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Wednesday, September 3, 2025
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything. - Theodore Roosevelt
Bill & Carol McGann’s book The Story of the 2024 Tour de France: The Happy Warrior Triumphs is available print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the link on the right.
Current racing:
- August 23 - September 14: Vuelta a España
- September 2 - 7: Tour of Britain
Upcoming racing:
- September 12: Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
- September 14: Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal
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
We posted the race organizer's report with the results.
Here's the report from stage winner Jay Vine's UAE Team Emirates-XRG:
With yet another outstanding performance at the Vuelta a España, Jay Vine won stage 10 from the breakaway. The Australian used his devastating form to drop all of his rivals and claim his second win of the race, and in doing so, he extends his lead in the King of the Mountains jersey.
Coming immediately after the rest day, Vine’s latest victory takes UAE Team Emirates-XRG to four stage wins from this year’s Vuelta a España, with 11 days of racing yet to go. The Emirati squad now sits on 77 wins for the 2025 campaign, as Vine and his teammates go in search of history in the team’s ninth season.
Jay Vine has flown the coop. Sirotti photo
Vine’s latest success came at the expense of Pablo Castrillo (Movistar), who proved the second-best rider from the breakaway on the day. Linking up with the Spaniard with 5.6km to go on Tuesday’s summit finish, Vine immediately looked to pile on the pressure, and some 400m later, the elastic snapped. Castrillo was jettisoned, and the Australian rode alone to the day’s honours at El Ferial Larra Belagua.
Meanwhile, in the GC group behind, Mikkel Bjerg and Juan Ayuso teamed up to give João Almeida a blistering lead-out for an ambitious attack. On more than one occasion on the final climb, the Portuguese climber laid down the gauntlet, and by the finish line, not all of his rivals were able to muster a response.
Almeida finished stage 10 having gained time on the likes of Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), and sitting just 38 seconds back on the new race leader, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).
Speaking to reporters after the finish, Vine could scarcely believe that he had repeated his 2022 feat of taking two stage wins at the same Vuelta a España.
Vine: “Winning is so so hard, and it’s such an incredible feeling when it happens. No, I don’t think I will ever get used to winning, because it is just unbelievably hard.
“I think I made my move with two and a half hours at the start of the race, just trying to follow the big groups. The guys helped me where they could to get me into position, and then I think at the two-hour mark, I called on the radio, ‘guys, it’s not happening.’
“Then there was a crash, I got stuck behind that, and then we kept jumping for another 45 minutes, so Mikkel [Bjerg] helped me bridge across. I thought that was the hardest part of the race, until I got to the final climb, and then that quickly turned into the hardest part of the race.
“I didn’t want to drag everybody up the climb, so I tried playing a bit of possum at the bottom. I was able to sort of attack my way across to the other riders, and then I got rid of Archie [Ryan], and then got to Pablo [Castrillo] and was able to drop him through the last S-bend.
“Then it was just to grit my teeth until the end!”
“Everyone believed in me, and it’s just an incredible feeling to be able to finish it off. This is totally for them, I could not have done it without them, and I’m so glad that I was able to pull it off for them.”
As noted by Vine, the first two hours of racing on stage 10 were at full tilt. With just two climbs on the agenda and tougher tests to come later in the week, there was a wide understanding that the day’s honours would be contested amongst the breakaway. In turn, the fight to make that break was relentless.
After two hours, the average racing speed was well above 50kph, and still, no breakaway had made their attack stick. At this point, it was getting to the now-or-never stage for a group of riders to go clear.
Stepping up to the task, Mikkel Bjerg launched his teammate Vine up the road and ensured that both riders would be represented at the head of the race. With a little under 70km to go, the definitive breakaway went clear and numbered some 30 riders. This meant the battle for the win was about to begin in earnest.
On the first and penultimate climb, the Alto de las Coronas (7.5km at 4.7%), Vine went clear with a number of riders and extended his lead in the King of the Mountains jersey at the summit. There was a regrouping on the descent and heading towards the foot of the final climb, Vine was with nine other riders at the front of the race.
Alec Segaert of Lotto went on the attack from the base of the last climb, but Vine timed his move to perfection. One by one, he dropped his companions and with 5.2km to go, Pablo Castrillo was the last rival to be dispatched. From here on out, Vine’s victory was all but assured.
A minute or so behind Jay Vine’s stage-winning efforts, it was once more his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate João Almeida who animated proceedings in the peloton. Feeling good to go on the attack, the Portuguese climber put his battle plans into place at the bottom of the climb.
Led into the climb by Felix Großschartner, Almeida soon instructed Juan Ayuso to the front and the Spaniard duly delivered. With 8km to go, Ayuso surged to the front and delivered a blistering turn of pace for around 400m, shredding the peloton of many of its inhabitants.
Next up, Mikkel Bjerg, having dropped back from helping Vine in the breakaway, was handed the reins by Ayuso, and the Dane continued the 22-year-old’s strong work. For the next 500m, Bjerg dropped the hammer and teed up Almeida’s eventual attack with 7km to ride.
Although multiple accelerations from the Portuguese were unable to drop the pre-race favourite Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), Almeida was able to distance the likes of Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers).
Reflecting on the day after the finish, the man sitting in third place overall was content with the ambition he and his teammates had shown in the finale.
Almeida: “It was good. I was feeling good again today, we have nothing to lose; we are here to try to win. We can either try not to lose or we can try to win, so we need to try, and tomorrow is another day.
“I said to the guys that if I feel good we would try on the final climb, and we gave everything we have, so it is what it is. I was trying to make the race hard but it was also not super steep to make a difference, so I just took the wheel and looked to arrive to the finish line.
“It was not worth [asking Vine to return to the peloton to help] today.”
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Here's the Vuelta report from new GC leader Jonas Vingegaard's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Jonas Vingegaard is once again the leader of the Vuelta a España. At the mountain stage finish at the top of Larra Belagua, the 28-year-old Dane finished in the group of favorites. He took the leader's jersey from Torstein Træen, who lost time. The stage victory went to breakaway rider Jay Vine.
Jonas Vingegaard is back in the GC leader's red jersey. Here he is with the great Miguel Indurain.
After the first rest day, the peloton faced a 175-kilometer stage with a mountain finish. After a relatively flat opening phase, two categorized climbs awaited in the final. The finish was at Larra Belagua.
After two hours of racing, the average speed was still nearly fifty kilometers per hour. It wasn’t until about seventy kilometers from the finish that the first notable breakaway formed. Heading toward the foot of the Alto de Las Coronas, the first climb of the day, a group of 25 riders broke away. Team Visma | Lease a Bike riders remained vigilant in the peloton.
On the final climb to Larra Belagua, the pace in the peloton was significantly increased. Race leader Træen, along with many others, was soon dropped. A strongly reduced group, including Vingegaard and Jorgenson, set out in pursuit of the breakaway riders. Vine managed to stay ahead of the favorites. Vingegaard will start tomorrow as the leader of this Vuelta. He had also worn the leader's jersey during the first week. He now has a 26-second advantage in the overall standings over second-placed Træen.
"I’m very happy to wear the red jersey again," Vingegaard said after the stage. "Being in the lead of the general classification always feels great. During the race, I wasn’t really thinking about the situation in the overall standings, but I was mostly focused on the high pace in the group of favorites. Riders like Almeida were pushing hard, but I felt strong again. Tomorrow I’ll start in red again. It would be great if I could keep the jersey until the final stage in Madrid."
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Here's the Vuelta report from Junior Lecerf's Team Soudal Quick-Step:
La Vuelta resumed Tuesday afternoon with another summit finish, on Larra Belagua, the climb where Remco Evenepoel won two years ago, clad in the Belgian Champion jersey, after a breakaway masterclass. The first-category ascent was the main difficulty of the day, and that made for an insane start to the stage, as numerous riders were determined to book a place in the breakaway, sensing they had a strong chance of remaining there until the finish.
Gianmarco Garofoli and Mikel Landa were two of these riders, but their job was almost impossible, as the moment the breakaway was taking its advantage to at least half a minute, the peloton made sure of reacting and bringing them back. That made for a whooping 50km/h average speed in the first two hours of the race, a group managing to extricate itself from the bunch with only 70 kilometers left. When they did, T-Rex Quick-Step riders were there: Junior Lecerf and Louis Vervaeke.
The former took some long pulls in order to take the gap to more than three minutes and help his much younger teammate in his attempt of gaining time on the general classification. The group remained compact until the penultimate climb, where the cooperation went up in smoke after a couple of attacks that splintered the breakaway. Lecerf found himself trailing and did a great effort in the valley, but also on the opening slopes of Larra Belagua, before being eventually caught by the favourites just two kilometers from the line.
Junior Lecerf riding on the final climb. Sirotti photo
Winner of the Czech Tour a couple of weeks ago, the 22-year-old found the strength to remain there and even sprint within sight of the line, taking ninth at the finish. For his strong day at the front, Lecerf was rewarded not just with his first top ten of this Vuelta, but also by moving up three places on the general classification.
“The original plan wasn’t to go in the break, but when I noticed a big move was a bit clear, I made the jump together with other guys and took my chance. It worked well and was nice to have Louis for company there. On the last climb of the day I just gave everything and I’m happy I could conclude this stage in the top ten, it’s a good result for the confidence”, Junior said at the finish.
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Here's the Vuelta report from Team Groupama-FDJ:
It took nearly 100 kilometers, but after a furious fight, a breakaway eventually emerged on La Vuelta a España this Tuesday. In stage 10, Rudy Molard managed to hit the front in a group of about thirty riders. However, the Frenchman was caught by the GC contenders on the final climb and had to settle for twenty-ninth place.
Racing in the mountains of Spain. Sirotti photo
In the aftermath of a highly anticipated rest day, the start of the Vuelta a España’s stage 10 probably came as a shock to some riders’ legs. The race’s second week of racing got off to a flying start on Tuesday, in a day made for the attackers. “There hadn’t been many opportunities for the breakaway until now,” explained William Green. “Today seemed like a real one, especially since the favorites were probably already thinking about the Bilbao stage. As a result, it was full gas racing from the start, with an average speed of almost 50 km/h over the first 100 kilometres. There were no climbs at the start of the race, which made it even more difficult for the breakaway to go clear. Rémi was in the day’s first move, and then we continued to follow the attacks for 100 kilometres. We were really there in all the moves. You need a team to cover all the moves to end up in the right one, and that’s what we managed to do.”
Shortly after the halfway point, with 85 kilometres to go, Clément Braz Afonso managed to take the lead within a trio before suffering a crash. Ten kilometres later, Rudy Molard eventually made it into the right move with about thirty men.
The Frenchman, however, faced a tricky situation at the front of the race, while the peloton kept the breakaway just three minutes behind. “Many teams had two riders represented, so we knew it would be quite dynamic and not the best cohesion,” said William. “Rudy was aware of that, but I think it was partly physical as well when the breakaway split on that short climb fifty kilometres from the finish.” Javier Romo, Jay Vine, and eight other riders therefore managed to find themselves a step ahead of the rest of the group.
“Rudy was certainly still in the race, however, because the gap between the first and second parts of the breakaway was maximum 45 seconds,” explained William. “With a summit finish coming, everything was possible”. However, at the bottom of the final climb to El Ferial Larra Belagua (9.4 km at 6.1%), the peloton was only two minutes behind the Groupama-FDJ rider. Moreover, the fight began quite early among the favorites, who caught Rudy Molard about five kilometres from the summit.
The French puncher eventually crossed the line in 29th position, about two minutes behind the winner. “Only a handful of riders of the breakaway (4, editor’s note) stayed away from the favorites, including some top riders like Vine and Castrillo,” explained William. “Rudy couldn’t do much more today. The legs did the talking on the final climb. The positive thing is that we were in the race today, because some teams weren’t. It’s a positive note after the rest day.” The other good note is that Clément Braz Afonso was able to reach the finish line unharmed. “He quickly moved on from it, he has good legs, and we’re looking forward to seeing what he can do in the coming week,” William added.
“I’m out for revenge and I’ll try again in the next few days if I’m in good shape,” Clément confirmed. On Wednesday, a very hilly stage will be on the menu for the riders around Bilbao. “I think the breakaway can have an opportunity tomorrow, but it will be a challenging break to make,” William said. “If we have the legs, for sure we’ll try to be there. After that, it will be a tough day, whether at the front or in the peloton.”
We posted the report from stage winner Olaav Kooij's Team Visma | Lease a Bike with the results.
Here's the report from third-place Hugo Hofstetter's Team Israel-Premier Tech:
A podium to start the Tour of Britain for Hugo Hofstetter, as the Frenchman finished third in Southwold on his debut in the UK’s only men’s UCI stage race.
Hofstetter earned his 11th top-10 finish of the season in his trademark style, as he managed to pick up the Visma – Lease a Bike lead-out train in the closing kilometer.
Olav Kooij was the fastest along the windswept finishing straight by the North Sea, with Tord Gudmestad finishing just ahead of Hofstetter.
Olav Kooij wins Tour of Britain stage one. Getty photo
“It’s a good result,” he says. “I was already happy to come here – I have never done this race before, and I really was looking forward to it.
”It was a nice sprint for me today, I was happy with the headwind. It was also a bit tricky and needed a bit of gambling, because you had to wait, wait, and wait. We waited until the last moment, and then I found myself in the wheel of Kooij.
“I just tried to do my best – maybe I made a little mistake at 200 to go, and I tried to follow [Alberto] Dainese and Kooij took my place, but it was still a good result today.”
Wednesday’s second stage, which starts and finishes in the Mid Suffolk town of Stowmarket, is also one for the sprinters.
Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary