Author: Harold Dalton

Report It was a tranquil race for 170 of the 189 kilometers of Stage 16, which all changed with the first climb at 15 kilometers to go and culminated with a dramatic 2.5-kilometer rise to the line. Similar to Stage 13, it was a stage suited perfectly to the red-hot Mads Pedersen, and before the race, he made a promise to his teammate Alex Kirsch. In the end, Mads delivered – but it was not as straightforward as he would have liked! “I promised Kirsch to win today. He missed the birth of his daughter yesterday and the whole team…

Report Making progress throughout the race, Thymen Arensman climbed to an incredible stage success for Team DSM this afternoon on the Vuelta a España’s queen and summit finish atop Sierra Nevada. A fierce start to the day saw lots of attacks where the team was active in following, looking to get Arensman into right move if it was a large group. Going to plan perfectly, Arensman made it into the large break after some good teamwork and the gap to the peloton increased. Although during the stage it looked like they might be brought back, Arensman and the rest of…

Report Richard Carapaz (INEOS Grenadiers) put in a dogged performance to seal a dramatic solo victory on Sierra de La Pandera. Carapaz had been part of a 10-rider break before attacking his fellow escapees in the closing kilometres to reduce the size of the group before going solo with 3.5 kilometres remaining. The Olympic champion was clear of the break, but faced a battle against the chase group behind as Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma) attacked from the considerably thinned group of general classification contenders. With the lead dwindling to seconds from minutes, Carapaz kicked in the final kilometre to hold…

Report After winning Stage 13 of the Tour de France in July, Mads Pedersen sprinted to victory in La Vuelta today – in stage 13! For some, an unlucky number. For Mads, Stage 13 appears to be his founded sweet spot in three-week races. “This is super nice,” exclaimed Mads. “We knew that this final was super good for me, and the boys were super focused all day. I am just happy that I could finally get the win and give back the boys something back for all the work they did so far -it’s really nice for all of…

Report Richard Carapaz put in a perfectly timed late attack to secure victory from the breakaway on stage 12 at the Vuelta a Espana. The Ecuadorian made his way into the day’s break before launching the winning move with two kilometres to go on the steep final climb of Penas Blancas. Pushing clear to win by nine seconds, Carapaz claimed his first Grand Tour stage for the team, and a first Vuelta stage win for the team since 2017. The GC contenders arrived almost eight minutes later, with race leader Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step – AlphaVinyl) coming back from a crash…

Report Australian sprinter Kaden Groves blasted to his maiden Grand Tour stage win at La Vuelta a España as Team BikeExchange-Jayco bounced back in style on stage 11. The squad put the setback of losing team leader Simon Yates to COVID-19 behind them as they delivered a sprint masterclass in Cabo de Gata, to turn disappointment into delight. The stage always looked destined for a sprint finish and the Australian outfit set their stall our early as they sent Luke Durbridge to work on the front of the peloton to set the pace behind a three-rider breakaway. The escapees were…

Report Remco Evenepoel produced one of the fastest individual time trials in Grand Tour history, ticking off his main objective of La Vuelta a España by taking a stage victory, which saw him become the first Belgian rider in the last 35 years to triumph in a stage against the clock at the Spanish race. As the last man to roll down the start ramp, Remco knew what lay ahead, having trained in the morning on the course before following Rémi Cavagna from the car as the Frenchman rode a perfect race that put him in the hot seat with…

Alex Dowsett has retired. The writing has been somewhat on the wall, but he recently indicated that he intended to race for two more seasons. He has since changed his mind, and retired with immediate effect. Note his choice of words, however: he has retired from the World Tour. Cycling may still be in his future. Hell, he might not even have to change teams next year. We still remember him as the young lad who signed for Team Sky and immediately turned up at our office driving a new Jaguar. Which means we’re officially old. Dowsett’s career has been…