By the end of his Milan-San Remo appearance the cold had taken such a grip on him that he had to be helped out of his cycling threads by the director of his MTN-Qhubeka team, Africa's first pro-continental outfit.

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The UK is in the grip of its longest cold snap for almost 30 years, and extreme or severe weather warnings are still in place across the UK for both snow and ice.

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Its aluminum back panel is cold and slippery compared with the rubber grip on the back of the older version.

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"It was a little cold, a little tough getting a grip on the ball, but I have to get used to it, " Harvey said on a day when temperatures hovered in the upper 50s and low 60s.

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"I was able to grip the ball better today, " said Niese, who also pitched in cold weather last weekend in Minneapolis.

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