Vos and Van der Poel win in Essen: Daily News Digest
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Hello again, CyclingTips readers,
It’s a busy week on the cyclocross calendar and Tuesday saw racing in Belgium at Cyclocross Essen.
When the dust (and mud) had settled on the day, two big stars stood atop the final podium.
Read on for more …
Dane Cash,
News Editor
What’s News
Vos and Van der Poel win in Essen
Marianne Vos and Mathieu van der Poel took the victories on Tuesday at Robotland Ethias Cross Essen.
Vos, making the first start of her cyclocross campaign, rode a patient race before powering away solo with a little over a lap to go. There would be no catching her in the finale. The former world champ took the win six seconds ahead of Perrine Clauzel, with Inge van der Heiden in third on the day, nine seconds back. Yara Kastelijn, pulled out of the race after a chain issue put her out of contention.
On the men’s side, Van der Poel stormed to a convincing win after putting in an attack a little ways after the midway point of the race that no one came close to matching. Quinten Hermans took runner-up honors 11 seconds back with Tom Pidcock, who was slowed at one point by a fall in the mud.
Many of the big names of cyclocross will be in action again on Wednesday in Herentals for the next race of the X2O Badkamers Trofee series.
Driver punches Andrea Vendrame
As Il Gazzettino reports, Andrea Vendrame was out for a training ride in Treviso, Italy, on Monday when a motorist got out of his vehicle and punched him in the face.
“I managed to stop, also avoiding crashing on the bike, because I braked quickly,” the AG2R-La Mondiale rider said. “I was taken aback. Fortunately, after that few seconds of being stunned, I took out my cell phone and immediately took pictures while this gentleman ran away at high speed by making a U-turn and risking a head-on.”
Fortunately, Vendrame does not appear to have suffered serious injury. He told Il Gazzettino that he would report the driver to the police.
Bahrain-McLaren signs Ahmed Madan
Bahrain-McLaren has announced that it has signed Ahmed Madan for 2021. As Madan joins what will become the Bahrain Victorious team next season, he will be the first Bahraini cyclist racing at the WorldTour level.
Madan, 20, rode with the Bahrain Cycling Academy Continental team this season.
Compton plans to retire after next season
Mark Legg, Katie Compton’s husband and mechanic, said on Twitter on Monday that she plans to retire after next season.
“As some of you spotted yesterday this is the penultimate cyclocross season for Katie. It’s been a lot of years of ups and downs. As much as we love what we do it’s time we hang the race bike on the hook next season. We’ll miss all the amazing people and everyday is Saturday,” Legg wrote on Twitter.
Compton, 42, is a 15-time US national cyclocross champion and a five-time podium finisher at Cyclocross Worlds.
Gazprom-Rusvelo unveils 2021 kit
Gazprom-Rusvelo, which will feature some notable names as Roman Kreuziger and Ilnur Zakarin join the team next season, has unveiled its kit for 2021.
After several season in a mostly blue jersey, the Russian ProTeam will go for a mostly white jersey next year.
Have a closer look at #GazpromRusVelo team kit for 2021!
? pic.twitter.com/WjovEbrKvL— Gazprom-RusVelo (@RusveloTeam) December 22, 2020
Peloton buys Precor for $420 million
Peloton, which has seen a huge increase in sales of its stationary bikes and treadmills in 2020, has acquired fitness company Precor for $420 million in what amounts to Peloton’s largest ever acquisition.
As Bloomberg reports, the deal is expected to help Peloton meet production goals with increased manufacturing space while also opening new inroads for sales.
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Today’s featured image of the Marianne Vos at Robotland Ethias Cross Essen comes from Cor Vos.
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