Sarreau: I risked losing everything to win - News shorts

Image 1 of 5

Marc Sarreau claimed his fifth victory of the season after he held off a late charge Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept Club) to win the opening stage of the 4 Jours de Dunkerque. The Groupama-FDJ rider says that he took a risk in going as early as he did but it paid off.

“I took the risk of losing everything to win,” he said after the stage. “At 300 meters, the door opened and I went for it without raising my head. I was on my way to the finish line and I won well. At 100 meters, there was a slight curve to the right, I looked a little through my rear wheel and there was no one who was coming through on the sides.”

Sarreau has already taken two stage wins at the Etoile de Besseges, the one-day Trophée Harmonie Mutuelle and another at the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe. Dunkirque is his first race in a month since he took a mid-season break following Paris-Roubaix. The 24-year-old says that he’s not in top shape yet but the pressure is off for him after such a strong start to the season.

“I do not feel 100 per cent healthy but I could manage in a flat sprint. Initially this morning, I was hoping to be good, simply,” he said. “I do not have the pressure, if I had been told that I would have four victories in my season, I would have signed right away. I had them for my break. Now it's a bonus. I do not have the pressure of the result, I'm here to win, not to add. It's a challenge to win, not an obligation. I feel liberated.”

Olivier suffers second injury setback in 2018

LottoNL-Jumbo rider Daan Olivier has endured his second major injury of the 2018 season after crashing heavily during training as he prepared for the Tour of California. The Dutchman broke his left ankle and foot following the fall on a descent while training with teammate Sepp Kuss in Boulder, Colorado.

Olivier has already had to fight back from injury after he crashed during the criterium ahead of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in January. On that occasion, he suffered a fracture in his right knee and foot. He eventually returned to racing at the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali but was hampered by illness during the spring. Last month, he completed the Tour of the Alps and was hoping to continue building his form in California.

“I was feeling stronger again and I had good some training days in Boulder. Everything was going well. Until now, it's a really bad year for me, but I will recover faster than a few months ago, I believe," Olivier said on the team’s website.

"In a corner to the left, there were a lot of stones on the road. I was behind Sepp's wheel and touched a stone. Sepp helped me so much. We were in the middle of nowhere. I tried to continue cycling. But after two kilometres, I was in so much pain that I couldn't go further. Luckily, we were on a busier road than normal. Almost every car stopped to offer some help. I lost a lot of blood. Then, people convinced me to call an ambulance."

Yorkshire 2019 unveils new logo and website

To mark 500 days until the 2019 Road World Championships in Yorkshire, the event organisers have unveiled the official logo and launched a website. Organisers worked with the Leeds-based studio of the brand design company Elmwood to design the logo, which features a black letter Y accompanied by the colours of the rainbow bands.

Yorkshire was announced as the host of the 2019 Road World Championships at the 2016 event in Qatar. The English county has become heavily involved in cycling after hosting the 2014 Tour de France Grand Depart, which sparked the legacy event the Tour de Yorkshire. This year saw the Tour de Yorkshire expand to four and two days for the men’s and women’s events respectively, and the organisers are now also in talks to bring the Vuelta a Espana to the region.

The new website has some basic information about next year’s event, although the race routes will not be announced until later this year at the 2018 Road World Championships in Innsbruck.

Trentin closing in on comeback

Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) is well on the path to recovery after breaking his vertebra last month, saying that the ‘green light’ from the team is not too far away.

“Really miss the action! Can't wait to jump on the bike again and sweat out a bit this past month! The vertebra is progressing good and the green light is not too far,” he wrote on Instagram on Tuesday

Trentin crashed heavily during last month’s Paris-Roubaix and it was immediately apparent that he had suffered a serious injury. He was transported straight to hospital where he was diagnosed with a 'stable compression fracture of his thoracic spine'.

It was the second big injury for the Italian this season after he broke a rib during a training ride at the start of the season.