Road Roundup – January 30, 2020

Gaviria takes another, Bennett wins in Torquay, Tour of the Alps attracts top teams and more…

Fernando Gaviria strikes again for second win in San Juan

Fernando Gaviria has claimed his second win of the week on stage 4 of Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina for UAE Team Emirates. After a perfect lead-out from his teammates, the Colombian held off his sprint rivals to take another comfortable victory.

“Today’s stage was a little complicated with the Cat.1 climb. But the team worked perfectly from start to finish. They brought back the break and then set me up nicely for the sprint and I’m super happy with that. Molano and Richeze dropped me off at the line at just the right moment and I was able to capitalise on it. I’m really happy with my condition and looking forward to the second half of the race.”

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Sam Bennett wins inaugural Race Torquay

Sam Bennett is off to a flying start this season with two wins under his belt in just ten days of racing. The most recent win came Thursday at Race Torquay, an event consisting of ten laps of an undulating 13.3km circuit following a clockwise direction.

“This success makes me very happy and feeds my confidence ahead of Sunday, when I hope to be again up there with a shot at victory. The credit goes to the team, who did again a great job and were always there for me”, Sam said immediately after the finish.

“After an aggressive start, things became pretty controlled, so I asked the guys to make it harder and kick off the race again, and that’s when Dries went and forced the others to chase. It all came together later and I got an armchair ride to the line. I like the course and the length of the race, even though it was harder than advertised, as it has a bit of everything for everyone, and winning this event after being elevated to UCI status gives me a lot of satisfaction”, added Sam, who triumphed at Race Torquay twice when it used to be a criterium.

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Vasil Kiryienka to Retire

Vasil Kiryienka announced his retirement from professional cycling, following medical advice regarding a cardiac issue.

The 38 year-old Belarusian, who joined Team Sky in 2013, missed the start of last season owing to a cardiac anomaly, only to return to competitive racing at the Tour de Romandie in 2019 – the team’s first race as Team INEOS.

He went on to enjoy success at the European Games time trial in his home country of Belarus, before rounding off the year at the Vuelta a Espana, his 11th and final Grand Tour race with the team.

Kiryienka said: “It’s a really sad day for me, but it’s the right decision based on the advice I’ve been given by the medical team. I’ve had a wonderful career and enjoyed every minute racing with this team. It’s been an incredible journey and I am so grateful for all the support I’ve received throughout my whole career.”

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Tour of the Alps Attracts World Tour Teams

The 2020 edition of the Tour of the Alps has another outstanding edition in store from April 20 -24, with eight World Tour teams sending top-notch contenders to test their legs before the start of the Giro d’Italia.

Team Ineos, possibly wth Pavel Sivakov as leader is expected at the race, as is Trek-Segafredo with Vincenzo Nibali

Romain Bardet has already announced the Tour of the Alps as part of his roadmap to his Giro d’Italia debut with Ag2r La Mondiale, as did Pole Rafal Majka of Bora-hansgrohe and Liege-Bastogne-Liege winner Jakob Fuglsang, the GC captain for Astana at the Giro d’Italia.

Completing the picture of the World Tour teams are the CCC Team, whose leader could be either Russian Ilnur Zakarin or Italian Fausto Masnada, winner of two stages at 2019 #TotA, the UAE Team Emirates which will count on Valerio Conti and young talent Andres Camilo Ardila, winner of the last Giro U23, and the renewed Team Bahrain-McLaren, always very competitive in the Euregio’s roads.

The 20 teams of the 2020 edition of Tour of the Alps:

WORLD TEAMS

• Ag2R La Mondiale (France)
• Astana Pro Team (Kazakhstan)
• Bahrain – McLaren (Bahrain)
• Bora – Hansgrohe (Germany)
• CCC Team (Poland)
• Team INEOS (United Kingdom)
• Trek – Segafredo (United States)
• UAE Team Emirates (United Arab Emirates)

PRO CONTINENTAL

• Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec (Italy)
• B&B Hotels – Vital Concept p/b KTM (France)
• Bardiani-CSF Faizanè (Italy)
• Caja Rural Seguros RGA (Spain)
• Fundacion Euskadi (Spain)
• Gazprom – RusVelo (Russia)
• Nippo Delko One Provence (France)
• Uno-X Norwegian (Norway)
• Vini Zabù-KTM (Italy)

CONTINENTAL

• Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels (Austria)
• Tirol KTM Cycling Team (Austria)

NATIONAL TEAMS

• Italy