night/five days of riding for a maximum of 12 people. The cost is a cool $30,000.
| Cavendish and Terpstra headline Saudi Tour start list
Saudi Tour organizers unveiled details of the route and expected start list for this year’s inaugural edition of the race.
Highlights from the list of names set to take on the five-day event include Mark Cavendish, Niki Terpstra, Rui Costa, Nacer Bouhanni, and Roman Kreuziger.
| Socially Speaking
Good stuff from Amanda Spratt on Twitter this week. Her photos are a nice reminder: The Australian national champion has been good at riding bikes for a long time.
BMX World Championships suit from 1998 still going strong. LET racing was my first sponsored team and Melbourne my first time wearing an Australian jersey ???????? pic.twitter.com/x0jkKDLIL2
— AmandaSpratt (@AmandaSpratt) January 22, 2020
In case you missed it
| Feel the rush: The story of the Tour Down Under’s polarising theme song
Matt de Neef looks into the story behind the theme song that has rung in the ears of Tour Down Under fans for more than a decade.
|
|
SUBSCRIBE TO THE DAILY NEWS DIGEST PODCASTToday’s featured image of the contenders at Liège-Bastogne-Liège comes from Kristof Ramon.
The post Porte storms to TDU lead, Cavendish to headline Saudi Tour: Daily News Digest appeared first on CyclingTips.