VN news ticker: Emma Langley and Tyler Stites take stage 2 at Joe Martin; Mathieu van der Poel to miss Benelux Tour

Emma Langley and Tyler Stites win stage 2 at Joe Martin Stage Race

https://twitter.com/Aevolo_Cycling/status/1431367506908704768

Emma Langley (Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank) and Tyler Stites (Aevolo) claimed Friday’s second stage of the Joe Martin Stage Race. Both Langley and Stites scored breakaway wins, with Stites crossing the line 4 seconds up on GC leader Tyler Williams (L39ion of Los Angeles) and Langley coming in 1:44 up on overall leader Skyler Schneider (L39ion of Los Angeles). Both Schneider and Williams were able to defend their respective leads in the overall.

Women tackled a hilly 107.2-km route that started and finished in Fayetteville, while men rode a 181.9km route with the same start and finish area.

Joe Martin State Race stage 2

Pro women

1. Emma Langley, Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank
2. Skylar Schneider, L39ion of Los Angeles
3. Jessica Ewers, Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank

Pro men

1. Tyler Stites, Aevolo
2. Tyler Williams, L39ion of Los Angeles
3. Richard Arnopol, Project Echelon Racing

Mathieu van der Poel to miss Benelux Tour

Mathieu van der Poel’s return from injury will be delayed further after his team confirmed he would be missing the defense of his Benelux Tour title next week. The Alpecin-Fenix rider was already due to miss the mountain bike worlds this week due to a lingering back injury.

Van der Poel injured his back in a crash at the Olympic Games late last month after he misjudged a jump on the first lap. He would eventually pull out as a result of the crash and has not raced since.

He pulled out of a training camp earlier this month due to the pain in his back. Van der Poel remains hopeful he will be able to ride the road worlds next month and Paris-Roubaix in October.

“Mathieu van der Poel was hoping to defend his title at the Benelux Tour, but unfortunately he will have to sit out the race. Due to his back problems, van der Poel hasn’t been able to train optimally in recent weeks and the Benelux Tour comes too soon,” a team statement said.

“His adjusted training and race schedule for the coming months will be made according to his recovery. At this moment, there is no reason to question his participation at the world championships and Paris-Roubaix.”

https://twitter.com/AlpecinFenix/status/1431223583095861248

Jay Vine extends with Alpecin-Fenix through 2023

The winner of the 2019 Zwift Academy, Jay Vine, accepted a contract extension with Alpecin-Fenix that will see him racing alongside Mathieu van der Poel with the UCI ProTeam squad through 2023.

“The team has been giving me opportunities and helping me develop as a rider. I’m so relieved and thankful for the opportunity Alpecin-Fenix and Zwift gave me. Zwift Academy turned my distant daydream back in 2019 into a reality, I’m racing with a team that I didn’t even think I had a chance to race with, I’ve traveled to countries I would never have traveled to, I’ve made great friends along the way, and I’m doing what I love and that’s riding my bike,” Vine said.

Vine has been active in breakaways at the 2021 Vuelta a España, gaining valuable experience, as well as helping in leadouts for sprinter Jasper Philipsen — before Philipsen abandoned the Vuelta in the beginning of the second week.

“I’m ecstatic! This year I came in wanting to give it everything I had and to do my absolute best for the team, with the ultimate goal of securing a contract extension with Alpecin-Fenix. I was in uncharted territory racing as a professional, it was all completely new to me,” Vine said.

“At the start of the year, my wife, Bre, and I sold everything we owned back in Australia with the intention of turning this into a long-term career, so I’m really thankful and relieved that I’ve been able to secure more years racing with Alpecin-Fenix.”

Lonneke Uneken wins crash-marred stage 3 of Simac Ladies Tour

Lonneke Uneken (SD Worx) took victory from a small group on stage 3 of the Simac Ladies Tour after nearly the whole peloton came down in a crash inside the final 10km. Uneken was one of just six riders that missed the carnage, along with three of her teammates and two from Team DSM.

The young Dutch rider led the group through the final left-hand bend and had enough of a gap to keep a charging Susanne Andersen at bay with Pfeiffer Georgi taking third place.

“It was our plan to attack with 5 km to go, that’s why we were in front with so many of us. Suddenly there was a crash, it happened in a split second. I’m happy that I can finish it off. I hope everyone is ok,” Unneken said.

Race leader Marlen Reusser was caught up in the crash that happened with just over five kilometers to go and suffered some cuts to her knees. Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM) appeared to be the first rider that went down when she lost her balance as her wheels went over a small lip on the side of the road.

Reusser was able to finish in the second group on the road, which crossed the line 29 seconds behind the Uneken group. The large margin in the GC that she built up with her strong TT ride Thursday was enough to keep Reusser in the race lead for another day.

https://twitter.com/ladiestour/status/1431228681918238722

Dylan van Baarle, Adam Yates, Nelson Oliveira avoid worst in Vuelta a España crash

Riders from Ineos Grenadiers and Movistar have been left bloodied and bruised but able to continue racing after a mass crash on stage 12 of the Vuelta a España.

Riders from Jumbo-Visma, Ineos Grenadiers and Movistar were among the dozen to come down in a crash on a greasy descent on Thursday’s stage. Overnight reports state that some of the heaviest fallers have come away unscathed.

Ineos Grenadiers saw Dylan van Baarle, Adam Yates, Pavel Sivakov and Salvatore Puccio all caught up in the pile-up. Sivakov and Puccio suffered only abrasions, but van Baarle and Yates were impacted more heavily.

“Dylan van Baarle underwent a CT scan on his left hip and thigh due to a crash sustained during stage 12. Results showed no fractures,” stated Ineos Grenadiers. “Adam Yates sustained a left calf and shin contusion from the same crash.”

The team confirmed Friday morning that both van Baarle and Yates had undergone further assessment and were clear to race.

https://twitter.com/Movistar_Team/status/1430915768884121604

One of those most dramatically wounded was Movistar rouleur, Nelson Oliveira. The Portuguese rider’s shorts were shredded and bloodied after he became tangled in barbed wire, but his team has confirmed that he has been left only with bruises.

Primož Roglič also crashed but was able to avoid injury and quickly remount his bike.

Lucy Kennedy to retire at end of season

Lucy Kennedy has confirmed she will retire at the end of this season. The 33-year-old Aussie will call time on her four-year pro career after racing the Challenge by La Vuelta and Tour de l’Ardèche next month.

“It’s almost the end of a wild ride! I’ve decided that 2021 will be my last year as a professional cyclist as I shift my focus to different priorities,” Kennedy wrote on Instagram. “It feels both like yesterday and a lifetime ago that I changed my life and shipped over to Europe to join GreenEdge Cycling.”

Despite her relatively short pro career, Kennedy has scored two victories at the Herald Sun Tour and wins at the San Sebastian and Emakumeen Saria one-day races while riding as domestique for the likes of Annemiek van Vleuten and Amanda Spratt.

“I could write a book on the experiences I’ve packed into four years. To say everything I want to say and thank everyone I want to thank will bring up a lot of emotion so I’ll save it all for a bit later because right now I am still a cyclist with a job to do,” she wrote. “I will hit the road one last time next week for my final block of races and I’m going to relish every moment!”

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Great Britain and Australia continue to top Paralympic cycling medal table, silver for Canada

Another five medals were on offer in the Izu Velodrome on Friday, with Great Britain and Australia adding a further two medals each to keep themselves at the top of the medal standings.

France also continued its impressive haul in Tokyo while Romania and Ukraine took their first hardware of the cycling competitions. Canada also claimed its third medal of the competition with Kate O’Brien scoring silver in the women’s C4-5 500m Time Trial

Amanda Reid (Australia) put in a commanding performance to claim the first gold of the day in the C1-3 500m Time Trial. Reid, a C2 rider, set a new world record on her way to victory and beat the Netherlands’ Alydia Norbruis by nearly half a second.

China’s Wangwei Qian, a C1 rider, also set a new world record for her category to take the bronze medal ahead of home favorite Keiko Sugiura (Japan).

Amanda Reid has written her name into the history books becoming the first Aboriginal Australian to claim a cycling gold medal at a #Paralympics: https://t.co/f4PSL52XYl#ReadySetTokyo #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/m61ryTNPRj

— AUS Paralympic Team (@AUSParalympics) August 27, 2021

China would later take its first 2021 Paralympic gold on the track with Zhangyu Li winning the men’s C1-3 1,000m Time Trial. Li, a C1 rider who already had a bronze from the Individual Pursuit, beat Alexandre Leaute (France), a gold medalist in the C2 Individual Pursuit, by more than a second.

Jaco van Gass, the winner of the C3 Individual Pursuit, took the final spot on the podium a further half a second back.

Kadeena Cox got her Paralympics off to a winning start in the women’s C4-5 500m Time Trial. Cox blasted around the Velodrome in world record pace to beat Canada’s O’Brien by a second. Cox will also be competing in athletics later in the games.

Caroline Groot (Netherlands) pushed O’Brien hard for the silver medal with the Candian coming out on top by just over a tenth of a second.

https://twitter.com/BritishCycling/status/1431138883002060801?s=20

Jozef Metelka (Slovakia) upgraded his time trial silver from Thursday to gold Friday in the men’s C4 4,000m Individual Pursuit. Metelka was in commanding form as he set a new world record in qualifying to set up a final with Carol-Eduard Novak (Romania).

There was no stopping Metelka as he reeled in Novak to catch him before the 3,000-meter mark. Meanwhile, Diego German Duenas (Colombia) beat Ronan Grimes (Ireland) after taking back more than a two-second deficit in the final kilometer.

The final medal competition of the day was the men’s C5 4,000m Individual Pursuit, with France’s Dorian Foulon taking the top honors. Foulon took a commanding win over Australia’s Alistair Donohoe, beating him by over three seconds.

In the bronze medal race, Ukraine’s Yehor Dementyev denied France a second medal in the competition as he beat Kevin le Cunff by a massive five seconds.

You can find the full results here.

https://twitter.com/EquipeFRA/status/1431149865388576771?s=20