Category: Vuelta a Espana
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Jonas van Genechten brings his own (very short) script
There’s a case for saying that the so-called sprint stages are the most interesting in the Vuelta. The relative dearth of actual sprinters and the fact that no stage is particularly flat lends a delightful air of uncertainty to proceedings. Stage seven was not dissimilar to stage six. This time it was Astana rather than…
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Simon Yates pushes a big gear
Little happened on stage six’s one categorised climb. The longer uncategorised climb that followed, however, saw Orica-BikeExchange push the pace. Most of the riders who pass for sprinters in this race were dropped and from then on, things were a lot more interesting. As it turned out, it was an Orica-BikeExchange rider who profited. Simon…
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A couple of “facts” about Gianni Meersman
I did suggest that Gianni Meersman might clean up at this Vuelta. Two stages isn’t all that clean, but if he can avoid crashes, he seems to be the standout sprinter for the few occasions when we get such a finish. I feel I should try and provide a bit more information about him beyond…
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Lilian Calmejane starts a new story
In a narrative sense, it helps if stage winners are already known, but of course new riders are appearing all the time otherwise we’d be watching a load of pensioners in these races. Stage four was taken by Lilian Calmejane and I make no apologies for not knowing him, because no-one else knew the 23-year-old…
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Alexandre Geniez makes the most of a head start
I always enjoy seeing the riders tackle short, steep climbs. There’s an intensity to proceedings, not just in terms of effort, but in terms of drama. You seem to get as many attacks and implosions in five minutes as you do on the longer mountain passes. On stage two, Alexandre Geniez emerged victorious. He had…
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Gianni Meersman – I’ve heard of him
Watching the highlights of stage two, they did the usual run-through of the sprint contenders in the closing kilometres, setting the scene for the sprint to come. There were a lot of names I barely recognised and then there was Gianni Meersman. ‘Yes, Meersman,’ I thought. ‘I’ve heard of him. He’ll win.’ And he did.…
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The Vuelta introduces this year’s riders
Apologies that my Olympic track cycling round-up never really happened. I don’t feel too bad about neglecting my duties though. I figure you probably heard the results from some little-known media outlet like the British Broadcasting Corporation or somesuch. Great Britain won most events with that success largely built around the Laura Trott-Jason Kenny household.…
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The eight best moments of the 2015 cycling season
Loads of entertaining cycling took place in 2015. Here’s some of the stuff that I can actually remember. Having a chat with Jens Voigt Well it was a highlight for me. Ian Stannard disrespects the numbers It was three v one at the end of the Omloop. Etixx-Quick Step’s three were soundly beaten. I still…
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Winners of the classics and Grand Tours in 2015
The framework for this site is this list of the bike races which actually matter. The list is my own and an attempt to impose some sort of structure on a sprawling, hard-to-understand calendar. It omits many major stage races, but includes all the Grand Tours, all the Monuments and a select few high profile…
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John Degenkolb’s three-week wait comes to an end
After doing his best Peter Sagan impression for much of this Vuelta, John Degenkolb finally got his stage win on the last day of the race. Near misses, tiredness and a great deal of ultimately fruitless assistance for team-mate Tom Dumoulin and he finally got some reward. At times, Degenkolb has been doing work in…