Daily News Digest, News - February 26, 2021

Vingegaard wins stage 5 of the UAE Tour: Daily News

Hello again, CyclingTips readers,

As we head towards the end of the week, the UAE Tour rolled on with challenging stage to Jebel Jais. Meanwhile, Alpecin-Fenix has announced that Mathieu van der Poel will not start the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad but will race Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, and the UCI has published a safety guide outlining its updated rules for road racing.

Read on for the latest from the world of cycling.

Dane Cash
News Editor

What’s news?

Jonas Vingegaard wins stage 5 of the UAE Tour

Up-and-comer Jonas Vingegaard powered to victory on stage 5 of the UAE Tour, which finished at the highest climb in the United Arab Emirates, Jebel Jais.

The 170 km stage came down to a thrilling finale on the climb. Alexey Lutsenko, the last survivor from the main break, held on out front into the last kilometer, but Vingegaard jumped clear of a select group and closed down the gap. Vingegaard sailed past with less than 300 meters to go with several GC riders chasing. He held on to get the victory with a three-second gap over race leader Tadej Pogacar, who took runner-up honors on the day ahead of Adam Yates.

With two stages to go, Pogacar has a 45-second gap over Yates in the general classification.

Froome ‘feeling better and better’ over the course of the UAE Tour

In other news from the UAE Tour, Chris Froome said after Thursday’s stage that he feels like he is consistently improving over the course of the race. The four-time Tour de France champion is riding for Israel Start-Up Nation teammate Ben Hermans as he tries to work his way back to his best.

“For me personally, I feel better and better as the race goes on,” Froome said. “I think I definitely need more of these race stages, but step by step things are hopefully coming together for me.”

Mathieu van der Poel won’t race the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

The Alpecin-Fenix team has confirmed its lineups for the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, with Mathieu van der Poel set to skip the former and race the latter.

The attendance of the 26-year-old Dutchman has been a question mark over the past few days after he and the rest of the Alpecin-Fenix squad at the UAE Tour withdrew from the race following the positive COVID-19 test of a team staff member. The squad announced on Thursday that Van der Poel would be racing this weekend, but not at the Omloop. Instead, the team will have Dries De Bondt, Silvan Dillier, Senne Leysen, Xandro Meurisse, Oscar Riesbeek, Jasper Philipsen, and Otto Vergaerde making the start on Saturday. On Sunday, Van der Poel will line up alongside Riesebeek, Dillier, Lionel Taminiaux, Edward Planckaert, Laurens De Vreese, and Tim Merlier.

The UCI publishes a rider safety guide

Following up on recent announcements of changes to its rules, the UCI has published a guide for road pros containing information on the various updates made to racing regulations.

The guide confirms that the UCI has brought on a Safety Manager, that UCI registered events will be required to have their own Event Safety Managers, that a Race Incident Database is coming, and that software to evaluate course safety is being developed. The guide includes details on the updated standards for roadside barriers as well.

Also included are specifics on what positions riders are and are not allowed to take while racing, complete with handy graphical representations of the permitted and forbidden techniques. The guide confirms that the penalty for “using a non-compliant position or point of support on the bicycle” will be “disqualification.”

Tour de Suisse announces wildcard selection

The Tour de Suisse has announced the two teams that have received wildcard invites to take on this year’s edition of the race, which is set to run from June 6 to 13.l

Joining the 19 WorldTour teams and Alpecin-Fenix, which is automatically invited to all WorldTour events after having finished as the highest-ranked second-division team last year, will be Rally and Total Direct Energie.

Sarah Roy reveals Australian national champ’s kit

New Australian road champion Sarah Roy revealed her green and gold jersey for the first time on Thursday on a ride with three-time former champ Amanda Spratt. Both riders will line up at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad this weekend, the first major race on the 2021 women’s calendar.

Thank you so much @GiordanaCycling and @GiroCyclingUK for my jersey and helmet. I love them!! pic.twitter.com/PggFzCkY3j

— Sarah Roy (@Sar_Roy) February 25, 2021

Coming up …

The UAE Tour heads toward the coast on Friday for stage 6. The penultimate day of the race should be a good one for the sprinters, so keep an eye on Sam Bennett, Caleb Ewan, and co.