Primoz Roglic has won his 3rd Vuelta in a row in impressive style!
The Slovenian sealed the win with a superb victory in the final stage on a 33.8km time trial. The Olympic time trial champion beat second-placed Magnus Cort Nielsen by 14 seconds and became the third rider to win a third Vuelta.
Roglic claimed the overall title with a gap of 4 minutes and 42 seconds to closest rival, Enric Mas. Jack Haig was some way back in third with Adam Yates coming in fourth.
After winning the opening days time trial three weeks ago the Vuelta red jersey moved around a little but this race was always set up for Roglic.
A fascinating Vuelta with some brutal mountain stages producing some epic riding. EF Education Nippo competed brilliantly throughout the race and Magnus Cort Nielsen had a superb race and was awarded the Overall Combativity Award for the entire race.
Unfortunately, Valverde crashed out and this could be the last time we see him in a Grand Tour.
The Tour of Britain kicked off yesterday,
This race is now attracting the very best riders in the world and this year is no exception. Mathieu van der Poel won the 2019 event with a great ride and battle with Matteo Trentin. Unfortunately, van der Poel is not riding in this year's event and is currently struggling with back pain.
But, we do have Mark Cavendish, Wout van Aert, Julian Alaphilippe, Richie Porte, Alex Dowsett, Rohan Dennis, Andre Greipel, Nicholas Roche, Tony Martin. . . .to name a few!
With the race being cancelled last year in 2020 due to the Pandemic, the idea was to keep the 2021 edition on the route proposed for 2020. Starting in Cornwall for the first time and finishing in Aberdeenshire, also for the first time.
The organisers have put on a fantastic route with two stages in the Southwest and then moving into Wales for two stages. Stages in Cheshire and Warrington follow before moving further north with a Carlisle to Gateshead stage and then a Scottish Borders stage. The final stage eight in Aberdeenshire will be the first time the tour has visited the area.
The first day's stage was a 180km hilly route starting in Penzance Passing near to the Eden Project and finally finishing in Bodmin.
The weather was fair but there was some mist, fog and drizzle in areas, but mostly the riders stayed safe despite a crash with 6.4kms to go, but the major riders all escaped.
After getting over the small punchy climb the descent into Bodmin centre takes a turn and riders climb for 500 metres up Turf Street and St Nicholas Street, a section that begins with a 13% incline and averages a gradient of 5%.
Mark Cavendish put a superb effort in to get Alaphilippe to the top of the climb and his Deceuninck Quickstep colleagues and Alaphilippe pushed on with 600 metres to go. But this terrain is Wout van Aert’s favourite and he followed Alaphilippe and went straight past him to win the stage easily. Nils Eekhoff was second, with Gonzalo Serrano third and the Ineos rider Ethan Hayter was fourth.
With a field of top riders and a route that showcases some of the best scenery in the UK, we have some great racing to look forward to over the next week!
