Today in Pro Cycling News: January 20, 2015

In today’s pro cycling news, results from Tour Down Under, World Tour invite for Team Novo Nordisk, new cars for Tinkoff-Saxo and more…

Scandolara wins overall at Santos Women’s Tour as Hoskins gets third stage victory

Orica-AIS‘ women were successful at the conclusion of the 2015 Santos Women’s Tour as Valentina Scandolara successfully defended the leader’s jersey she claimed on day one and stage two winner Melissa Hoskins also claimed her second victory, winning the evening’s criterium from a bunch sprint.

Scandolara’s victory marked the Italian’s first professional stage race win.

“It’s been wonderful these past few days and today all these people saw how great ORICA-AIS is. It was amazing,” Scandolara said.

“Once again we kept the jersey and we got the win so I am really really happy.”

Jack Bobridge takes Stage 1 at Santos Tour Down Under

Jack Bobridge, riding for the UniSA National Team, won the opening stage of the 2015 Tour Down Under,  the first UCI World Tour event of the season.

Bobridge sprinted across the line in just under three hours, 20 minutes ahead of the predicted finish time, with Dutchman Lieuwe Westra (Astana) second and West Australian Luke Durbridge (Orica GreenEDGE) third.

The bonus time Bobridge collected for the stage win and during the day has put him in the Santos Ochre Leader’s Jersey, four seconds clear of Westra with Durbridge sitting third overall at six seconds.

Team Novo-Nordisk gets first World Tour invite

Team Novo Nordisk is set to compete in its first World Tour event with the invitation to Milan-San Remo, which was announced by RCS Sport earlier today.

“Competing in our first World Tour race is a major milestone for Team Novo Nordisk and speaks to the hard work and dedication of this entire organization,” said Team Novo Nordisk CEO Phil Southerland. “It’s also the result of a tenacious and inspirational group of athletes, who are proving every day that they can race alongside the world’s best. Racing at such a high caliber event will also enable us to reach even more people around the world and show what may be possible with diabetes.”

Tinkoff-Saxo partners with Citroën

Tinkoff-Saxo and Citroën have entered into a two-year partnership deal which will see six European affiliates of the French car manufacturer provide 24 support vehicles, mainly Citroën C5 Tourer, that will used by the team in the European races.

The partnership was officially launched at the Brussells Motorshow where Citroën Belux welcomed the brand’s Slovakian ambassador, and Tinkoff-Saxo rider, Peter Sagan, during an event that gathered dozens of journalists and guests.

SRAM teams up with Axeon Cycling

SRAM announced today that it has expanded its commitment to the newly branded Axeon Cycling Team, the premier U23 development squad in men’s cycling. Axeon (pronounced “ak-shun”) and SRAM will collaborate more closely on product development, testing and refinement as the world’s top young racers push their limits on the latest technologies from SRAM, Zipp and Quarq.

The focus is on development and improvement for the future. Axeon, owned and directed by Axel Merckx, has succeeded in this goal since its creation with SRAM as a founding partner six years ago. With 18 riders having graduated from the program, the team has positioned itself as the premier development program in cycling. For 2015, Axeon rides Cipollini frames with SRAM components, Quarq power measurement and, for the first time, Zipp wheels, bars, stems and seatposts. For time trials, the team will use Zipp aerobars.