End of Team Sky, New Ineos kit unveiled: Daily News Digest

Welcome to your Daily News Digest. Here’s what’s happening today:

Pascal Ackermann wins Eschborn-Frankfurt, Primoz Roglic wins stage 1 at the Tour de Romandie, Ineos kit is unveiled, Wahoo’s new Fitness Elemnt Roam GPS features a full-color screen and upgraded navigation. Those stories and more in today’s Daily News Digest.

Story of the Day: Ackermann sprints to Eschborn-Frankfurt victory

Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) gave the home crowd reason to celebrate at Eschborn-Frankfurt, sprinting to victory in the German national champion’s jersey ahead of compatriot John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo). Alexander Kristoff of UAE-Team Emirates, winner of the last four editions of the race, settled for third.

“I was admittedly under quite some pressure today,” Ackermann said. “We are a German team competing at a German race, and of course we wanted to do everything we could to win.”

Confident in Ackermann’s chances in a sprint, Bora-Hansgrohe worked hard to keep the 187-kilometer race under control all day long. That proved to be an excellent plan. While multiple attempts were made over the course of the afternoon to break free of the bunch, things were all together for the final few kilometers on the Frankfurt finishing circuit.

As the sprinters hit the finishing straight, Ackermann was in a tough position a few riders back. He followed Kristoff through some traffic, but then found himself along the barriers with little room to come around Davide Cimolai (Israel Cycling Academy). He managed to navigate the tricky situation, however, blowing past the Italian as soon as a small gap opened. Degenkolb tried to match his countryman’s speed, but couldn’t quite get there, and Ackermann took the narrow victory, his first in a WorldTour race so far this season.

“We came here to Frankfurt with a goal, and that was to take the win,” Ackermann said. “The guys rode at the front of the peloton the whole day, and in the end it was nice to be able to win.”

Top 10

1 ACKERMANN Pascal (BORA – hansgrohe)
2 DEGENKOLB John (Trek – Segafredo)
3 KRISTOFF Alexander (UAE-Team Emirates)
4 CIMOLAI Davide (Israel Cycling Academy)
5 HOFSTETTER Hugo (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits)
6 PLANCKAERT Baptiste (Wallonie-Bruxelles)
7 GABBURO Davide (Neri Sottoli – Selle Italia – KTM)
8 NAESEN Lawrence (Lotto Soudal)
9 HALLER Marco (Team Katusha – Alpecin)
10 BOLE Grega (Bahrain Merida)

Beauty of Cycling

The Handmade Bicycle Show Australia showcased some truly beautiful custom builds last weekend in Melbourne. Australian and international builders alike turned out to put their craftsmanship on display.

Check out Dave Rome’s first gallery (and more are coming!) from the HBSA for more masterfully crafted custom rides.

Race Radio

Ineos kit unveiled

The team soon-to-be-formerly known as Sky unveiled its new kit ahead of the Tour de Yorkshire. After years of riding in blue and black with occasional white thrown in, Chris Froome and co. will sport a predominately red and black kit moving forward as Team Ineos.

Our new @TeamINEOS look, debuting at the Tour de Yorkshire pic.twitter.com/bvSdCYduKH

— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) May 1, 2019

The new jersey, featuring the team name on the front and on both shoulders, is red on top and fades into black midway down, complemented by black shorts.

Froome, team manager Dave Brailsford, and Ineos founder Jim Ratcliffe were present to launch the new look at a small pub in Yorkshire. According to Cyclingnews, the location was kept under wraps until the morning of the launch due to concerns over anti-fracking protesters.

Roglic takes lead in Romandie

After narrowly missing out on winning the prologue, Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) was not to be denied in stage 1 of the Tour de Romandie. The overall defending champion triumphed in a reduced sprint in La Chaux-de-Fonds, topping David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and Rui Costa (UAE-Team Emirates) at the line after a late move from Geraint Thomas (Sky) and Carlos Betancur (Movistar) was caught.

Roglič "not here for the overall" 🙄 pic.twitter.com/9sOBr9PhLA

— FloBikes (@flobikes) May 1, 2019

“I’ve lost quite a lot of times in the sprint,” Roglic said after taking his fourth win already this year. “It’s a nice feeling to finally win.”

The challenging 168-kilometer stage from Neuchâtel whittled away at the peloton all day, leaving only around 20 riders to contest the finale. Gaudu, Thomas, Mike Woods (EF Education First), and Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) led into the final 10 kilometers with a small gap, but the pack reeled them in just inside the last five kilometers.

Thomas attacked at the flamme rouge, and Betancur jumped onto his wheel. Thomas kept pulling nonetheless, but the duo was mopped up with 200 meters to go, setting up a sprint among the GC hopefuls.

Roglic proved fastest in a tight battle at the line, hitting the finish just ahead of Gaudu and Costa. With overnight leader Jan Tratnik (Bahrain-Merida) losing touch on the tough parcours, Roglic now leads the Tour de Romandie with a 10-second advantage over Costa.

The race continues Thursday with a 174-kilometer stage 2 from Le Locle to Morges.

Stage 1 Top 10

1 ROGLIC Primoz (Team Jumbo-Visma)
2 GAUDU David (Groupama – FDJ)
3 COSTA Rui (UAE-Team Emirates)
4 WOODS Michael (EF Education First)
5 HOWSON Damien (Mitchelton-Scott)
6 HAGEN Carl Fredrik (Lotto Soudal)
7 SEPÚLVEDA Eduardo (Movistar Team)
8 HIRT Jan (Astana Pro Team)
9 GROSSSCHARTNER Felix (BORA – hansgrohe)
10 MARTIN Guillaume (Wanty – Gobert Cycling Team)

GC Top 10

1 ROGLIC Primoz (Team Jumbo-Visma)
2 COSTA Rui (UAE-Team Emirates)
3 GAUDU David (Groupama – FDJ)
4 THOMAS Geraint (Team INEOS)
5 BETANCUR Carlos (Movistar Team)
6 GROSSSCHARTNER Felix (BORA – hansgrohe)
7 KRUIJSWIJK Steven (Team Jumbo-Visma)
8 KNOX James (Deceuninck – Quick Step)
9 HOWSON Damien (Mitchelton-Scott)
10 ANACONA Winner (Movistar Team)

BBC explores the history of the bicycle as one of “50 Things That Made the Modern Economy”

The BBC offers a brief history of the bicycle, as well as a look into its future, as part of a series on 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy. The audio program explores the often-entertaining origins of the invention as well as its evolution into a modern machine.

Follow the link to hear the short podcast, or read it in text form via an accompanying article on the BBC website.

#WomensMTBDay is May 4

The second annual #WomensMTBDay, an initiative launched by the International Mountain Bicycling Association, is coming up. IMBA is encouraging rides, awareness campaigns, conversations, and more on May 4 to celebrate women on mountain bikes and inspire more to take up riding.

“The day is dedicated to WTF (women, trans, femme) riders enjoying mountain biking with each other and encouraging fellow riders to join them,” reads a post on IMBA’s website. “#womensmtbday is not intended to be women-only; simply women-forward. All riders are invited to join in on the celebration!”

Socially Speaking

Impeccable work from Joseph Robinson (and the thread continues to over a dozen more teams).

AG2R La Mondiale pic.twitter.com/fGm88UkkEp

— Joseph Robinson (@joeprobinson) May 1, 2019

Tech News

Wahoo unveils Fitness Elemnt Roam GPS

Wahoo has rolled out a new Elemnt Roam bike computer. The Fitness Elemnt Roam GPS features a full-color screen and upgraded navigation options, while ostensibly still boasting the reliability and strong battery life of prior offerings in the Wahoo Elemnt line.

The retail price for a new Elemnt Roam comes in at US$380 / AU$600 / £300 / €350.

James Huang has the details.

In case you missed it …

CyclingTips Podcast: A better Liege and Rapha’s attempt to fix cycling

Sarto Lampo Plus frameset review

https://live-cycling-tips-v4.pantheonsite.io/2019/05/driver-accused-of-texting-minutes-before-crash-that-killed-jason-lowndes/

Feature Image: Chris Froome training in Yorkshire in Team INEOS new kit. Photo by Russ Ellis.