In today’s road racing news, Mitchelton-SCOTT neo-pro Groves gets his first UCI win, Katusha shows off innovative kit, Movistar women ready to race and Impey notches South African TT title.
Neo-Pro Kaden Groves gets first Pro Win
Kaden Groves took his first UCI win for Mitchelton-SCOTT in a sprint finish on stage three of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour.
His Mitchelton-SCOTT teamates worked hard to soften up the bunch throughout the stage, which featured climbs at the start and end of the 118km journey from Bright to Wangaratta, before the 21-year-old proved too strong for his rivals, saluting in joy.
“It was a pretty hard stage today, it was the stage I picked for the week,” said Groves at the finish. “I’ve been trying to get the first win with the new team. The guys have been riding so well together that they really deserve this. Today was a perfect team effort so I’m pretty happy to repay them with a win.”
Bigla-KATUSHA launches 2020 Team Kit
After years of partnership in the men’s World Tour, Katusha Sports has brought their expertise in technology paired with design and style to the Bigla-KATUSHA women’s team.
The 2020 race kit is fully bespoke for each rider, with every item being made to measure, for a perfect fit, to meet each rider’s individual needs.
Alexis Schoeb, CEO of KATUSHA conveyed his satisfaction with the process and the end result: “Working with an open brief we were able to design a truly stand out kit, different and unique in the peloton. To be able to bring our technology driven methodology in, and balance it with a bespoke design has been a great experience. I love this kit, I really do.”
The aqua blue colour is carried over from the 2019 season, now paired with a salmon pink and navy blue. Light patterning is reflected on the collar and back of the jersey, to add a premium touch. The CHAPTER2 bikes, Tacx water bottles and Endura helmets all play on this colour scheme as well to create a strong solidarity.
Women’s Movistar Team Ready Kick Off 2020 Season
The women’s Movistar Team will be starting their 2020 season this week as they pin their numbers for the first competition of the year, the Vuelta CV Féminas (Sunday 9th; 97.7km from Paterna to Valencia), and some key activities for the whole, 11-woman roster.
The Movistary women have spent the last two days on TT testing, adjusting biomechanical profiles and trying out new materials at the Tafalla velodrome in Navarra, similar to the adjustments the men’s team underwent in Mallorca at last week’s training camp.
Following the testing, the Movistar Team will head south to Valencia, where Aude Biannic, Jelena Erić, Alicia González, Barbara Guarischi, Lourdes Oyarbide and Alba Teruel will be representing the Blues.
Daryl Impey Takes National TT Title
South African Daryl Impey has powered to his ninth national time trial title in Mpumalanga, extending his unbeaten run to eight years.
The 35-year-old lined-up as the pre-race favourite and showed everyone why as he negotiated the 36km course in a time of 41 minutes 52 seconds to take the win by 40-seconds over Stefan de Bod (NTT Pro Cycling).
“It’s always nice to bring the jersey back to Europe and doing it for the ninth time, it’s been quite a nice run so far. It’s just nice to represent my country with the South African flag for another year, I think that’s important.”
Bouhanni sprints into Saudi Tour lead (AFP)
French sprinter Nacer Bouhanni powered to victory on the fourth and penultimate stage of the Saudi Tour on Friday to claim the race overall lead.
The Arkea-Samsic rider had finished in the top five in each of the first three stages and grabbed a two-second advantage in the general classification from Italian Niccolo Bonifazio.
It was the 29-year-old Bouhanni’s first stage win since the sixth stage of the 2018 Vuelta a Espana.
“I needed this victory because otherwise you start to have doubts,” he said.
“Today, my teammates did an incredible job. By being led out this way, the only thing I could do was win. Now let’s defend the (overall leader’s) jersey.”
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