Riders scuffle in Germany, Hammer Hong Kong cancelled: Daily News Digest
Welcome to your Daily News Digest. Here’s what’s happening today:
Álvaro Hodeg wins the Sparkassen Münsterland Giro, Florian Sénéchal and Max Walscheid scuffle after the race, Hammer Hong Kong cancelled, David de la Cruz signs with UAE-Team Emirates. Those stories and more in today’s Daily News Digest.
Story of the Day: Hodeg wins Münsterland Giro, Sénéchal hits Walscheid during an interview
Álvaro Hodeg won Thursday’s Sparkassen Münsterland Giro in a sprint finale, but his Deceuninck-Quick-Step teammate Florian Sénéchal was not in a celebratory mood in the immediate aftermath. Sénéchal approached Sunweb’s Max Walscheid just after the finish and hit him in the helmet, apparently in frustration over a crash in the closing meters of the race.
The incident was caught on camera, as Walscheid had been in the middle of an interview at the time.
????????@flosenech of ????????@deceuninck_qst seems to be blaming ????????@MaxWalscheid of ????????@TeamSunweb for the crash in the last 200m in ????????@tweets_giro #muensterlandgiro (????@sportschau) pic.twitter.com/pMOmTuaTS5
— World Cycling Stats (@wcsbike) October 3, 2019
Walscheid hit back with a punch, and then they were broken up by teammates.
Max Walscheid retaliates after Florian Sénéchal hits him during an interview after the Sparkassen Münsterland Giro. Photo: Rene Ohlgen/Cor Vos © 2019
A few moments prior, as the race was nearing its conclusion, Sénéchal had led out Hodeg, peeled off the front, and hit the deck in an apparent overlap of wheels with Walscheid.
Whether the post-race dust-up will lead to any consequences remains to be seen.
As for the racing itself, Hodeg took an impressive victory on rain-slicked roads in Germany. He went long in the sprint at the end of the wet 193.3-kilometer race from Emsdetten to Münster, and held on to triumph over Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Tim Merlier (Corendon-Circus).
Beauty of Cycling
Riding in Vermont in the fall is bound to be beautiful no matter what, and it makes for even better photos when a big gravel ride attracts a wide range of bikes.
No22. A classic beauty.
Check out the gallery of rides on display at Ian Boswell’s Peacham Fall Fondo for a great cross-section of the bikes you might see at a gravel event; as Marshall Opel writes, “Almost every bike can be a gravel bike, if you want it to be.”
Race Radio
Mohoric and others injured in CRO Race crash
Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Merida) was injured and several other riders were brought down as well in a bizarre – and completely avoidable – incident immediately after the finish of stage 2 at the CRO Race.
A person running on the course without any apparent sense of what was going on around him caused a pileup just behind stage winner Eduard Grosu (Delko Marseille Provence), moments after the finish.
Mohoric suffered two broken ribs and a lung injury in the fall, one of multiple riders to abandon to race after the crash.
Hammer Hong Kong race cancelled, Jumbo-Visma wins series
The Hammer Hong Kong race has been cancelled. Velon and the Hong Kong Tourism Board decided to call off the event due to the “ongoing events in Hong Kong,” where protesters have held demonstrations for months and recent police responses have increased tensions.
Initially scheduled for October 12 to 13, Hammer Hong Kong would have been the third and final event of the series this year after Hammer Stavanger and Hammer Limburg. With its cancellation, Jumbo-Visma becomes the series champion after winning in Stavanger and taking second place in Lumburg.
De la Cruz headed to UAE-Team Emirates
David de la Cruz will join UAE-Team Emirates next season on a two-year deal after two years with the Ineos organization.
The 30-year-old Spaniard is an accomplished climber who counts a Vuelta a España stage win and top 10 on his career palmares in addition to stage victories at races like Paris-Nice and the Vuelta al País Vasco.
David de la Cruz in team time trial mode at the Vuelta a España. Photo: ©kramon
“David is a rider who has the right experience to fully exploit his talent and immediately be a reliable part of our team in key races,” said UAE’s team manager Joxean Matxin.
WADA working on finger prick blood testing
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is working on developing “dried-blood-spot” (DBS) testing as part of anti-doping controls, according to a press release.
The proposed testing method brings several advantages over traditional blood and urine testing, proving less invasive for athletes by using a finger prick, potentially requiring lower volumes of blood, and reducing the cost of collection and necessary space for storage.
WADA, the International Olympic Committee, and other organizations involved are hoping for routine implementation “in time for the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing, China. An additional objective is to consider what aspects of DBS testing could potentially be implemented for the 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.”
In case you missed it …
Best men’s cycling bib shorts reviewed: Finding the perfect black pair
Feature Image: Alvaro Hodeg pips Pascal Ackermann to win the Sparkassen Münsterland Giro. Photo: Rene Ohlgen/Cor Vos © 2019
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