Vuelta Skelter, by Tim Moore
A raucous tale of re-riding the 1941 Vuelta a España that has plenty of comedy… and a darker side.
A look at the promotion and relegation standings for the World Tour. It’s early for the three year system but still matters as we see teams recruiting to remedy things and there’s the pressing issue of automatic invitations for the major races next year.
The Vuelta’s got off to a rotten start with rain, darkness, punctures caused by people throwing tacks on the course, trouble with the timing systems leading to delayed results, crashes galore and one of those rider semi-strikes. A leading Spanish journalist quipped all that’s missing is a plague of locusts. Of course by Madrid all this can be forgotten and hopefully today’s summit finish stage to Andorra should sort things out.
A look at the contenders for the Vuelta a España. The 2023 edition has plenty of star names, but a short list of genuine contenders. It’ll be fascinating to see how Remco Evenepoel copes with the Jumbo-Visma armada and where others find their opportunities.
A look at a the budget for a World Tour team, this time it’s Groupama-FDJ. The French team publishes detailed accounts with info all the way down to how much Lapierre and its parent company pay for bike sponsorship.
Remco Evenepoel’s future at Soudal-Quickstep’s been a background story all summer. Will he move or stay? Because he himself isn’t shutting down the story it points to a move but put aside the guesswork for a moment because any move is complicated but it’s worth exploring some angles given big contract riders looking to move mid-term is probably going to become a feature given the rise of long term deals and the sums involved.
Federico Bahamontes has died aged 95. A true king of the mountains, he was the first Spaniard to win the Tour de France, a famous ice-cream eater and a self-styled relic of the good old days.
Mathieu van der Poel launches uphill and passes Alberto Bettiol. Wout van Aert, Mads Pedersen and Tadej Pogačar chase but before the top of the climb Van Aert can’t close the gap and sits down as Van der Poel powers away. This was the moment the race was won.
The men’s world championship road race is this Sunday and features a scenic spin from Edinburgh to Glasgow and then 10 laps of a circuit that has to be seen to be believed.
The Glasgow super world championships start today with all disciplines united together, all at the same time and with this a reunited UCI shorts piece. Ahead of the racing the big news is that the UCI is adding a second tier of teams for women’s cycling…
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