Category: Cycling

• Movistar rider refuses to crack in brutal mountain test

• Would be first home winner since Contador ​12 ​years ago

Enric Mas all but secured overall victory in the Vuelta a España when he survived a brutal penultimate ⁠stage on the sun-baked slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The 31-year-old Movistar rider spent most of the 186km stage in a group ⁠alongside Primoz Roglic, Felix ⁠Gall and ​Richard Carapaz – the only men who could deny him the red jersey – and simply refused to crack.

Looking perfectly in control up the steep ⁠and winding final 9km climb to Collado del Alguacil, Mallorcan rider Mas comfortably protected the 1min 37 sec advantage he had held over the Slovenian Roglic after ⁠19 stages and even stretched his lead at the climax.

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Visma-Lease A Bike rider reflects on his stunning Grand Tour debut that has proved ‘the work had all been worth it’

When Matthew Brennan sat down with his team before the race to study this year’s Vuelta a España route, the young Briton had limited expectations for his Grand Tour debut. Fast forward a few weeks and the 21-year-old from Darlington is the youngest rider ever to win five stages in a single Grand Tour.

He is also the youngest to win back-to-back stages. His fifth win was the seventh for his Visma‑Lease A Bike team in this Vuelta, the highest number they have ever achieved at this level, surpassing the tallies of six set at the 2022 Tour de France and this year’s Giro d’Italia.

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• Young British rider squeezes out Meeus and Cort Nielsen

• Mas moves step closer to landing first Grand Tour victory

Matthew Brennan claimed a fifth Vuelta a España stage victory on Wednesday as the young British rider edged a bunch sprint in Seville to win the 17th stage. The 21-year-old Grand Tour debutant crossed the finish line ahead of Jordi Meeus and Magnus Cort Nielsen.

The general classification leader, Enric Mas, moved one step closer to claiming a first Grand Tour victory as he maintained his 2min 6sec lead on Felix Gall, with four-time Vuelta winner Primoz Roglic a further four seconds behind.

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• Briton powers to victory in sprint finish on stage 16

• Mas remains in red jersey as race enters final week

Matthew Brennan enhanced his status as the standout sprinter at the Vuelta a España by winning a fourth stage on his Grand Tour debut.

The 21-year-old British rider was delivered to the front of the bunch with 100 metres left by an ideal leadout from Wout van Aert, his star teammate at Visma-Lease a Bike who had already won two stages at this race.

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• Belgian beats Briton Lewis Askey into second

• Bradley Wiggins’ son Ben finishes in 10th

Tim Wellens, teammate to Tadej Pogacar at the UAE Emirates XRG team, took overall victory in the men’s Tour of Britain, after the Belgian rider had decisively snatched the overall race lead on the fourth stage on Saturday, through the hills of North Yorkshire.

Wellens had started the final stage in Earlston 21 seconds ahead of Lewis Askey but extended that advantage to 42sec by the finish. The British rider finished second overall after riding impressively through the earlier stages, while Ben Wiggins, the 21-year-old son of Sir Bradley Wiggins, placed 10th overall.

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• Mas retains red jersey; stage 15 to be shortened

• Tadej Pogacar to miss rest of season after surgery

Germany’s Marco Brenner fought off the Bahrain Victorious rider Santiago Buitrago to claim victory in stage 14 of the Vuelta a España – a first Grand Tour stage win both for the rider and his Tudor team. However, organisers later announced that 40C-plus temperatures on Sunday had caused them to shorten Sunday’s 189.7km stage from Palma del Río to Córdoba to a 110.2km stage.

In a climactic duel, Brenner tailed Buitrago ⁠into the last 500m and timed his kick superbly, gritting his teeth as he sped ahead during the ascent to Sierra de La Pandera, finishing one second ahead of the Colombian.

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• Mas keeps hold of red jersey with 1min 45sec lead

• Kooij claims stage win at Tour of Britain

Wout van Aert won his fourth career stage at the Vuelta a España amid scorching heat on Friday, while Enric Mas kept the red jersey.

On a hot and sunny day in southern Spain, Van Aert beat fellow breakaway rider Valentin Paret-Peintre to claim the hilly 192km jaunt from Almuñécar to Loja.

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• Slovenian wins stage 12 as Mas strengthens position

• Tim Merlier claims stage two in Tour of Britain

Spain’s Enric Mas extended his overall lead in the Vuelta a España with a late attack on his rivals as Slovenia’s Jakob Omrzel won stage 12 to Calar Alto on Thursday.

Movistar rider Mas burst out of a chasing group including red jersey contenders Primoz Roglic and Felix Gall with around ​13km of the mountainous 166.6km ride left and powered away. Roglic and Gall, who began the day second and third on general classification, could not respond as Mas finished 27 seconds clear of Roglic to strengthen his hold on the race.

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• 19-year-old remains hospitalized after Sunday crash

• Caudell receiving care for ‘multi-system trauma’

• Lotto-Intermarché yet to update on Milan Menten

American cyclist Ezra Caudell remains hospitalized with “multi-system trauma” after being seriously injured in a crash during Sunday’s Philadelphia Cycling Classic, his team said on Tuesday.

The 19-year-old Modern Adventure Pro Cycling rider was involved in a collision with Belgium’s Milan Menten of Lotto-Intermarché early in the men’s race. Caudell was knocked unconscious in the crash and both riders were taken to local hospitals for treatment, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

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• Stage 11 won by 21-year-old as dazzling debut continues

• Lewis Askey claims opening stage in Tour of Britain

Matthew Brennan triumphed again in the Vuelta a España on Wednesday, becoming the first cyclist to win three stages in his first Grand Tour since Tadej Pogacar seven years ago. The British rider secured his third victory on the 11th stage, a mostly flat route of 153.8km from Cartagena to Lorca.

“We took the initiative today again,” Brennan said. “The boys pulled as hard as they could even after a tough day in the legs yesterday. We still went full gas. Coming into the final, we really held our own place and knew that we were all strong enough to kind of get to where we want to be.”

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• Mas retains red jersey ahead of rival Roglic

• Winner sobbed after his shock success

Bastien Tronchon claimed victory in stage 10 of the Vuelta a España as the Frenchman edged a thrilling bunch sprint on Tuesday.

The Groupama rider was followed over the line by Magnus Cort Nielsen and Thibau Nys, who edged Wout van Aert to complete the day’s podium. The Spaniard Enric Mas retained the red jersey ahead of Primoz Roglic and Felix Gall in the general classification.

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• Minute’s applause to take place in Lincoln on Wednesday

• Spate of serious recent crashes have put safety on agenda

The death of the Welshman Fin Tarling continues to cast a long shadow over professional cycling and nowhere will that absence be felt more deeply than at the men’s Tour of Britain which begins on Wednesday.

Tarling’s former team NSN Cycling, which includes the Olympic medallist Ethan Vernon, also one of his closest friends, will be brought to the start line in Lincoln for the opening 187km stage, for what is expected to be a minute’s applause.

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• Norway in mourning after death of King Harald

• ‘It’s only a small thing in the bigger picture’

The Norwegian Andreas Leknessund launched a successful solo attack on ⁠the final climb to the summit finish of Aramón Valdelinares to win stage ⁠seven of the ⁠Vuelta ​a España, ahead of his Uno-X Mobility teammate and compatriot Tobias Johannessen on a day ⁠when their country mourned the death of King Harald.

Leknessund made his move from ⁠a five-rider breakaway 7.5km from the finish at ​the end of the ‌149.8km ride from ‌Vall d’Alba, and pulled away to win his first ‌Grand Tour stage on his Vuelta debut.

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• Visma-Lease a Bike dominate final stages to set up Briton

• Mads Pedersen dropped on category-three climb

The British rider and Grand Tour debutant Matthew Brennan of Visma-Lease a Bike sprinted to a second stage victory of the Vuelta a España in Roquetes.

Wout van Aert and Christophe Laporte expertly led out their 21-year-old teammate at the end of stage five, and the youngster confidently demonstrated his devastating speed again to conclude the 173.4km route from Falset.

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• Slovenian powers to victory by more than three minutes

• Leader breaks rivals on brutal climb at halfway point

Tadej Pogacar arrived in red, lit the fuse on the climbs and turned stage four of the Vuelta a España ⁠into a private exhibition on Tuesday, powering away with almost 50 kilometres remaining to win alone in Andorra la Vella.

The Slovenian, bidding to ⁠complete his Grand ⁠Tour collection by ​claiming the Vuelta for the first time, attacked on the road to the second climb and quickly reduced a high-altitude battle into ⁠a one-man procession.

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