Category: Cycling

• Olympic gold medallist also won world and European titles

• ‘I’m proud of where I’ve got to and what I’ve done’

The Olympic gold medallist Katy Marchant has announced her retirement from elite cycling. The 33-year-old took gold alongside Emma Finucane and Sophie Capewell in the women’s team sprint at the 2024 Paris Games, the same year she won world and European titles.

“I’ve achieved more than I could ever have dreamed of achieving,” Marchant said only a few months after stating a goal of racing at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. “It just feels really strange. It’s not been a difficult decision. Don’t get me wrong, there’s been moments where I’ve thought: ‘Could I just, should I just, what if I just?’ But I know what it takes to push on for another two years.

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• Arizona rider first US champion since Lance Armstrong

• Pre-race favourite Evenpoel fails to add second gold

Brandon McNulty, a UAE Emirates teammate of Tadej Pogacar, succeeded the Slovene as world champion with an unexpected solo win in the men’s UCI road race in Montreal.

In the biggest triumph of his career, the 28-year-old American took his country’s first win in the UCI’s blue riband event since Lance Armstrong’s lone victory in Oslo in 1993.

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• Tour de France Femmes champion powers to victory

• She beats Poland’s Kasia Niewiadoma in big finish

The Tour de France Femmes champion, Demi Vollering, won the longest-ever edition of the women’s UCI world road race championship in a brutal and compelling sprint finale in Montreal.

The 29-year-old’s success climaxed a remarkable season in which she has also won a second Tour de France title, the Giro women, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tour of Flanders.

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Britons Tom Pidcock and Oscar Onley are contenders but the Belgian is aiming for an unprecedented medal haul

In a world road championships marked by the absence of Tadej Pogacar, Tom Pidcock and Oscar Onley will lead British hopes in the men’s elite road race on Sunday. But for either to claim the rainbow jersey, they must beat a determined Remco Evenepoel, a man on a mission in Montreal.

Pogacar is recovering after a heavy crash in the Vuelta a España and Pidcock and Onley are among a large group of contenders, headed by Paul Seixas of France, the Belgian Evenepoel and Isaac del Toro of Mexico, all seeking to capitalise on the Slovenian’s absence. 

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• 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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