San Juan underway, Hainan canceled: Daily News Digest
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Hello again, CyclingTips readers!
Did you enjoy your weekend as much as Richie Porte and Matthew Holmes did? We hope so, now that we’re back into the swing of the week.
The Tour Down Under may be in the rearview mirror but the early-season racing calendar rolls on with the Vuelta a San Juan, where stage 1 got underway with a bit of drama.
Rudy Barbier took the stage victory for Israel Cycling Academy, but several riders were caught up in a big crash with a spectator with around 3.4 kilometers to go. The jury ultimately decided to nullify the time losses from the crash, however, which kept youngster Remco Evenepoel from dropping out of GC contention on the first stage.
In other racing news, the UCI has announced that the Tour of Hainan has been canceled due to the coronavirus situation in China. The door was left open for the possible rescheduling of the race.
Until next time, readers.
What’s News
| Barbier wins crash-marred San Juan opener
The Vuelta a San Juan kicked off on Sunday with a bit of late drama. A crash with a spectator brought multiple riders down with around 3.4 kilometers left to race, initially seeming to dash the GC hopes of those caught in or behind the pileup.
#ICYMI A massive crash with 3.5 kilometers to go, caused by a spectator, in stage 1 of ????????@vueltasanjuanok #VueltaSJ #VueltaSJ2020 pic.twitter.com/0604hy4CJe
— World Cycling Stats (@wcsbike) January 26, 2020
The race jury decided to nullify the time losses, however, keeping both up-and-comers (like Remco Evenepoel) and very, very longtime veterans (like Óscar Sevilla) in the GC picture for now. Rudy Barbier won the stage to take Israel Start-Up Nation’s first win of the season.
| Tour of Hainan canceled
The UCI has announced that the Tour of Hainan has been canceled “due to the health situation in China linked to the presence of the coronavirus.”
The stage race had been set to take place from February 23 to March 1. The UCI noted that there is a possibility of rescheduling the race, “depending on the availability of the calendar.”
| Team of Contador and Basso eyes second division
Wielerflits reports that the Kometa-Xstra Continental team, a project of the Alberto Contador foundation with Ivan Basso as sports manager, has its sights set on a promotion to the ProTeam ranks, the newly branded second division that has replaced the Pro Continental rating.
According to Wielerflits, the squad is looking to increase its budget with an eye towards possible ProTeam status for 2021.
| Yorkshire reports big audience numbers
Organizers of last year’s road Worlds in Yorkshire have announced that the event drew 329 million viewers.
In a statement on Monday, Yorkshire organizers pointed to a growth of 31 percent in viewership from the previous year’s numbers, noting that the event was broadcast to 24 more countries in 2019 than in 2018.
In case you missed it
| Big, beautiful photos from the 2020 Tour Down Under
Relive the best of the Tour Down Under with some excellent imagery from Tim Bardsley-Smith.
| How does Lizzie Deignan make motherhood and pro cycling work?
A video from Trek offers a look at how Lizzie Deignan makes things work as a mom and pro cyclist.
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SUBSCRIBE TO THE DAILY NEWS DIGEST PODCASTToday’s featured image of the peloton at the Tour Down Under comes from Tim Bardsley-Smith.
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