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Monday, September 1, 2025
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself; for every man has need to be forgiven. - Thomas Fuller
Bill & Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, 2020: The Tour During Covid-19, Better Late Than Never is available in both Kindle eBook and Audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- August 23 - September 14: Vuelta a España
Upcoming racing:
- September 2 - 7: Tour of Britain
Latest completed racing:
- August 31: Bretagne Classic-Ouest France
- August 26 - 29: Tour Poitou Charentes en Nouvelle Aquitaine
- August 20 - 24: Renewi Tour
- August 19 - 22: Tour du Limousin
- August 17: Hamburg Cyclassics
- August 17: La Polynormande
- August 12 - 16: Tour of Denmark
- August 15: Circuit Franco-Belge
- August 4 - 10: Tour of Poland
- August 7 - 10: Arctic Race of Norway
- August 5 - 9: Vuelta a Burgos
- August 6 - 8: Tour de l'Ain
- August 3: Circuito de Getxo
- August 2: San Sebastian Classic
We posted the report from the race organizer with the results.
Here's the Vuelta report from stage winner Jonas Vingegaard's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Jonas Vingegaard claimed a brilliant solo win in the ninth stage of the Vuelta a España. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader crossed the line alone at Valdezcaray, gaining valuable time on his main rivals. The red jersey remains on the shoulders of Torstein Træen.
Jonas Vingegaard solos across the stage nine finish line. Sirotti photo
“I felt fantastic throughout the entire stage today. On the final climb, I gave the signal to my teammates to launch me. They did it in an impressive way. I’m incredibly happy to finish it off like this”, Vingegaard says after taking his second stage victory in this year’s Vuelta.
All eyes in ninth stage were already on the decisive ascent to Valdezcaray ski resort. After a group of five escapees was caught at the foot of the first-category climb, the focus shifted to the battle among the general classification contenders. Team Visma | Lease a Bike took control, with support from Matteo Jorgenson among others, to launch Vingegaard.
The Dane quickly dropped Giulio Ciccone and gradually increased his lead over João Almeida and Thomas Pidcock. Vingegaard crossed the line solo, 24 seconds ahead of the duo. With that, the team leader made important gains in the overall standings. His deficit to red jersey wearer Træen is now down to just 37 seconds.
“I’m very happy with that”, Vingegaard says. “It wasn’t really our plan to attack, but I had very good legs today. When the team launched me, I was a bit surprised that the finish was still quite far away, but I had a gap, and then you just have to go all-in. Without the work of my teammates, this wouldn’t have been possible.”
Sports director Jesper Mørkøv called it a fantastic day: “We rode very strongly and stayed well grouped heading into the final climb. When Jonas asked to be launched, we didn’t hesitate for a second. Normally, the climb to Valdezcaray isn’t typically one that suits Jonas perfectly. To finish it off like this is truly impressive.”
Team Visma | Lease a Bike closes the first week of the Spanish stage race with its 32nd victory of the season. “It’s been a very good week for the team. I wouldn’t call it ‘perfect,’ since we unfortunately lost Axel, which was a big disappointment for him and for us. At the same time, we’ve taken two stage wins and spent several days in the red jersey. That’s fantastic”, a satisfied Mørkøv concludes.
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Here's the Vuelta report from second-place Tom Pidcock's Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team:
Tom Pidcock rode to a second place in the stage to the ski station of Valdezcaray. In horrible weather circumstances he followed a move by Joao Almeida to counter Jonas Vingegaard and Giulio Ciccone. The Dane attacked at the bottom of the climb at 11 kilometres from the line. With his second place Pidcock also moves up in the general classification. The British rider is now fourth ahead of the first rest day.
Tom Pidcock finishes second in stage nine. Sirotti photo
The stage started really fast as many riders wanted to try and be in the breakaway. Xabier Mikel Azparren was one of the riders trying a few times but in the end it was a group of five without Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team representation that went clear. Nick Zukowsky helped to keep the break under control all stage. The gap never went over a dangerous margin and at the foot of the finish climb the last riders were caught.
Visma – Lease a Bike moved quickly with an attack to set up Jonas Vingegaard but Pidcock was well-positioned thanks to the work of the team. He followed Joao Almeida’s counterattack. Vingegaard was too far away to catch but Pidcock sprinted to second place ahead of Almeida.
Tom Pidcock said: “I felt really good. When Jonas goes it’s always so difficult to follow. He has so many teammates up there. I thought Almeida was the perfect wheel to follow. Maybe we could could come back together, I thought. Chapeau to him. I just couldn’t give him any turns. He shouted at me, but he’s like a tractor on the flattest section of the climb. He went again in the last kilometer and it was impressive. I could only come round him at the finish.
"I am happy to be honest. We went for a stage win but Jonas is Jonas so I can be happy with this result. It’s great for the general classification. I know it’s difficult to fully know what my capabilities are and sometimes I can be a bit cautious. This gives me confidence for the stages to come. The team committed a 100% to me and I am super grateful for that. We have a great group of guys here. We are having fun. We have these opportunities to ride two grand tours this year, so we have to make the most out of it.”
Week one recap
The second place of Pidcock caps off a week of solid performances by the entire team. Pidcock already had an 8th, 9th and 10th place in the first nine stages. Grand Tour debutant Fabio Christen already has three top ten places: 7th, 7th and 8th. David González had his best Vuelta stage result on the opening day by sprinting to sixth place. He added another top ten on day 8. The Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team also won the team classification on two stages.
The best sign the entire team of Pidcock, Christen, González, Camprubí, De la Cruz, Azparren, Zukowsky and Howson are in good form was the eighth place in the team time trial.
General manager Doug Ryder stated on why that eighth place means so much:
“The team time trial is a beautiful discipline in cycling, where riders move in perfect harmony – fluid, fast, and focused combining intense speed and concentration as they race against the clock on the most advanced bikes the sport has ever developed.
"We didn’t win that stage but actually we did as a team. Months of preparation from the head of racing Alex Sans Vega riding the course many times on his bike, to wind tunnel testing to test helmets, kit, fabrics, socks, gloves, bike positions. We had a high-performance team on the top of a mountain testing precise protocols, pacing strategies, gearing and kit feeding back to the Q36.5 design lab in Northern Italy where millimetres matter in shoe covers, under garments, and race suits.
"The team time trial is not only about eight riders on the road but truly about the whole team. That’s why that eighth place result means so much. It showed already how the team works so well together as we saw again on the stage today. I can’t wait to see what we can do in the next two weeks.”
The Vuelta a España continues on Tuesday with a punchy circuit around Bilbao.
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Here's the Vuelta stage nine report from third-place Joao Almeida's UAE Team Emirates-XRG:
João Almeida came over the line in third place on stage 9 of the Vuelta a España, with the UAE Team Emirates-XRG climber heading into the first rest day of the race in third overall. On the climb to Estación de Esquí de Valdezcaray, Almeida united with Tom Pidcock of Q36.5 Pro Cycling to limit their losses to the day’s winner, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).
Joao Almeida finishes third in stage nine. Sirotti photo
The Danish rider attacked from the peloton on the lower slopes of the climb, prompting Giulio Ciccone of Lidl-Trek into a quick response. For a short while, the pair were alone off the front of the race, but Vingegaard’s infernal pace forced Ciccone to relent.
With 10km to go to the summit finish, Vingegaard went alone and would not be seen again.
Almeida, meanwhile, quickly saw that the remains of the favourites’ group did not have the firepower to muster a sufficient response. Once Jay Vine had done as much as he could to limit the gap, Almeida attacked from the group and sought to make an inroad into Vingegaard’s advantage.
Within a couple of kilometres, only Tom Pidcock could stick to the wheel of Almeida. As buckets of rain poured from the sky above, the pair came together and relayed for the final 7.5km of the climb. Following the initial accelerations of both Vingegaard and Almeida, the gap between the riders on the road remained between 20-30 seconds.
Across the line, Pidcock pipped Almeida to second, and with it, six bonus seconds, as the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider was forced to settle for four bonus seconds. The gap on the road to Vingegaard was 24 seconds, which extends the Dane’s advantage as the de facto leader of the general classification.
After nine stages, the Vuelta will pause for its first rest day on Monday, with Almeida sitting third overall and 38 seconds behind the race favourite, Vingegaard. With most of the toughest stages still to come in this year’s race, the battle for the overall win of the Vuelta remains wide open.
Almeida: “[Vingegaard] got the factor of surprise, I think we were not expecting it but I was actually in a good position. They went really hard and in the end, I couldn’t really close the gap. It is what it is.
“I could see [the other riders around me] were on their limit, so they couldn’t do much.
“It was not so steep [when Vingegaard went clear], so on the wheel you save a lot, so I think I could have gone with him, but we’ll never know right.”
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And here's the Vuelta report from Egan Bernal's Team INEOS Grenadiers:
Egan Bernal sits 11th overall at the Vuelta a Espana as the race reaches its opening rest day.
The Colombian put in a solid climbing performance on stage nine, limiting his losses well and finishing as part of the chasing GC group into the Valdezcaray ski resort.
Key attacks fired early on the steep initial sections of the first-category summit, with Bernal riding his way into the first group behind stage winner Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike). The Grenadier would slip back as the counter attacks fired, eventually crossing the line in 15th place, 1:46 back on Vingegaard.
The peloton racing in stage nine before getting hit by rain. Sirotti photo
The result saw him drop two spots to 11th overall, with plenty of riding and climbing stages to come in the next phase of the race.
Michal Kwiatkowski worked hard to infiltrate the day’s early breakaway, but his five-man move was never afforded a strong advantage by the persistent peloton. Victor Langellotti also produced a strong climbing performance, finishing just off Bernal’s group at the finish, which also included continued race leader Torstein Traeen (Bahrain – Victorious).
Egan Bernal:
"It has been a pretty hard stage, with very fast opening kilometres. The climb was well suited to be ridden at a very fast pace. When Jonas took off, I tried to follow him, yet I realised I didn’t have the legs and it was better to find my own rhythm. A chasing group was established, yet we didn’t keep a steady pace and we all know how strong Jonas is."
Elsewhere on Sunday the team were also in action at the Bretagne Classic.
On home roads Axel Laurance led the team home in 24th as part of a big bunch finish - won by Arnaud De Lie (Lotto). Oscar Rodriguez was part of the race's early break, but was reeled in with 95km to go as counter-attacks began.
We psoted the report from race winner Arnaud De Lie's Team Lotto with the results.
Here's the report from team Soudal Quick-Step:
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, ADAC Cyclassics, and now, Bretagne Classics. The three prestigious World Tour one-day races where Paul Magnier finished in the top five this season, showcasing both his sprint and remarkable versatility, which at just 21 years of age augur well for the next season.
Arnaud De Lie wins the Bretagne Classic Ouest-France
The most recent of these results came on home soil, at the 89th edition of the Bretagne Classic – a race renowned for its demanding parcours, featuring dozens of hills and more than 4000 meters of climbing. Sunday was full gas from the beginning, and the speed remained the same even after a breakaway formed. The reason for this was that the peloton didn’t like that move, and pushed hard to bring it back. Moments after this happened, a group containing Pascal Eenkhoorn went clear, but this too was a short-lived one despite our rider’s best efforts, and the race remained together with 80 kilometers to go.
Inside the last 20 kilometers, six riders jumped clear and threatened to go all the way to the line, but Soudal Quick-Step chased hard together with other teams and reabsorbed the attackers just ahead of the flamme rouge. In the sprint, despite being closed at one point, Paul Magnier found some space and unleashed his spectacular sprint to take a strong fourth behind winner Arnaud De Lie (Lotto)., becoming the first Frenchman in 16 years to finish top five in Plouay in back-to-back editions.
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