World Cup wins for Iserbyt and Worst, Mas leads in Guangxi: Daily News Digest
Welcome to your Daily News Digest. Here’s what’s happening today:
Eli Iserbyt and Annemarie Worst take World Cup wins in Bern, Enric Mas climbs to victory in the queen stage of the Tour of Guangxi, Nils Eekhoff to challenge U23 Worlds disqualification at Court of Arbitration for Sport. Those stories and more in today’s Daily News Digest.
Story of the Day: Iserbyt and Worst take World Cup wins in Bern
The UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup series continued with its first European event of the season on Sunday. Annemarie Worst and Eli Iserbyt triumphed on a muddy course in Bern, Switzerland.
The middle spot on the Elite podium is becoming familiar territory for @IserbytEli! ????#TelenetUCICXWC pic.twitter.com/pgI6sf3jHd
— UCI Cyclocross (@UCI_CX) October 20, 2019
Worst wasted little time in taking control of the women’s race. Maghalie Rochette led in the very early goings but Worst quickly pulled clear of the Canadian and the rest of the field. Despite the mud, the 23-year-old Dutchwoman hardly faltered from there on out.
By the midpoint of the race, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado emerged as the clear second best rider, but there was no catching Worst, who took a convincing first World Cup win of the season 33 seconds ahead of runner-up Alvarado. Anna Kay rounded out the podium in third. Katerina Nash finished seventh to hold onto her World Cup series lead over Rochette, who finished 11th.
Iserbyt, the winner of the first two rounds of the World Cup series in Iowa City and Waterloo, dueled with Toon Aerts through the early laps of the men’s event, before beginning to pull clear midway through the race. Once he put Aerts and the rest of his rivals in the rearview mirror, however, he opened a hefty gap that no one could close.
Iserbyt took the win to make it a hat trick in the World Cup series so far this season and extend his overall lead. Aerts took runner-up honors 35 seconds later, with Vanthourenhout claiming third.
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Mas climbs to Guangxi queen stage victory
Enric Mac (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) nabbed Sunday’s queen stage victory at the Tour of Guangxi. The 24-year-old Spaniard, who is headed to Movistar next year, topped Daniel Martínez (EF Education First) and Diego Rosa (Ineos) to win stage 4 on a steep finishing climb.
Mas now sits atop the general classification with two days of racing left.
Enric Mas and Daniel Martínez on stage 4 of the Tour of Guangxi. Photo: Dario Beligheri/RB/Cor Vos © 2019
“My season was a solid and consistent one, but truth being told, I was missing a victory, and to get it now, in my last race of the year and my final outing for this fantastic squad, feels really great,” Mas said. “There’s still two more stages left, but we will try to defend the jersey and bring it home.”
Following Saturday’s stage 3, won by Bora-Hansgrohe’s Pascal Ackermann in a sprint, Sunday’s fourth stage took the Tour of Guangxi peloton 161.4 kilometers from Nanning, the region’s capital, to the Nongla Scenic Area. A break jumped away in the early goings and worked the gap up to around five minutes, but the peloton gradually reeled the move back in over the final hour. Trek-Segafredo’s Ryan Mullen, the last survivor from the move, was caught with a little over 10 kilometers to go.
The climb to the finish began a little over three kilometers from the line, and Mas’s Deceuninck-Quick-Step teammate Rémi Cavagna made an early bid for glory as the road angled upward. The Frenchman was caught by a small group 1.5 kilometers later, with Antwan Tolhoek (Jumbo-Visma) leading Mas and Martínez up the climb.
Mas proved strongest in the finale, however, pulling away as the line approached to nab the win and the lead. Martínez was a close second, one second back, with Rosa overtaking Tolhoek for third.
Eekhoff will challenge Worlds U23 race disqualification at CAS
According to NOS, Nils Eekhoff will challenge his disqualification from the under-23 road race at Yorkshire Worlds in the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The 21-year-old Dutchman was the first rider across the line in men’s U23 event last month, but was stripped of a would-be victory after the race for drafting behind a team car to return to the peloton following an early crash. The disqualification garnered criticism from some in the world of cycling, with numerous pros pointing out that riders often draft team cars without consequence.
Eekhoff and the Dutch cycling federation are reportedly taking the case to the Court of Arbitration for sport, arguing that the rule is not enforced consistently.
“The application of that rule must be different,” said national team coach Thorwald Veneberg, according to NOS. “Nils must also be clear why that decision was made at that time, because we do not have it at the moment.”
Mollema tops Woods to win Japan Cup
Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) is enjoying an impressive October run. Just over a week after he powered to victory at Il Lombardia, the 32-year-old Dutchman picked up his second career Japan Cup win.
Bauke Mollema wins the 2019 Japan Cup. Photo: Miwa iijima/Cor Vos © 2019
Mollema, the 2015 Japan Cup winner, and Mike Woods (EF Education First) jumped away from the pack late in the hilly circuit race in Utsunomiya, and the pair held on out front to battle for the UCI 1.HC-rated victory between themselves. Mollema sprinted to the win on the finishing straight, with Woods settling for runner-up honors. Mitchelton-Scott’s Dion Smith led a small chasing group over the line for a distant third place 44 seconds later.
“I felt really good the whole day myself; in the last weeks, months already actually, but today especially the legs were good,” said Mollema. “It’s a nice way to finish the season.”
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Feature Image: Enric Mas wins stage 4 of the Tour of Guangxi. Photo: Dario Beligheri/RB/Cor Vos © 2019
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