Crossing the line first at Paris-Tours on Sunday probably provided enough satisfaction in itself for Matteo Trentin (Etixx-QuickStep), but it turned out to be a double victory.
For his efforts, the Italian scooped the Ruban Jaune trophy, which is awarded to the rider who records the fastest average speed in a race longer than 200km. Trentin completed the 231km Paris-Tours course in just four hours and 39 minutes, giving him a whopping average speed of 49.641km/h - just over 1km/h quicker than Marco Marcato's previous record, set in 2012.
Trentin was part of a large front group that stayed clear and flew along with the help of a hefty tailwind. Such conditions may help explain how nine of the 12 times the Ruban Jaune has been dished out have come at Paris-Tours.
5000kg of ice: the Abu Dhabi Tour in numbers
The inaugural Abu Dhabi Tour took place towards the end of last week, and the race organisers have released a series of figures relating to the race.
The race caught the headlines due to the extreme heat in the desert emirate, and no fewer than 5000 kilograms of ice were needed for cooling purposes across the four stages. The opening stage was the most brutal, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius, which made for subdued racing and caused the route to be shortened by 15km. On top of the 5000kg of ice, most of which was stuffed down riders' jerseys, the race went through 25,000 water bottles. If all full and consumed in their entirety, that would be approximately 137,500 litres of fluid.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
A 107-rider peloton started the race on Thursday and 95 made it to the finish on Sunday, with an average speed of 40.839km/h across the four-day route of 540.5km. There were 161 vehicles in the race convoy, and the race, in its first year, was broadcast in 169 countries.
LottoNL-Jumbo signs Slovenian Roglic for two-year deal
Primoz Roglic, a 25-year-old Slovenian who has ridden at the Continental level for the past three years, signed a two-year deal with LottoNL-Jumbo that will take him through the end of 2017.
Roglic won the general classifications earlier this year at the Tour de Slovénie and the Tour d'Azerbaïdjan, where he won two stages. He also won a stage at the Tour o Quinghai Lake, where he finished fourth overall, and he was second at the Tour of Croatia.
Roglic is a former ski jumper who switched to cycling after a heavy fall ended that career.
"I am very happy with this move to the highest level in cycling," Roglic said in a statement released by LottoNL-Jumbo.
"I am really looking forward to it. I am a sportsman at heart. After my crash, I wanted to become a professional cyclist. It is something totally different, but elite sport remains elite sport. You have to work hard for it."
Roglic said he is ready two work hard in the mountains and ride for the general classification.
"The team's philosophy has touched me, like their warm welcome," he said. "That inspires me. Now, we can grow together into something beautiful."
LottoNL-Jumbo director Nico Verhoeven said Roglic impressed the team with his performances against WorldTour riders.
"He was a top athlete," Verhoeven said. "He thinks and lives like that. He has a good elite sport attitude and drive which fits us. We have talked a lot with him and turned him inside out.
"You can see a very fast physical development and good race insight. He is a great talent and is a fast learner with big abilities. He suits us and he can flourish in our team and win races."
