Laurence Pithie may be only taking on his very first Grand Tour when he lines up in Turin on Saturday to debut at the Giro d’Italia, however such has been the meteoric rise of the Groupama-FDJ rider that he will be doing it with big aims and the support of his team.

The 21-year-old New Zealander, who can hold on through the hills and deliver a fast finish, has already capitalised on his strengths to capture one WorldTour win this season, the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, and after regularly clinging on to key moves in the Classics he is now looking to taste victory again in Italy.

“Being at the start in Turin for three weeks of competition is a real opportunity, and discovering your first Grand Tour as leader is no mean feat,” said Pithie in a statement from his French team. “I’m arriving on the Italian roads with a lot of expectations, so we’ll take one opportunity after another and give everything we’ve got, every day, to go for this stage win that unites us all.” 

The second year WorldTour professional may be untested at a Grand Tour, but the rider who has shown an ability to quickly analyse, learn and adapt has garnered the unequivocal support of his team.

“With a strong, complementary team, we’ll be supporting Laurence Pithie in his aim to win stages, whether flat or hilly,” said Directeur Sportif Frédéric Guesdon in a team statement. “Everyone will play an essential role around our sprinter to maximise our chances of winning, and I expect them to be dedicated to their leader. They’re all very motivated to be at the start in Turin on Saturday.”

The European spring emphasised the prowess on display in Australia in January, with Pithie twice on the podium on stages of Paris-Nice before regularly being in elite company through the toughest Classics. He may not have netted a big Classics result – with seventh at Paris-Roubaix the highest finish – but showed ample evidence of the potential to take victory on the biggest stages in the future. His Groupama-FDJ team are rallying to do what they can to make it sooner, rather than later.

“We know that Laurence is a strong guys who knows how to manage on his own in the final stages, but the adversity will be high and it will be in his interest to rely on us,” said team captain Olivier le Gac.

The young leader will be surrounded by a young team, with four other Giro first timers and half the squad eligible for the youth category. As well as Le Gac, Pithie will be racing alongside Lewis Askey, Cyril Bathe, Clement Davy, Lorenzo Germani, Fabien Lienhard and Enzo Paleni. 

“With the support of this great team, I know that anything is possible,” said Pithie.

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Apple is working on a swift fix to get everyone back on track

A software issue left some iPhone users snoozing through silent alarms, prompting a flurry of frustrated posts on social media. Many rely on their phones as their primary alarm clock, and the unexpected lie-in caused some chaos for early risers. Thankfully, Apple is working on a swift fix to get everyone back on track, BBC reported,

A social media user complained that she had set “like five alarms” and they didn’t go off. 

While confirming the issue of silent iPhone alarms, Apple hasn’t pinpointed the cause or offered a workaround to prevent missed wake-up calls. Additionally, the number of affected users and specific iPhone models remain unknown.

The news initially surfaced on NBC’s Today Show, highlighting the plight of early risers. In the absence of an official fix, users can attempt a few solutions:

Double-Check Settings: Ensure alarms are set correctly and the volume is adequate.

Attention Feature Suspect: Some speculate that Apple’s “attention-aware features” might be silencing alarms. 

These features, available on iPhone X and later models, automatically adjust alert volume based on user attention. TikTok users suggest these features could mute alarms if users sleep facing the screen.

Apple aims for a swift resolution, but until then, users might need to resort to old-fashioned alarm clocks to ensure timely awakenings.

Broken iPhone alarms are nothing new for iOS, in 2015 Apple released an update to fix its alarms, among other things — and they happen on other devices, too. 

BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) has revealed that cholera cases are on the decline after no new cases were recorded in the past three weeks.

BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) has revealed that cholera cases are on the decline after no new cases were recorded in the past three weeks.

All of Zimbabwe’s 63 districts have reported cholera cases, as April 30 this year, 46 cases were hospitalised at Mwenezi (1), Zaka (2), Bikita (1) in Masvingo province, Mutare (14) Chimanimani (1) in Manicaland province and Bindura (3), Mt Darwin (4) in Mashonaland Central.

One case was recorded in Harare province, Sanyati (13), Chegutu (3) in Mashonaland West province while one has also been recorded at Wedza District Hospital in Mashonaland East province and two cases in Kwekwe, Midlands province.

BCC health services director Edwin Sibanda told NewsDay in an interview that there are 13 cumulative cases with 13 cumulative recoveries and zero deaths.

“We have had no cases for more than three weeks. There are zero new confirmed cases, 13 cumulative confirmed cases, 0 new cholera deaths and 13 cumulative recoveries. We have also recorded zero active confirmed cases, zero new suspected cholera cases and 46 cumulative suspected cholera cases,’’ Sibanda said.

He said there were no new Rapid Diagnosis Test, 31 positive cumulative Rapid Diagnosis Test cases with zero pending microscopy culture sensitive results and one cumulative suspected cholera death.

“We advise residents to continue to wash their hands and eat food while it is still hot,’’ he said.

Zimbabwe has been grappling with a cholera outbreak since February 2023, with the number of cases increasing across the country.

Alarming proportions were reached in August 27, 2023, resulting in 3 894 cholera cases and 96 fatalities.

Notably, this pandemic extended its reach to all 10 provinces across the country, with Harare (1 616), Mutare (1 534) and Bulawayo (324) reporting the highest cumulative cases accounting for 89% of the total cases.

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