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Monday, September 8, 2025
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
Somebody may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it. - Steve Prefontaine
Bill McGann’s book Why Your Bike Is Made in Asia: My career in bicycles as I watched two continents squander an industry is available in print, Kindle eBook & 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 12: Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec
- September 14: Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal
Latest completed racing:
- September 2 - 7: Tour of Britain
- 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.
Stage winner Mads Pedersen's Team Lidl-Trek posted this report:
Mads Pedersen has delivered a sensational performance in Stage 15 of the Vuelta a España, claiming a hard-fought victory in a thrilling finish after a long day in the breakaway on the 167.8 km route from Vegadeo to Monforte de Lemos – a stage that had been clearly marked by Mads from the beginning. The plan for the day? Simple, get as many of the Team in the breakaway to give Mads the best chance possible. The Team executed their plan to perfection, getting 5 guys into the large breakaway, providing vital support throughout the stage and setting Pedersen up for the finale. Carlos Verona, Amanuel Ghebreighzabhier, Giulio Ciccone and Julien Bernard all made it in, alongside Mads.
Mads Pedersen wins the stage. Sirotti photo
As the break tackled the first-category Puerto da Garganta and navigated a series of attacks and splits, the guys stayed composed, keeping Mads out of trouble and in position. When it got to the real pointy end of racing, Mads made the split and made sure that no one was getting any daylight without him firmly on the back wheel. In the closing kilometres, Pedersen timed his effort impeccably, launching a powerful sprint to outpace Orluis Aular and Marco Frigo, sealing his fourth career stage win at the Vuelta and his eleventh across Grand Tours. The result is a huge relief and reward for the team after days of aggressive racing, and it extends Pedersen’s lead in the green jersey competition, where he now holds a 98-point advantage. With a well deserved rest day tomorrow, the Team heads into the final week with renewed confidence, momentum, and the green jersey firmly on their shoulders.
From the winner...
"I have to say it makes the victory even sweeter [when almost the whole peloton is against you]. The way the Team worked the whole day, five guys in the first group, and two guys who went away on the second KOM, they were really strong and they got a lot of time and the boys, they were working so hard to make it possible for me to win. It makes it even nicer to win when everyone is looking at us and everyone knew our plan and we still succeed with the victory. Absolutely incredible.
"There were no choices. I had to follow everything. Keep the speed a bit high, 700/800m to go was perfect because then we could do a kind of lead out and then at the corner it was 220m to go so it was time to sprint.
"I really wanted to have a win here and today we succeeded."
Here's the Vuelta a España report from GC leader Jonas Vingegaard's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
The fifteenth stage of the Vuelta a España posed no problems for Team Visma | Lease a Bike. The black-and-yellow squad did not contest the battle for the stage win, which went to Mads Pedersen. Jonas Vingegaard heads into the second rest day with a lead of 48 seconds.
The peloton set off from Vegadeo for 167 kilometres of undulating roads towards the finish in Monforte de Lemos. The riders of Team Visma | Lease a Bike made no attempt to join the day’s breakaway.
In the demanding opening phase, a large breakaway group of more than forty riders formed. Their maximum advantage grew to around fifteen minutes. In the peloton, Dylan van Baarle and Wilco Kelderman set the pace. Ultimately, the peloton crossed the line thirteen minutes after stage winner Pedersen. On the eve of the second rest day, Vingegaard still leads by 48 seconds over João Almeida.
Jonas Vingegaard will start stage 16 on Tuesday in red. Sirotti photo
“So far, I’m satisfied with how the Vuelta is going,” said Vingegaard. “I’ve won two stages and I’ve been wearing the leader’s jersey for quite some time. Today we deliberately chose not to follow the breakaway, with an eye on what lies ahead in the final week. It might have looked easy, but it wasn’t. Once the breakaway had formed, our guys had to work hard to keep the gap within limits. Wilco and Dylan, in particular, spent many kilometres on the front of the peloton. The most important thing is that we came through this stage unscathed. I’m already looking forward to tomorrow’s rest day.”
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We posted the report from stage winner Olav Kooij's Team Visma | Lease a Bike with the results.
Here's the report from GC second-place Remco Evenpoel's Team Soudal Quick-Step:
Victorious on the penultimate day, Remco Evenepoel threw everything he had in the final 20 kilometers of the last stage, attacking and making a selection on the steep Caerphilly climb and putting in a strong acceleration on the flat, hoping to shake the others off his wheel. Despite his best effort, the others responded to these moves and kept things together for a reduced sprint, where Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) prevailed.
Remco Evenepoel wins stage five. Getty Sport photo
Evenepoel came home with this group, retaining his second place on the overall standings; the 25-year-old double Olympic Champion was joined in the top ten at the end of the day by Soudal Quick-Step teammate Ilan Van Wilder, who concluded seventh on the GC and rounded out our team’s strong week in Britain.
“I’m pretty happy with the outcome, because it’s more or less the maximum I could take out of this race. Maybe on stage four it could have turned different for me, but we should be happy as I made my return to competition after a long period. I gave absolutely everything here and I would have loved to leave with a GC win, but in the end, I am content with my results and with the team work we put in this week. It was a strong outing and an important morale-boost before the World Championships”, Remco explained after signing off Soudal Quick-Step’s 66th podium of the season.
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Here's the Tour of Britain report from Team Picnic-PostNL:
The final stage of the Tour of Britain took the riders on a 112 kilometre route from Newport to Cardiff, featuring the Caerphilly Mountain climb about 10 kilometres from the finish. The climb could play a role not only for the stage win but also for the overall GC standings, with Oscar Onley starting the day in 4th place overall.
With less than 30 kilometres to go, a 4-man breakaway held a 1’33” lead over the peloton. Team Picnic PostNL worked together well to look after Onley, keeping him well-positioned as the pace increased heading towards Cardiff. At 10 kilometres to go, the peloton hit the foot of Caerphilly Mountain, where the pace in the bunch ramped up. Onley launched an attack on the climb but was unable to get clear.
Over the top, a small group got together, while three of the breakaway riders remained ahead with a slim 10-second gap. On the descent, several attacks were launched from the group of favourites, but no rider could break clear. The breakaway still held a precarious advantage of roughly 10 seconds as the riders approached the final kilometre. Ultimately, the reduced bunch reeled in the breakaway just as the sprint opened. Kooij powered to victory in Cardiff, while Onley finished safely in the bunch, finishing 4th in the overall standing and concluding a strong week for Team Picnic PostNL.
Olav Kooij wins the final stage.
After the race, Onley said: “It has been a nice week, it’s always nice to race on home roads as you see a lot of familiar faces. There was no pressure on me this week, so it’s nice to get some racing in the legs. There wasn’t much on today’s parcours to do anything, so I had to search for opportunities. The climb was the hardest part, so I tried something.”
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Here's the post from Thomas' Team INEOS Grenadiers:
Geraint Thomas crossed his final finish line at home in Cardiff to complete a superb professional career as the Tour of Britain came to a close.
The Welshman received a thunderous ovation and was embraced by his teammates at the conclusion of stage six, which saw Sam Watson sprint to second place.
Thomas and his teammates had worked hard in difficult conditions on the final day to bring the race back together and shut down a dangerous breakaway on the run-in over Caerphilly Mountain.
Geraint Thomas at the 2016 Tour de Romandie. Sirotti photo
In the final sprint the move was overhauled in sight of the line, with Watson narrowly edged out by Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike). AJ August was also present in the group and led the team home on GC in 14th overall. Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ) held on to clinch overall victory.
For Thomas it was an emotional day which started inside the Welsh Velodrome which bears his name, before receiving a guard of honour prior to the start in Newport. With family, friends and fans lining the roadside, it was a fitting send-off for the much-loved rider.
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