Pozzovivo hit by car while training, BinckBank begins: Daily News Digest
Welcome to your Daily News Digest. Here’s what’s happening today:
Sam Bennett wins stage 1 of the BinckBank Tour, Domenico Pozzovivo suffers multiple fractures after being hit by a car while training, Davide Formolo signs with UAE-Team Emirates for 2020. Those stories and more in today’s Daily News Digest.
Story of the Day: Bennett wins BinckBank opener
Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) won the opening stage of the BinckBank Tour on a rainy day in the Low Countries. The 28-year-old Irishman topped Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo) and Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma) in a bunch sprint to take the first leader’s jersey of the weeklong WorldTour race.
“I’m really happy to get my first win in the Irish champion’s jersey here,” Bennett said after his win.
“It was a bit dangerous today with the rain, and I skidded a couple of times, but everything ended up okay.”
Stage 1 of the 2019 BinckBank Tour – the event known as the Eneco Tour until 2017 – took the peloton from Beveren, Belgium to the Dutch town of Hulst. The flat profile had the sprinters’ teams highly motivated to keep things together for a mass gallop at the end of the stage, but precipitation and a handful of cobbled sectors added some intrigue to the day.
The last survivor of a four-man breakaway, Lukasz Wisniowski (CCC Team), made it inside the last three kilometers until he was finally caught, leaving the stage win the sprinters as expected. Trek-Segafredo was well-placed as the pack hit the finishing straight, and Theuns jumped out to an early lead in the sprint, but Bennett was charging hard from behind.
Bennett came past Theuns in the closing moments to take the narrow victory, his seventh WorldTour win in what has been an impressive 2019 season for the Irish national road champion.
Moving Pictures
Speaking of Ireland and cycling, 84 riders took on the inaugural edition of the Pan Celtic Race this past July. As might be expected, a trek across Scotland, Ireland, and Wales offered plenty of opportunities to celebrate the beauty of cycling.
The sinuous road to Stwlans Dam, Wales. Photo: Rupert Hartley
You can see more great shots from the event in the gallery.
Race Radio
Pozzovivo hit by car while training, sustains multiple fractures
Bahrain-Merida’s Domenico Pozzovivo sustained rib, arm, and leg fractures when he was hit by a car while he was training in Italy.
Domenico Pozzovivo racing the stage 9 time trial at the 2019 Giro d’Italia. Photo: ©kramon
Details on the incident remain sparse, but according to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the 36-year-old Italian was hit while he was riding near Cosenza in southern Italy. The driver called emergency services, and Pozzovivo was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was diagnosed with multiple fractures. His team said via Twitter that he is stable and conscious.
Pozzovivo, a five-time Grand Tour top 10 finisher, had just completed the Tour of Poland and was preparing for a planned start at the Vuelta a España, which would have marked his second Grand Tour of 2019 after he raced the Giro d’Italia in May.
Following his crash, it seems unlikely that the veteran climber would make the start in the Spanish three-week race, which begins in less than two weeks.
Bahrain-Merida has Tweeted that there will be “more updates to follow” after Pozzovivo undergoes surgery.
UAE-Team Emirates signs Davide Formolo
Italian national champion Davide Formolo will transfer from Bora-Hansgrohe to be “one of the leading riders” on UAE Team Emirates, his new squad announced on Monday.
The 26-year-old, who counts a Giro d’Italia stage win and three Grand Tour top 10s on his career palmares, has raced with Bora since 2018 after four seasons in the Cannondale and Slipstream organizations. He rode to runner-up honors at Liège-Bastogne-Liège this April.
Davide Formolo entering the Verona amphitheater after finishing the closing time trial at the Giro d’Italia. Photo: ©kramon
“Davide has great qualities and great potential. He has already achieved some good results in the Classics and in the general classification of stage races and we are confident that he can reach even greater heights in the years to come,” said UAE manager Joxean Matxin. “He will have the full support of the team for his objectives in the Ardennes Classics and beyond.”
The two-year Formolo signing is just the latest of a series of moves by the UAE squad, which has already added up-and-comers like Mikkel Bjerg and Brandon McNulty as well as proven lead-out specialist Max Richeze for 2020.
Yorkshire will use temporary bridge to traverse original route after flooding destroys bridge
When flooding washed away Grinton Moor Bridge at the end of July, the initial planned route for the Yorkshire world championship men’s road race was left in doubt, but Cycling Weekly reports the race will be able to forge ahead thanks to a temporary bridge that is already under construction.
“North Yorkshire County Council are working hard to repair the recent damage and we are aiming to retain the race route as previously planned, using the temporary bridge,” said a race spokesperson, according to Cycling Weekly.
“Should there be any further issues and a diversion is required, it would be minimal and not involve any significant changes to the men elite road race course.”
Australian up-and-comer Groves will join Mitchelton-Scott as stagiaire, then turn pro in 2020
20-year-old Australian prospect Kaden Groves will join Mitchelton-Scott as a stagiaire to close out this season turning pro with the WorldTour outfit next year.
Groves rode for the Mitchelton-BikeExchange squad last year and spent this year with the SEG Racing development team, racking up multiple victories on the under-23 circuit.
“Kaden spent a year in our development team a couple of years ago and we really saw some talent there. This year, with SEG Racing Academy, he has really hit his straps, won a number of races and has had some really consistent results in this first half of the season,” said Mitchelton-Scott’s Matt White via the team’s announcement.
“As with any really young guys we don’t know what his full potential is just yet, but he is very versatile, he is obviously very fast, can do a very good prologue and can win sprints uphill and on the flat.”
Happy birthday to …
Tejay van Garderen (EF Education First) is 31.
Tejay van Garderen on stage 6 of the Tour de France. Photo: ©kramon
The American all-rounder counts two fifth-place finishes at the Tour de France and a Giro d’Italia stage win on his career palmares, as well as numerous results in one-week races.
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Feature Image: Sam Bennett wins stage 1 of the BinckBank Tour. Photo: Davy Rietbergen/Cor Vos © 2019
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