EUROTRASH News Round Up Thursday!
Happy New Year EuroTrashers! It might be a new year, but Mathieu van der Poel keeps on winning. New team on the block, Alpecin-Fenix show off their kit and bikes – Top Story. GP Sven Nys in Baal and the Sylvestercross in Bredene race reports and video. All the cycling news form the week: Astana riders crash, Arkéa-Samsic kit, Team news from Mitchelton-Scott, Deceuninck – Quick-Step and Aevolo. Race news from Tour Colombia and Catalunya. We finish with New Year video messages from EF Education First and Deceuninck – Quick-Step.
TOP STORY: The New Alpecin-Fenix 2020 Kit
The Corendon-Circus team will now be known as Alpecin-Fenix from the 1st of January 2020. The team of the Roodhooft brothers has been publicising the new name on Instagram and Facebook.
Last month we knew that sponsors Corendon and Circus were to be exchanged for Alpecin and Fenix. Alpecin is a German shampoo manufacturer. Fenix is an Italian interior design producer.
Bike sponsor, Canyon, also presented the colour scheme for the Canyon Aeroad road bike. The road team riders also have the Ultimate and the Speedmax. Van der Poel rides cyclo-cross on the Canyon Inflite, while he can choose the full-suspension Canyon Lux or the hardtail Canyon Exceed for the MTB.
Corendon-Circus announced in a press release that it is voluntarily stepping aside to make room for new sponsors. It thanks Van der Poel and his team for the four years of cooperation.
DVV Trofee – GP Sven Nys, Baal 2020
A new year and a new sponsor, but Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) won as usual, this time in the GP Sven Nys on Wednesday. The reigning world champion won in Baal for the third year in a row and took his first victory of 2020. Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) and Tom Pidcock (Trinity) fought it out for the lower steps of the podium.
Van der Poel took the initiative in the opening lap, but only Eli Iserbyt could follow. Quinten Hermans and Corné van Kessel, both of the new Tomans Cyclocross team, rode in the chase and joined Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) on the third lap.
When Van der Poel increased the pace again, they had to leave a gap. After an attack by Van der Poel, Iserbyt also had to let the World champion go, after which he soloed to the finish and was able to take his 17th victory of the winter without much of a problem. Behind; Iserbyt was joined by his pursuers. Despite a fall, he and his teammate Vanthourenhout distanced themselves from the Tormans duo. Tom Pidcock came back strongly and competed for the second place with the two Belgians, although Vanthourenhout had to drop out from the battle for second place. On the final lap, Iserbyt distanced himself from Pidcock, which decided the fight for second place.
In the battle for the DVV Trophy, Iserbyt leads Van der Poel by 4 minutes and 12 seconds. But because he will not start in the next race in Lille, Van der Poel will lose five more minutes. Michael Vanthourenhout is in third place at 5:10 with 2 of the 8 races still to ride.
Race winner, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix): “I am satisfied with the feelings today. It went well. It is always a difficult circuit here, but I did a good race. It is motivating to put the new sponsors in the spotlight. It is a bit of a cliché, but without sponsors we would be nowhere. Our sport ultimately revolves around such companies. It is important for us, and thanks to them we can confirm this spring. That’s why we needed a little more budget to attract bigger names. A good start is everything. But I also realise that last year was fairly unique. A lot of beautiful things are still to come. We are going to do our best to make it a great year again.”
4th, Corné Van Kessel (Tomans Cyclocross): “My shape is good, which I showed again today. I made some mistakes during the last laps, taking away my chances to finish on the podium. I’m very confident, but I need some more races to adapt to our new equipment. But I’m happy about my start in the colours of Tormans Cyclo Cross Team!”
6th, Quinten Hermans (Tomans Cyclocross): “At the start of the race I already felt that Corné was stronger than me today. That’s why I made a big effort to close the gap with Van der Poel and Iserbyt at the beginning of the race. We get along very well, and we’ll reach the top with Tormans Cyclo Cross Team. I’m very happy to see so many people here in Baal supporting us and in particular, our new sponsor Jan Tormans. I’m very happy about our new equipment, even if I’ll need some time to adapt. I’ll continue the acclimatising in competition this Sunday in Brussels in order to be ready for the Belgian championships in Antwerp!”
DVV Trofee – GP Sven Nys, Baal Result:
1. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix in 1:01:40
2. Eli Iserbyt (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal at 0:23
3. Tom Pidcock (GB) Trinity at 0:41
4. Corné van Kessel (Ned) Tomans Cyclocross at 0:47
5. Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal at 0:50
6. Quinten Hermans (Bel) Tomans Cyclocross at 1:13
7. Laurens Sweeck (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal at 2:13
8. Jens Adams (Bel) Hollebeekhoeve at 2:25
9. Tim Merlier (Bel) Creafin-Fristads at 2:28
10. Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Creafin-Fristads) at 2:45.
Baal’20:
Ethias Cross – Sylvestercross Bredene 2019
Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus) closed the 2019 season with yet another win. The World champion took his 28th cross victory of the year in the Ethias Cross of Bredene. Tim Merlier (Creafin-Fristads) was second at a considerable distance, Gianni Vermeersch (Creafin-Fristads) finished third.
World champion Mathieu van der Poel only started a Ethias Cross at the very last minute, after Wout van Aert had to cancel due to family circumstances. The start in Bredene has always been very short, barely 100 meters after the start the riders are onto the grass, via a tech zone. Van der Poel was clearly in no hurry today. The World champion kept his powder dry early on, but did push the pace up, with Thijs Aerts in his wake. Diether Sweeck (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) thought he would have a go. Laurens’s older brother rushed into the lead and at the end of the first lap he came through with a bit of a lead on Van der Poel. There was no sight of Tom Pidcock, Tim Merlier or Gianni Vermeersch.
Merlier made a strong move to catch-up on lap two, and after 15 minutes of racing got him to the front with Van der Poel and Diether Sweeck. But once Merlier was on board, Van der Poel’s pace went up and Sweeck was dropped. Van der Poel wanted Merlier – one of his most important riders at Corendon-Circus in the spring Classics – to take a few laps with him. That worked quite well for the Belgian champion, until halfway when he had to let the World champion go. In just one lap Van der Poel built up a 22 second lead on Merlier.
The time difference went to almost a minute and it seemed the race was over, but on the penultimate lap, Van der Poel crashed. The World champion chose the wrong track and ended up in the barriers. He did not lose much time, and so won with his first participation in Bredene, closing the year with 28 wins.
Race winner, Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus): “It was quite a difficult course, with a lot of deep tracks. It was a nice cross, but it was a difficult course. It was not easy to find the right lines because of the many deep ruts. You didn’t see too well through the low sun, but it was up to me. I may not experience this anymore. It was really enjoyment. What I hope for 2020? I would like to achieve just as much success, but the most important thing is to stay healthy.”
Ethias Cross – Sylvestercross Bredene Result:
1. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Corendon-Circus in 59:37
2. Tim Merlier (Bel) Creafin-Fristads at 1:08
3. Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Creafin-Fristads at 1:26
4. Diether Sweeck (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal at 1:47
5. Tom Pidcock (GB) Trinity at 2:01
6. Jim Aernouts (Bel) Telenet-Baloise at 2:35
7. Thijs Aerts (Bel) Telenet-Baloise at 3:37
8. Joren Wyseure (Bel) Balen BC at 3:42
9. Zdenek Stybar (Cz) Deceuninck – Quick-Step at 3:58
10. Sean De Bie (Bel) Roompot-Charles at 4:17
Bredene’19:
Yevgeniy Gidich and Vadim Pronskiy in Training Crash
The Astana team announced on Monday that two of their young Kazakh cyclists were involved in a crash while training in Altea, Spain. The Kazakh squad had been in the area for preseason training.
“A car ran over our cyclists Yevgeniy Gidich and Vadim Pronskiy. Both were taken to the hospital shortly after the accident,” said the team. Astana is one of many teams who choose the regions of Alicante to prepare for the season, due to its good weather and mountains.
Gidich, 23, suffered a small abrasion to his hand, Astana explained through social media, along with a photograph of Pronskiy, who was worse off. The newcomer to the team, who is 21 years-old, suffered a serious injury to the knee and received several stitches on his chin.
The Astana team, in the wake of this accident in which fortunately there were no serious injuries for the victims, has taken the opportunity to remind all road users of the need to always remain focused on driving and respect all those who use the road.
Images from Astana Twitter:
Arkéa-Samsic Goes Red
Arkéa Samsic announced its new race kit for 2020 on New Year’s Day. The French team posted a video on Twitter in which some of the team’s riders show the new outfit. In 2020, the team opts for a mostly red design, last year it was white. It had already been announced that from this year Arkéa-Samsic would ride Canyon bikes. The team has been strengthened by attracting Nairo Quintana and Nacer Bouhanni, and others.
Notre nouveau maillot 2020 #Passion #BonneAnnée⁰⁰
Nuestra nueva camiseta 2020 #Pasión #FelizAñoNuevo⁰
Our New 2020 Jersey #passion #happynewyear pic.twitter.com/PBNcHFHbm3
— Team Arkéa Samsic (@Arkea_Samsic) January 1, 2020
Welcome to 2020 with Mitchelton-SCOTT!
Happy New Year!
Another year is done and dusted and we’re into the 20s with new rosters and plenty of racing already on the cards. We will start the year, sporting the same Mitchelton-SCOTT name and look, with another full Australian campaign of racing.
For the first time in our colours, 2018 Vuelta a España champion Simon Yates is in Australia, whilst world championship medalist Amanda Spratt and South African champion Daryl Impey are back for more history making achievements at the Tour Down Under.
Make sure you get your Australian season viewing scheduled in the diary:
3 – 5 January: Bay Crits (guest appearances only)
8 – 12 January: Australian Championships
16 – 19 January: Women’s Tour Down Under
19 – 26 January: Men’s Tour Down Under
30 January: Race Torquay
1 February: Women’s Cadel Road Race
2 February: Men’s Cadel Road Race
5 – 6 February: Women’s Herald Sun Tour
5 – 9 February: Men’s Jayco Herald Sun Tour
Pozzovivo joins NTT Pro Cycling in 2020
NTT Pro Cycling is happy to announce that Italian veteran, Domenico Pozzovivo, will join our team having signed a 2-year contract, commencing in 2020.
The 2019 season was shaping up to be another consistent year by the Italian professional from Policoro, as a 2nd place overall at the Tour of Oman was followed up by strong supporting roles at both Paris-Nice and the Giro d’Italia.
The 37-year-old then raced the Tour de Suisse and Tour de Pologne, placing 7th and 12th respectively, in preparation to lead his former Bahrain-Merida team at the 2019 Vuelta a España. Just a week before the Spanish grand tour got underway, a career threatening injury ruled Pozzovivo out of action.
The Italian was struck by a car while out training in the south of Italy, suffering multiple fractures in his leg, upper and lower arms and collarbone. After requiring multiple surgeries, an extensive period of rehabilitation followed for Pozzovivo, where he has since showed remarkable progress.
Confident of a return to the top level of the sport, something Pozzovivo has done once before after breaking his leg during the 2014 season, NTT Pro Cycling is looking to Pozzovivo’s 15-year professional career experience and fighting character to add depth to our young stage racing roster.
Among Pozzovivo’s palmarès, his 13 professional victories are complemented by 18 grand tour participations, at which he achieved a general classification top 10 placing on 7 occasions.
Domenico Pozzovivo – Rider: “I would like to thank Douglas Ryder and the management of NTT Pro Cycling to accept the challenge of allowing me to return to my usual high level of cycling. Already, since the long period of hospitalisation and then with a hard physiotherapy job, I started to work tenaciously on my recovery. My healing will continue in the next months and I’m confident that together with the team we will win this bet. I can’t wait to meet my teammates and the staff at the next training camp and then to come back to the races.”
Douglas Ryder – Team Principal: “We are very happy to have Domenico choose to ride for NTT Pro Cycling for the foreseeable future. We needed a climbing specialist with GC aspirations to complement the team we have assembled for 2020. Domenico has been so consistent over the years, his experience will add huge value to the younger climbers in our team, and the true grit he has shown since his accident proves his passion and commitment to his own career and the sport of cycling. We look forward to the contribution he can make.”
Pozzovivo in the Giro’18:
Deceuninck – Quick-Step to Race Torquay and Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
Four new riders will be on the team for the two races scheduled in around one month’s time.
January is going to be quite a busy month for Deceuninck – Quick-Step, who’ll kick off its 18th season in Australia, where the team will be at the start of three races in the space of just a few weeks. Two of these events will be Race Torquay, a new addition to the UCI calendar, scheduled on January 30, only four days after Australia’s National Day. Held in the iconic surf town on a 13.3km-long rolling circuit which the peloton will cover ten times, the race should favour the sprinters, although a late attack going all the way to the line can’t be taken out of the equation.
The riders will then remain in the beautiful state of Victoria for the sixth edition of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race (171.1 kilometres), a World Tour event our team has won on two occasions (2015 and 2019). A hillier route, featuring three ascents of the demanding Challambra Crescent, should make for an exciting race which could go down to the wire.
Winner of the UCI World Team Classification in the past two seasons, Deceuninck – Quick-Step will field for the two events a strong and versatile seven-man team, capable of being in the mix: João Almeida, Shane Archbold, Irish Champion Sam Bennett, Mattia Cattaneo, Dries Devenyns, Iljo Keisse, and three-time Danish Champion Michael Mørkøv.
“We are really looking forward to these two races. Torquay is a new race, but we trained in the past in that area, so it’s not like it’s unknown to us. On paper, the up-and-down parcours shouldn’t be selective, as could very well be the case in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, where both attackers and sprinters will have a strong chance of fighting for victory. We won the latter twice, and in Dries and Sam we have two riders who can cover several scenarios, and that makes us confident we can come out of these appointments with some nice results”, explained sports director Rik Van Slycke.
Mørkøv leading the bunch:
Tour Colombia Confirms Participation of Tour Winner Bernal
Egan Bernal will again participate in the Tour Colombia 2.1 next season, the organisation of the multi-day race announced. The Team Ineos Tour winner finished just off the podium in 4th place last year.
22-year-old Bernal turned out not to be strong enough at the beginning of February to keep Miguel Ángel López from taking the overall win. The Colombian also had to let his teammate Iván Sosa and Daniel Felipe Martínez take the lead in the final classification. Bernal did win Paris-Nice, the Tour of Switzerland and the Tour of France later in the season.
The organisation of the Tour Colombia 2.1 will turn out this year with the Tour winner, and Julian Alaphilippe, who also announced that he would participate in the stage race. Team Ineos, Deceuninck – Quick-Step, Israel Start-Up Nation, Movistar, EF Education First and UAE Team Emirates are amongst six WorldTour teams. The Kazakh Astana team of defending champion López is missing in 2020. The Tour Colombia 2.1 will be held from 11th to 16th February.
Route and profile of Tour Colombia 2020:
Volta a Catalunya to have Individual Time Trial
2020 is a special year for the Tour of Catalonia, as it’s the 100th edition of the multi-day stage race. For the first time since 2007, the riders will be presented with an individual time trial in the anniversary edition of the Catalan event.
In 2007 it was the men of Caisse d’Epargne who won a 16-kilometre team time trial in and around Salou. It turned out to be a decisive moment in the race, because a few days later their GC leader Vladimir Karpets, took the overall win of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya.
That year the riders had a second time trial which departed from Sornas and finished 17 kilometres later on the flanks of Ordino-Arcalís. The victory went to the Russian rider Denis Menchov, a few seconds ahead of his compatriot Karpets, who grabbed the leader’s jersey.
In the following years, the tour started with a prologue in the streets of Lloret de Mar, but since 2011 the Tour of Catalonia has been ‘timeless’. This has all changing, as a time trial of 21.1 kilometres is planned for this year from and back to Banyoles, the organisation announced.
Volta a Catalunya 2019 full race recap by NBC Sports:
A Big Thank You to Our Supporters and Fans!
As we approach the end of another successful season and begin to open a fresh one in 2020, the Aevolo family would like to honour our generous donors who help make it all possible. Without your help, our young team of development riders couldn’t have enjoyed all the learning and success they did this past year.
Our 2019 season began with our first ever international trip to Tour Colombia, a UCI 2.1 stage race. The Aevolo squad had the chance to compete against some of the best names in the world, including Chris Froome, Egan Bernal, and Rigoberto Uran. The electric atmosphere and world-class competition set the focus on more racing opportunities domestically, and the team brought the same intensity to each upcoming challenge.
At the UCI Tour of the Gila, Michael Hernandez took home the sprinters jersey and, on the final day up the infamous Gila Monster climb, Alex Hoehn and Tyler Stites took second and third, respectively.
After Gila, three Aevolo riders were selected to represent the US national team during the Amgen Tour of California. Stites collected the Young Rider jersey on Stage 2, Hoehn the KOM jersey on day 3, and Hernandez the Most Courageous Rider on day 4. After the final stage, 2018 U23 road champion Alex Hoehn was awarded the Overall Most Courageous Rider jersey, after a long solo breakaway in one of the race’s most challenging stages.
At the beginning of June, we said goodbye to Luis Villalobos who moved up to EF Education First for the remainder of the season. The Mexican time trial champion was noticed by the WorldTour team after his incredible performances at the 2018 Tour of Utah, where he proved his potential by winning the best young rider jersey. We’re proud to be a part of Villalobos’ accomplishments and work hard to offer more deserving U23 athletes the same opportunity through our development program in the future.
The green and gold Aevolo colours were peppered with red, white and blue during the national championship season, when Lance Haidet soloed to a terrific win in the U23 road race, keeping the stars and stripes jersey in the Aevolo family after Hoehn won it the year prior. Michael Hernandez followed suit a few days later, claiming victory in the U23 criterium.
With a handful of riders headed to Europe with the national team, opportunities opened up for new stagiaires to take on the Tour of Utah in August. Scott Mcgill, Eric Brunner, and Conor Schunk came into fold to test the elite level waters and raced aggressively each day.
Most recently, Gage Hecht capitalised on his form with an impressive win at the Cyclocross National Championships in Tacoma, Washington on December 15. Hecht’s Donnelly-Aevolo teammate and friend, Lance Haidet, also competed in the elite category and finished a strong fifth place.
The 2020 season is fast approaching, with our first start at the Jayco Herald Sun Tour in Australia in early February. Plans are in the works for a European campaign in the spring, while taking the start line on the domestic scene as well.
As always, we value and thank our fans and donors who support us each step of the way.
Visit our website, aevolocycling.org, to learn more about our story, how to donate, and what’s next for the Aevolo team.
Patrick Lefevere: “We have the desire and hunger for more victories”
Deceuninck – Quick-Step Team’s CEO shared his thoughts and expectations ahead of the 18th season in the history of the squad.
As we have just kicked off a new year that will see us race in dozens of different countries across five continents, I want to thank everybody who has been involved in and part of our vintage 2019 season – riders, staff, sponsors and fans. We scored a total of 68 wins and were prominent in the biggest races in the world – Monuments and Grand Tours – and that’s without adding the two titles conquered by our riders at the European Championships. When the line was drawn in October, we were again at the top of the World Team Classification, and that nice reward for all the hard work put in made us very proud.
Since the team’s inception, we’ve racked up close to 750 victories, but we don’t want to stop and want more. As we enter our 18th year – a performance as remarkable as the plethora of wins we have been notching up since 2003 – we are preparing for a new chapter, one which we hope will be again memorable and rewarding in terms of the quantity and quality of wins.
At the end of last year, we said goodbye to several riders who’ve had a big and unforgettable contribution to our success over the years and welcomed new ones into our family, eleven, to be more precise. It’s not something new, this is the way things go in cycling, and sports in general, but I have the greatest confidence that we possess the right combination of experienced riders who can take on the responsibility and live up to the very high expectations and pressure, and young and promising talents who have the desire of making several steps forward and helping the team.
We hope 2020 will be another beautiful year, which we start with the same enthusiasm, ambition and determination that have become traits of the Wolfpack. We also want it to be a year during which we will entertain, deliver fireworks on the road and unforgettable cycling moments, and engage with all our fans around the world, some of whom we have already met at the races, some as guests of our Wolfpack Bike Experience.
On behalf of the Deceuninck – Quick-Step Cycling Team, I want to wish you a Happy New Year and all the best to you and your families! We are looking forward to seeing you on the road for some spectacular races.
Our Best Year
Thank YOU for making our 2019 season so special. We have loved exploring the world with you and can’t wait to create more unforgettable memories in the upcoming season.
Wolfpack Assemble: Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s 2020 roster
28 riders from 14 different countries are ready to fly the flag for the most successful team of the past decade in its 18th year of existence.
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