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Here is what is making the headlines this week …
Monday, March 10, 2025
- Ganna strikes back one year after narrowly losing Tirreno opener to Ayuso
- Vittoria introduces 29 mm tires for wider rims
- Esker Cycles updates lineup of hardtail mountain bikes
- Winner's Circle: Merlier wins again in Paris-Nice
Ganna strikes back one year after narrowly losing Tirreno opener to Ayuso
One year after Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) bested Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) by all of one second in the opening time trial at Tirreno-Adriatico, Ganna flipped the script, besting Ayuso to win Monday's opening stage of the 2025 edition of the race by a massive 23 seconds over just 11.5 km in Lido di Camaiore. Johan Price-Pejtersen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took third, a further five seconds behind Ayuso.
The victory is Ganna's first so far this season, and the Italian will hope for more of the same after a sometimes frustrating 2024 campaign that saw him settle for runner-up honors in big TT opportunities on more than one occasion.
Asked whether his win was "revenge" for the first stage of Tirreno-Adriatico last year, Ganna said, "Yes, definitely. It is always better to win by twenty seconds. This is very nice. The key now is to recover well and then we will see what I can do in the coming rides. The legs are good in any case."
Vittoria introduces 29 mm tires for wider rims
Vittoria has launched a “Wide Rim Optimized” tire range, designed for 25 mm internal width rims. The first tires in the range are 700x29c Corsa Pro TLR and Corsa N.EXT TLR, which now meet the current ETRTO and ISO tire width regulations for 25 mm internal width rims. These regulations specify safe hookless tire and rim combinations and became a talking point last year following several hookless wheel and tire failures at pro races.
The new tires are tubeless-ready, hookless-compatible, and available at US$107 (Corsa Pro) and US$92 (Corsa N.EXT), with a Corsa Pro Speed TLR version coming soon.
Esker Cycles updates lineup of hardtail mountain bikes
Esker Cycles announced updates to four of its hardtail models for 2025. The Hayduke and Japhy have revised geometries, while others in the collection including the Lorax Ti and Hayduke LVS get a variety of frame revisions like “Hitching Post” bottle/gear bosses, custom chainstay protectors, increased tire clearance, new finishes, and more. These changes help to further differentiate the Esker catalog, with the Hayduke now an off-road touring platform and the Japhy is positioned as a versatile all-around hardtail.
Eskers are available as framesets or in a variety of complete build kits, in steel or some in titanium. Prices range from US$1,000 steel frames to titanium completes that start at US$4,500. You can see all of the updates and options over at Esker's website. [Esker Cycles]
Winner's Circle: Merlier wins again in Paris-Nice
While Tirreno-Adriatico saw time trial action on Monday, over at Paris-Nice, Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took his second win in as many days in another sprint finish. This time, the race leader outkicked Emilien Jeannière (TotalEnergies) with Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) in third after Hugo Page (Intermarché-Wanty) was relegated.
And in the Zwift Games Elite Championships, reigning UCI esports world champion Kate McCarthy took the Sprint championship in the final round after a two-stage elimination. Neal Fryett took the men’s win. The Zwift Games Elite Championships continues March 15 and March 22.
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