Ellingworth returning to Ineos, no spectators at CX Worlds: Daily News Digest

Published December 7, 2020 11:22PM

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As we roll through the final month of 2020, a new week gets underway with news of some plans for 2021.

Rod Ellingworth is headed back to Ineos, where he spent years as performance director before his relatively short tenure with Bahrain-McLaren, Cyclocross Worlds is expected to go ahead without spectators in January in Belgium while Australian cycling fans will have an event to look forward to in lieu of the Tour Down Under, and Giacomo Nizzolo has some big races on his calendar for next year, to mention only a few of the day’s news items.

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Only a few days after his departure from Bahrain-McLaren was announced, Rod Ellingworth’s plans for 2021 were made known on Monday. As various media outlets report, Ellingworth is heading back to the Ineos organization, where he previously spent several years as performance director prior to his 14-month tenure at Bahrain-McLaren.

The Bahrain team underwent several roster changes as he came aboard, but only a little over a year later, he is returning to Ineos, with Bahrain saying in its statement announcing the departure last week that Ellingworth is looking to return to focusing on developing young talents.

As Cyclingnews reports, even as Ellingworth is headed out the door, former pro Neil Stephens is joining the Bahrain team as a sport director after spending the past few years with UAE-Team Emirates, with Stephens telling Cyclingnews that “it was because of Rod basically that I joined, which seems a bit funny at the moment,” although he is apparently looking forward to the move just the same.

Sporza reports that the upcoming Cyclocross World Championships, set to run from January 30 to 31, are expected to go ahead in Ostend, Belgium, without fans on course.

After a period of uncertainty, according to Sporza, the event organizers, the UCI, the Belgian cycling federation, the Flemish government and the city of Ostend all came to an agreement on running CX Worlds as scheduled, albeit without spectators.

The multi-disciplinary six-day event will run from January 19 to January 24, and will feature a four-stage National Road Series race for both men and women, as well as cyclocross, BMX, track, mountain biking, and paracycling events.

European road champ Giacomo Nizzolo mapped out some of his plans for 2021 in an interview with TuttoBiciWeb, saying that he is eyeing one-day races in the early season.

“I would like to do well right away at the start of the season with the Sanremo in the sights and the Classics suitable for sprinters in Belgium,” Nizzolo told TuttoBiciWeb. “I would like to test myself maybe at Paris-Roubaix or other cobblestone competitions, I think Flanders is too hard for my characteristics. As far as stage races are concerned, I would like to wear the jersey to the Giro d’Italia, I know that the Tour de France is important for the team, I think I could also do both great races.”

The NTT team that will become Qhubeka-Assos next year has announced that it will ride Hunt wheels in 2021.

This will be the first time the UK-based consumer-direct wheel company will appear at the sport’s top level, replacing the Enve wheels the team has used since its inception.

Fizik’s top-end Antares Versus Evo Adaptive 00 saddle has proven to be remarkably lightweight despite its generously cushy 3D-printed padding, but the weird pseudo-glow-in-the-dark color it was introduced with isn’t exactly subtle, nor is the look a lot of people are aiming for, anyway. Following in the footsteps of the second-tier Antares Versus Evo Adaptive R1 model, Fizik has finally added a black option for the 00 version.

The new saddle is otherwise unchanged, featuring the same zonal 3D-printed padding, carbon fiber shell, one-piece carbon fiber “Mobius” rails, and full-length channel. Claimed weight is just 147 g for the 139 mm-wide version, and 154 g for the 146 mm-wide size. Retail price for either is $400 / AU$700 / £370 / €390. More information can be found at www.fizik.com.

Spurcycle’s latest limited-edition bell sports a gorgeous blue-anodized aluminum hammer, but the beauty of this version is more than skin-deep. Spurcycle is donating US$25 from the sale of each bell — split evenly — to two advocacy groups that are focused on bicycle-based transportation: the San Francisco Bike Coalition and Bend Bikes.

“While we like to ride for fun, encouraging more bicycle use for transportation has always been a driving factor for us,” said company co-founder Nick Slone via press release. “These are bells that will move people toward a better future.”

Retail price is US$69 — a $10 premium over Spurcycle’s standard black bell. Bells can be purchased at www.spurcycle.com.

Eurobike is looking to get the bicycle trade show machine back up and running with tentative dates announced for 2021. Next year’s event is planned to be held at the Messe Friedrichshafen convention center in Friedrichshafen, Germany, as usual, on September 1-4.

“Covid-19 has turned the international bike industry and its events upside down this year,” said Klaus Wellmann, CEO of Messe Friedrichshafen. “Despite the current imponderables and differing requirements from industry players regarding format, timing, and target group, we are delighted to announce our plans for next year that include an even wider range of participation options. With our new Eurobike 2021 concept, we are making it possible to plan ahead with certainty and creating target group-specific, secure meeting points for an international audience.”

Eurobike is mixing up the typical format, however. The first two days of the show will be industry-only, and the final day will be open to the public, as usual. The third day will now be a “mixed day” for trade visitors and end consumers.

“By combining a retail/order fair and a media event, we’re offering a completely new trade show platform at exactly the right time for complete bike manufacturers and specialist retailers,” said Eurobike head Stefan Reisinger via press release. “We have deliberately limited the number of exhibitors and visitor, to give us the greatest possible chance of going ahead with regard to Corona and to have more manageable visitor numbers, principally from German-speaking countries.”

Ellingworth returning to Ineos, no spectators at CX Worlds: Daily News Digest

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