Nairo Quintana not inclined to budge from race lead
In the end, the task of gaining over a minute on Nairo Quintana on a mountain stage proved as impossible as might realistically have been expected. If the Colombian has a weakness, it is not…
Chris Froome minces his rivals in the time trial
He minced everyone, in fact; minced them as if he had some sort of grinder hooked up to his oval chain ring and a hunger for mince that could not be sated. Only Movistar’s time…
Is Magnus Cort Nielsen really a sex symbol?
It took a while, but we finally got a fairly normal sprint stage. Danish rider Magnus Cort Nielsen – whose nickname is purportedly ‘Sex Symbol’ – took the win. If we’re to categorise this year’s…
Chris Froome looks on his last legs
Maybe it’s all that running he did earlier in the season – efforts which have reportedly earned him an invite to take part in a 10km run in Barcelona. The final climb of stage 17…
Jempy Drucker gets some attention
We’ve had a couple of long stage reports recently. This one doesn’t really warrant it. It was a messy sort of sprint finish as those looking to contest the win ran out of lead-out men…
Team Sky have an absolute bloody nightmare
The peloton is long. Containing getting on for 200 riders, it is a long way from the front to the back. It is even further from the back to the front, particularly when the damn…
Robert Gesink has a new modus operandi
Without wishing to sound too wilfully contradictory, Robert Gesink is an interesting rider for how boring he is. A man who has finished fourth and sixth in the Tour de France and who has three…
Valerio Conti was one of 12 riders who bothered to race
A peculiar day with the break being given not just a gap, but a chasm. They finished half an hour before the peloton – although none among them had been within half an hour of…
Jens Keukeleire exploits a rare non-summit finish
With Steven Kruijswijk having ridden into a bollard earlier in the race, I was confident in my spelling for the rest of this Vuelta. Then along comes Jens Keukeleire to win what you could probably…
Chris Froome outsprints Nairo Quintana
I love a one-on-one sprint between two climbers. They’re so ill-equipped. It’s like watching a number 11 batsman trying to make the crucial runs that will win a Test match; a taste of the amateur…
