VN news ticker: UAE-Team Emirates retains Fernando Gaviria, others; Joss Lowden signs for Uno-X

UAE-Team Emirates retains Fernando Gaviria, Rui Costa, Jan Polanc, and Alessandro Covi

UAE-Team Emirate has extended the contracts of several riders including sprinter Fernando Gaviria and 2013 world champion Rui Costa, as well as Jan Polanc and Alessandro Covi.

The 27-year-old Colombian Gaviria is under contract through the 2022 season. Although twice struggling with COVID-19, he won stages at the 2020 Vuelta a Burgos and the 2021 Tour de Pologne.

Costa, 34, assisted Tadej Pogačar to the second Tour de France overall win in as many years and is also under contract through the 2022 season.

“In his long and successful career, he has taken on a new challenge. Rui is a former world champion and has been very successful. Because we see that he knows how to use his talent and experience to help the team and a leader like Tadej, we know that we can count on him,” said team manager Joxean Fernández.

Polanc has featured in breakaways the 2021 Vuelta a España, and was in fifth overall through stage 8. The 29-year-old Slovenian has won stages at the Giro d’Italia in both 2015 and 2017 and also wore the pink jersey at the Italian grand tour.

Covi is in his sophomore season as a WorldTour racer, and has been retained by UAE-Team Emirates through the 2023 season. The young Italian rider was fifth in the 2021 Clásica San Sebastián.

Joining UAE-Team Emirates beginning in the 2022 season will be João Almeida and Álvaro Hodeg (both from Deceuninck-Quick-Step), Marc Soler (from Movistar Team), Pascal Ackermann (from Bora-Hansgrohe), and George Bennett (from Jumbo-Visma).

Joss Lowden signs for Uno-X

Joss Lowden is the next name announced for the nascent Uno-X women’s team, which will start racing next year. The Norwegian squad has signed up nine riders for 2022, including Hannah Barnes and Hannah Ludwig.

The 33-year-old Lowden only turned pro in 2018, but she has made a quick progression and won the Tour de Feminin earlier this year. Currently racing with Drops-Le Col, she will attempt to break the hour record next month after beating the current best distance in a training ride several months ago.

“When I heard that Uno-X were making a women’s team for 2022 I thought it was a great project and would be a really positive thing for women’s racing. Their vision is clear with huge amounts of energy, so I am very excited to be part of this progressive new team,” Lowden said.

“Joss has had a very strong 2021. She is constantly progressing and the age of 33 is of no limitation to her future development. She will play a very important role in completing the balance of the team,” team boss Jens Haugland.

https://twitter.com/JossyLowden/status/1429690998922297351?s=20

Movistar extends contracts for Nelson Oliveira, Carlos Verona, and others

Movistar Team announced Monday that it extended the contract of German Juri Hollmann, Colombian Einer Rubio, Portuguese Nelson Oliveira, and Spaniards Antonio Pedrero, Jorge Arcas, and Carlos Verona through the 2023 season.

Arcas debuted at the Tour de France this year following several appearances in the Vuelta a España. Pedrero contributed to the 2019 Giro win and was invaluable in the mountains in the previous two editions of the Vuelta. Oliveira raced in the time trial at the Tokyo Games and has started the Vuelta five times with Movistar Team, while Verona has demonstrated solid supporting performances as a domestique at the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España. He recently rode to second place on stage 7 of the 2021 Vuelta a España.

Rubio, 23, had a strong 2020 Giro d’Italia debut, and Hollmann — who will turn 22 at the end of August — continues to show promise as a domestique and a time trial specialist

Ethan Hayter wins Tour of Norway, Matt Walls takes final stage

It was a good weekend for the Hayter-Walls house-share Sunday. The two housemates claimed the GC and stage win on the final day of the Tour of Norway.

Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) wrapped up a solid week of racing to secure the overall victory by 15 seconds over the Dutchman Ide Schelling after winning the opening two stages. Meanwhile, Matt Walls (Bora-Hansgrohe) claimed the stage win in Stavanger in a sprint finish ahead of Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo).

Both Hayter and Walls competed together in the Madison event at the Tokyo Olympics, where they won silver. Walls also took gold in the omnium event, while Hayter was part of the team pursuit squad that finished fourth.

“This is my first GC win, and it definitely wasn’t an easy one,” Hayter said. “The first two days I got an advantage and then defending it on stage three was the hardest day of all of them. It’s not been an easy race. I really enjoyed this race. The weather has been amazing, the views have been amazing, and the race has been great.”

https://twitter.com/INEOSGrenadiers/status/1429431394070155265?s=20

Johan Jacobs left with collapsed lung, broken bones after Vuelta a España crash

Movistar suffered yet another blow to its Vuelta a España line-up after Johan Jacobs was forced to abandon the race following a crash on stage 9. The Swiss rider hit a guardrail in the incident and sustained a broken shoulder blade and rib, and a collapsed lung.

Jacobs is the second rider to leave the race from the Movistar team in recent days after Alejandro Valverde abandoned following a high-speed crash on stage 7. Valverde broke his collarbone after hitting the deck hard when his bike hit a small hole in the road and slid out.

“We’re keeping our team-mate, Johan Jacobs, in our minds as he had to stay overnight in an Almería hospital following his crash on La Vuelta stage 9. The Swiss youngster sustained fractures to his right shoulder blade and one of his ribs, as well as a pneumothorax. Get well soon,” the team wrote on social media.

Despite the misfortunes, Movistar is still placed well on the overall classification with Enric Mas in second overall at 28 seconds back, and Miguel Ángel López in third at 1:21.

https://twitter.com/Movistar_Team/status/1429695042197901315?s=20

Bethany Shriever and Niek Kimmann claim BMX worlds wins

Britain’s Bethany Shriever and the Netherland’s Niek Kimmann carried their Tokyo form to Arnhem this weekend. The two Olympic gold medalists took comfortable wins at the BMX world championships to add a rainbow jersey to their collections.

Kimmann was still suffering from a knee injury he picked up during training at the Tokyo Olympics when he collided with an official crossing the course, but still had the power to defeat 2018 world champion, Sylvain André.

Meanwhile, Shriever had to negotiate an early crash, which caught up U.S. rider Alise Willoughby, before she stormed away to victory by more than a second over Judy Baauw of the Netherlands.

https://twitter.com/UCI_BMX_SX/status/1429429172011773961