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Pidders to drop the other GC riders and take the lead?
You wouldn't have bet on it at the start of this week. I think just being thereabouts will be an achievement for him though. I think a top 5 finish overall is his to **** up. Will certainly be watching with interest.
@nbt yes were wandered up to the Tour of Britain and it was great. I started a thread with a few photo here
It kept us entrained for hours. Meeting up with relatives and mates. Looking at buses. Spotting Dani and Ned.
The podium was a bit gutting. Confirming that that if the Women’s tour hadn’t been cancelled 2 yrs ago Mrs Ampthill, as Mayor, would have got to present a trophy on the podium
The Tour of Britain is over. It was a good race, with a thrilling finish - I think Onley can be justifiably disappointed with fourth place, he was very close to third. I wonder in any blame could be apportioned to the farmer who "accidentally" herded cows over the road, halting the peloton? Picnic PostNL were on the front at that point, chasing the break: had they caught the break then bonus seconds would have come into play, possibly allowing Onley to gain places on the standings. Then again, that incident happened with over 50k to go, a long time before the intermediate and final sprints.
Back to matters in hand, it's week 3 at the Vuelta and racing resumes today with a 167.9km "hilly" stage. While Jonas is in the race lead and doesn't look like he'll struggle to keep it, UAE have dominated the race over all - they have won 5 stages and lead the team standings by over 34 minutes. Pidcock is battling but my money says he won't finish on the podium, he'll be 5th at best as I expect both Jai Hindley and Felix Gall to take time out of him in the coming days. How those two will fare against Almeida given the bigger gap between 2 and 3 is more difficult, especially as Almeida will be giving his all to catch Jonas. Ultimately I don't think he'll succeed there unless Jonas has a mishap, but the question is whether he'll blow up and allow those chasing to pass him in the rankings
Some notable withdrawals that I'd missed: I remember Guillaume Martin Guyonnet and Valentin Paret Peintre withdrawing in week 1 but I'd missed that Esteban Chaves, Ben o'Connor and Sergui Higuita all withdrew ( or failed to start) last week.
Yes Hindley is rising, I think Almeida should be worried. Or it could be just now that I'm watching it on SBS they won't shut up about him.
The TT could be key
Pidcock looked like he was really digging deep Fri/Sat. Top 5 is a good result.
But it's Vingos to lose really
I mean Almeida might have more chance if UAE were focused on him too
Almeida looks strong to me. Agree SBS tend to talk up the AU/NZ riders. Hindley and Gall both look better than Pidcock at the moment. I think Pidcocks aim at the start was top 10, so top 5 would be exceeding expections.
Still Vingos race to lose - he just needs a decent TT and to shadow Almeida in the mountains.
Of all the stages this week, thisa one loks the most Pidcock-friendly so I wonder if he'll try something today. I'd hazard it's worth the risk to put some time into Hindley and Gall but perhaps it's just me hoping for some exciting racing.
I also think theres a possibility that a disciplined UAE squad could dismantle visma and give Almaeda a chance at taking red this week. Jonas looks ok at the moment but I'd have expected his advantage to be measured on a calendar not a clock by this point. Perhaps trying to shithouse Pogačar out of yellow at the tour hast taken a bit of a toll.
I mean Almeida might have more chance if UAE were focused on him too
Yeah I might be a bit peeved if I were him and I missed the GC because my teammates were busy grabbing stages !
I reckon pidcock regretted that effort to drop Vingo a billion times over going up the Angliru. Maybe that will shape his strategy this week? Obviously we hope not
Shame about the shortened route again yesterday, I bet there were a few riders planning to make an effort on that last climb only to find it wasn't there any more. Great to see Egan win again, though I'd have been equally happy to see Landa get the stage
Anothe mountain stage today, a cat 3 bump half way along then a cat 1 finish. Tomorrow is the ITT, a 27km pan flat ride (well, maybe 50m climbing) but with what looks like some nadgery corners based on the route map - quite a few right angles and at least one 180 hairpin. How that translates into the riding on the ground is another thing, it maybe that there will be minimal braking and re-accelerating, but then again it might be constant on and off for the first half of the ride (there are come longer straights in the second half).
Combine that with the flat (likely sprinters) stage on Friday, I think we'll see fireworks on the finish today, regardless of whether they let break go - but I don't think they will. I think it's a GC day.
I think we'll see fireworks on the finish today
Possibly from the protesters.
I think after the altered finish yesterday and publicity from the disruption I can see further impacts from protests. It's not going to be hard to block a mountain climb, or interfere with IPT riders.
It's not going to be hard to block a mountain climb, or interfere with IPT riders
Sadly I think this is a very valid point 🙁
I agree with the protestors, I just think it's a shame that they're disrupting the exciting bits.
Reckon Pidcock and team must feel a bit aggrieved about yesterday's stage being cut short, but still awarding a stage winner. Was it S9 where he and Vingegaard would have been fighting for the stage win, but with the shortened finish, no winner was given? Obviously not guaranteed to beat Vingegaard but he had a good chance, and would have been a major victory for Q36.5. Obviously it's not ideal having to shorten stages at the last moment, but the organiser should IMO show some consistency.
Probably depends on what can be communicated to the riders via the team FS on the road. I imagine they didn’t have enough forewarning. Maybe. Still hard on Tom though.
First time it happened they had to react quickly. Yesterday they may have had a plan A, plan B and plan C already prepared.
Tom is an unknown quantity when it comes to ITT. Most of the other GC contenders in the top 10 are really quite good. Hopefully Tom can keep his podium place. Agree with others that Tom's 1 or 2 chances at possible stage wins have been scuppered.
Sometimes beautiful things happen at bike races
https://escapecollective.com/my-god-its-magnificent/?gift-token=ZP7BoJwd
Yes that was a classic. Obviously support for pidCOCK. Completely ignored by the commentary team lol.
Have to say that the last climb yesterday looked stunning and had me thinking of a northern Spain road holiday.
Bora should have tried the one/two tactic earlier IMO. Easy to say though, everyone was on the limit.
Vuelta organisers announced later on Wednesday the individual time trial in Valladolid on Thursday's 18th stage will be reduced from 27.2km to a 12.2km route, with the same start and finish as originally planned, to ensure "greater protection" for the stage.
Not seen the new layou t but my guess is that they will be cutting a lot from the first half so a lot of the more technical corners will go, favouring the powerful riders. Ganna for the win, then
…was the right answer. But only by one second. Well done Tom. Produced the TT of his life today and it could have all gone so wrong. Can’t see past Jonas for the overall win though with only two racing stages to go.
Can’t see past Jonas for the overall win though with only two racing stages to go.
Looking that way unless UAE work as a team and rip Visma to bits while looking after Almeida
Can’t see past Jonas for the overall win though with only two racing stages to go.
Looking that way unless UAE work as a team and rip Visma to bits while looking after Almeida
It could be the ultimate long-game fake out. Act totally disjointed for 18 stages then ride as a team on the final mountain stage.
Yesterday, Friday was a bit quiet on GC level, sprint was better, intermediate 4 sec bonus well claimed by Vineg' 😉
Hopefully today big mountain stage will run well and have some battles, but last chance often means everyone is too tired to fight or risk a position...can UAE mount a fight at this stage? Wish it was live on TV but will have to wait for highlights.
It is if you're in Australia. Or can appear to be.
So Vingegaard wins the final proper race day. I think it’s good that he was able to show he can beat his rivals in a place it counts and not just hang on to seconds accumulated elsewhere. Good ride by Almeida - who knows what might have been with better team support, and a longer time trial.
Almeida was never going to have a minute gain, even with a 50 km TT and a proper team! Well done Jonas. And especially well done to Tom. Podium well deserved and he was battling today at the end of his climb. You only had to look at his cadence compared with Kuss. Delighted for him and showing why he had to leave Ineos.
Happy for Vingegaard, he deserved that and to do it after turning himself inside out at the Tour is impressive.
Great stuff from Pidcock too. I reckon everyone will remember that he probably should have been the victor on that stage that was finished 3km short, much as it may be a sore point that he wasn't able to officially win it, it'll be tacitly understood that he was the likely winner. Next step is a team that can properly support him in Grand Tours.
Post stage comment from Thomas here:
(Domestique cycling is a pretty new site and well worth visiting)
Another new cycling website - and doesn't bother with MTB racing.......Not for me. MTB badly needs a proper English language website with news, reports, rumours, etc - having to go to ESMTB, or Brujulabike is a poor show.
Looks like the Vuelta is over then.
Probably the safest solution, with protestors getting the airtime required.
As Lenny sang, it ain't over till it's over. Well, it's over. Not even a podium ceremony
It must be particularly galling to have secured a podium place and not be able to stand on a podium.
protestors getting the airtime required.
There’s that, and there’s also preventing IPT from doing “business as usual” during a crime against humanity.
Absolutely disgraceful. I have no problem with peaceful protest but these ridershave the right to go about their business. The fans who travelled to watch expect to see their event. The protesters have done themselves no favours with this appalling behaviour. It’s not going to change anything
Very disappointing. I have no issues with protests either and the TV time may have helped their cause. But this has not.
On a positive note. If you get the chance, watch the end of the GP Montreal. Classy finish.
I think the protests have done a decent job of highlighting the discontent at Israel’s* participation in the race. The whole point of the protest was to be disruptive and fight against the normalisation of what is happening in Palestine. The fact that the Spanish PM has come out in support for the protesters shows that this kind of thing is what has emboldened Spain to adopt a very public pro Palestinian position.
The sport of bike racing is one of my favourite things in the world but I can’t begrudge losing a tiny bit (and it was a tiny bit - there was still plenty of racing) of it to such an important cause.
* ok technically not a state sponsored team, but nevertheless a team intended to sportswash the state.
Just saw this, good on the protesters, 👍
I think the protests have done a decent job of highlighting the discontent at Israel’s* participation in the race
Presumably they are happy that Bahrain and uae governments sponsor teams. They are nice peace loving dictators
I don’t think this behaviour helps their cause one bit. What have the riders done to deserve this or the fans. Would you be as happy if the disruption was caused by a group you disagreed with. I agree with their cause but this doesn’t help
Congratulations to Cvilla, coming in at the top of the STW league.
Looks like the unofficial podium was enjoyed by all.
https://twitter.com/vismaleaseabike/status/1967333822917423362
https://twitter.com/vismaleaseabike/status/1967319068756816196
Presumably they are happy that Bahrain and uae governments sponsor teams. They are nice peace loving dictators
I was wondering how long it was going to take for someone to come out with this particular bit of whataboutery. Glad you didn't disappoint me.
While Middle Eastern countries that sportwash through cycling is absolutely something that should be stopped, I'm not sure if Bahrain and UAE can really hold a candle to Israel at the moment. What is happening is genocide.
If, once IPT is gone from cycling, the protesters want to turn their attention to Bahrain Victorious, UAE Team Emirates, Jayco AlUla, or any other team whose money shouldn't be in the sport then I'm all for that.
However, only one team is promoting a country that is currently carrying out ethnic cleansing.
Presumably they are happy that Bahrain and uae governments sponsor teams. They are nice peace loving dictators
I was wondering how long it was going to take for someone to come out with this particular bit of whataboutery. Glad you didn't disappoint me.
While Middle Eastern countries that sportwash through cycling is absolutely something that should be stopped, I'm not sure if Bahrain and UAE can really hold a candle to Israel at the moment. What is happening is genocide.
If, once IPT is gone from cycling, the protesters want to turn their attention to Bahrain Victorious, UAE Team Emirates, Jayco AlUla, or any other team whose money shouldn't be in the sport then I'm all for that.
However, only one team is promoting a country that is currently carrying out ethnic cleansing.
The world knows the killings are wrong... but disrupting the sporting event isn't going to stop the killers doing what they're doing.
"oh man, we should stop killing all the Palestinians, why didn't we see that earlier... "
Come on... whilst i agree with the sentiment, the actual logic is massively flawed.
I don’t think this behaviour helps their cause one bit.
They showed that there is massive support for Palestine in Spain, which arguably empowers the government to adopt a hard line on Israel - embargoes etc. Whether that has an impact on the psychopaths in Israel is another matter.
They showed that there is massive support for Palestine in Spain, which arguably empowers the government to adopt a hard line on Israel - embargoes etc. Whether that has an impact on the psychopaths in Israel is another matter
Spain had already put in place further sanctions.
https://www.politico.eu/article/spain-pm-sanchez-permanent-weapons-embargo-israel/
See also
"82% of those polled thought Israel was committing genocide and 70% believed the EU should impose sanctions on Israel".
As @dogbone posted earlier the memories of Franco are still fresh in Spanish minds.
Also:
https://twitter.com/leylahamed/status/1965062697630007574
See also
Spanish PM criticised by …. opposition politicians. That’s a shock !!!
"82% of those polled thought Israel was committing genocide and 70% believed the EU should impose sanctions on Israel".
As @dogbone posted earlier the memories of Franco are still fresh in Spanish minds.
I would be part of that majority. That doesnt mean I agree with interfering with sports events
The world knows the killings are wrong... but disrupting the sporting event isn't going to stop the killers doing what they're doing.
They were protesting the presence of Israel Premier Tech, as far as I'm aware the only sports team that has has a huge Israeli target on their backs. If the organisers had pulled that team out then the event could have gone ahead with no disruption. The team themselves could have even seen the damage they were causing and pulled out.
If any other sport's season was disrupted this way because of one mid-ranking team would they allow that team to continue to participate? We've already seen this - Russian sports people forced out of their chosen sports because of their government's actions.
Article on road.cc about it:
https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-live-blog-15-september-2025-315909
So you're basically binning the whole of road-cycling.
If road-cycling can't exist without relying on oppressive and sometimes genocidal regimes injecting money in the name of sportwashing then yes, it's time to have a conversation about whether road-cycling should continue in its current form.
A lot of other sports should also be having that conversation.
So you're basically binning the whole of road-cycling.
If road-cycling can't exist without relying on oppressive and sometimes genocidal regimes injecting money in the name of sportwashing then yes, it's time to have a conversation about whether road-cycling should continue in its current form.
A lot of other sports should also be having that conversation.
That's a lovely idealistic world fella. Same as British Cycling and Shell etc... We can likely find something bad about just about every cycling team, every football team, every, well, every-everyone if we look deeply enough.
Simple fact is, most rich companies are there before they've screwed someone over 🙂
I won't argue that Genocide isn't screwing someone over. But if you look into the IPT setup, it has so little to do with Israel and what it started out with 10 years ago, the main funding is now Canadian and whist they have an Israeli presence in their junior squad, well, that's baout it.
That's a lovely idealistic world fella.
People sticking their heads in the sand and saying, 'Well, I don't agree but there's nothing I can do about it so let's just try to enjoy ourselves and not make a fuss' is how these things are allowed to continue escalating.
If you just want to watch racing and not think too hard about the world then there's nothing illegal about that. In fact, it's the way most governments would prefer us all to act.
So gold star for you, I guess.
@Bunnyhop appreciate your comment, think I may frame this one;)
also Overall Rank: 75 of 16682, I'll take it!! Always a little bit of fun is fantasy league.
Hope I get to see some TV cycling next year, else I'll have to get myself over to see a Grand Tour in real life 🙂
The team themselves could have even seen the damage they were causing and pulled out.
The team aren't sponsored by Israel.
They're part-sponsored by a Canadian-Israeli billionaire who has declared his pro-Israel stance. It's a technicality, of course, but it's quite an important one!
Much as you can say that the riders should have some sort of moral compass; unfortunately if you're given a choice between racing and being paid or having no contract, you're going to choose the first option.
Cycling is less resilient to this than a lot of sports since there's very little other money, everyone is scrapping around for funds, it needs billionaires and global conglomerates to fund it and basically if you have that much money, you're probably a **** anyway.
Edit: in fact, much of what @weeksy says ^^
Much as you can say that the riders should have some sort of moral compass; unfortunately if you're given a choice between racing and being paid or having no contract, you're going to choose the first option.
So a bit like concentration camp guards then, excusable?
I'll say it again - Russian riders were forced out when their country invaded Ukraine.
By allowing a team to ride while branded as Israel we collectively condone what the people they represent are doing.
Thread was pretty quiet during the race but now it's on politics it's never been so active...
There a no winners in this one. I'm sure most of the riders (based on public statements) and fans are pro-Palestine. But both the riders and fans missed out on the final, celebratory day.
In an ideal world I've have liked to have seen the final stage happen alongside the protests, but there's far more interest, discussion and publicity because of the cancellation.
Thread was pretty quiet during the race but now it's on politics it's never been so active...
Possibly because it was the worst race for years.
They're part-sponsored by a Canadian-Israeli billionaire who has declared his pro-Israel stance. It's a technicality, of course, but it's quite an important one!
And endorsed by Netanyahu.
Thread was pretty quiet during the race but now it's on politics it's never been so active...
Possibly because it was the worst race for years.
That is very true.
So how do the teams, organisers and riders respond to this?
If IPT rebranded to not be overtly pro Israel would that be enough? Or will they be forever tainted? What about the riders especially the lower level ones who took the job they were offered probably without much foresight of this.
If the other top teams jointly refused to race against them, do IPT get kicked out or do the race organisers/UCI go further and further down the ranking list until they find 9 teams that will - and in doing so increases the relative ability of the IPT riders.
And the riders - would a top rider refuse to race against them either on moral principle or legitimate selfish fear for their safety in a protest affected race?
If IPT rebranded to not be overtly pro Israel would that be enough?
I'm going to say, probably, yes.
Over here (Basque Country) there is anti Zionist graffiti everywhere. Seemingly every village has a Palestine mural, flags everywhere. You'd have to be nuts to ride through in a jersey with Israel in massive letters on the back and perhaps IPT should take some of the blame. We're not talking about cycling nerds who would know that a team called Premier Tech were Israeli funded, in the same way not everyone would know that Astana were connected to the dirty Liberty Seguros/ONCE.
The protests kicked off properly in Bilbao - remember that the Vuelta wouldn't come through the Basque Country for many years due to risk of disruption. I'm not going to say I saw it coming, but really they were running a risk.
Realistically they have to rebrand. The team is based in Girona where there's already quite a bit of anti-cyclist feeling, so training around there would be like having a target on your jersey - I'm surprised the service course hasn't been burnt down!
That's a lovely idealistic world fella.
People sticking their heads in the sand and saying, 'Well, I don't agree but there's nothing I can do about it so let's just try to enjoy ourselves and not make a fuss' is how these things are allowed to continue escalating.
If you just want to watch racing and not think too hard about the world then there's nothing illegal about that. In fact, it's the way most governments would prefer us all to act.
So gold star for you, I guess.
There would be no professional sport left if we went down that route. Who becomes the arbiter of how bad a sponsor can be before they are deemed unpalatable and banned F from sponsorship? Sure there would be some way ones to ban but how far do you go? Do we ban dji from getting involved? Those chinese companies must have links to the state and its atrocities. Let’s not even go towards ebike racing and its environmental damage making thee batteries. Is that acceptable harm or harmful enough to be banned
So a bit like concentration camp guards then, excusable?
Does everything you disagree with become comparable with the evil of concentration camps. Is there no other comparison
Thread was pretty quiet during the race but now it's on politics it's never been so active.
I thing many are more interested in politics than bikes
If the other top teams jointly refused to race against them
Given some of the title sponsors of top teams being Middle Eastern dictators I’m not sure that will work. Would they be banned as well
There would be no professional sport left if we went down that route. Who becomes the arbiter of how bad a sponsor can be before they are deemed unpalatable and banned F from sponsorship? Sure there would be some way ones to ban but how far do you go? Do we ban dji from getting involved? Those chinese companies must have links to the state and its atrocities. Let’s not even go towards ebike racing and its environmental damage making thee batteries. Is that acceptable harm or harmful enough to be banned
I'd say a good indication would be if you can't run your event because of the protests maybe it's time to have a think if it's worth having them around.
Yes, that might lead to the end of professional sport but if no events can go ahead without the backing of sponsors who are simply beyond the pale then professional sport was never meant to be.
I thing many are more interested in politics than bikes
Says the guy who just posted 4 replies in a row with nothing to do with the actual racing 😂
Brian Cookson comes up with a surprisingly simple solution:
https://road.cc/content/news/cookson-calls-ban-nations-cycling-team-names-315931
Seems to me like it would partially solve a lot of the problems, not just with IPT but with other countries attempting to use cycling for sportwashing.
If countries want their flag to be associated with cycling they should really have to produce some cyclists, rather than just buying teams to plaster their flag on.
However, the suggestion came from Cookson (not to mention the fact that money talks) so I would give this a 0.01% chance of being implemented.
Thread was pretty quiet during the race but now it's on politics it's never been so active...
Possibly because it was the worst race for years.
Was it? I thought Vuelta and the Giro both better than the tour by some margin this year with the tour obviously going to Pog as a foregone conclusion. Both the others were in question as to the winner and Podium places right up to close of final Mountain stage
Up in our part of Spain, opinion on the current middle east conflict is divided.
The current attacks, which are the result of Oct 7th hostages/murder etc, which was the result of Israel refusing to stop stealing land, which was the result of "something written 2000 yrs ago in a book" etc etc
If countries want their flag to be associated with cycling they should really have to produce some cyclists, rather than just buying teams to plaster their flag on.
Originally, it was. Started life as the Israel Cycling Academy as a pathway for young Israeli riders into the sport. To help with that, the Giro d'Italia even started in Jerusalem in 2018, also ICA's first participation in a Grand Tour. ICA developed youth cycling programmes across Israel.
Then it became Israel Start-Up Nation and employed a wider range of riders. Dan Martin rode for them for a year or two.
Then in about 2021/22 it became Israel-PremierTech by which time there were only 3 or 4 Israeli riders on the team.
But the original intentions were very much as you say, provide a pathway for riders from a historically very under-represented nation to have the opportunity to compete at WorldTour level.
I seem to remember that Palestinians were prevented from watching large parts of the TDF when it passed through “their areas”?
I don’t think that there’s any evidence that the Israeli team was set up for honourable reasons. I think the success of SKY, followed by Saudi and Bahrain teams and how well it improved their image was noted and had more of an impetus.
Not some altruistic motive to get more people on bikes in the middle east.
Thread was pretty quiet during the race but now it's on politics it's never been so active...
Possibly because it was the worst race for years.
Was it? I thought Vuelta and the Giro both better than the tour by some margin this year with the tour obviously going to Pog as a foregone conclusion. Both the others were in question as to the winner and Podium places right up to close of final Mountain stage
GT Cycling is horrific compared to 15 years ago, it's just 1-3 teams plodding (in a relative context of course) up the hill until everyone gets dropped then 1-3 riders battling it out. Gone are lots of break aways, gone are the solo attacks from 30km out, gone are the KOM jersey winners (obviously apart from this one), you know who's going to win each and every tour, if it's not them, it's the bloke who would have finished P2 instead. But the racing is pretty stale due to team tactics.
Without being too harsh on Q36.5, Tom Pidcock basically rode a majority of this tour as part of the UAE/Visma teams lol, he just sat on the wheel of whichever one suited his pace that day. But he had very little support for what was an epic P3.
Bazarrely i still watch pretty much every stage from start to finish of them all, but i MUCH prefer Belgian/Spring classics and the 1 dayers, not to mention CX and XC racing which are WAAAAAAAY more exciting.
Was it? I thought Vuelta and the Giro both better than the tour by some margin this year with the tour obviously going to Pog as a foregone conclusion. Both the others were in question as to the winner and Podium places right up to close of final Mountain stage
I think that 'better than the Tour', with SuperPog bound to win that race (and his superboosted UAE team bound to dominate) is a low bar. I agree with weeksy on this - the spring races were far better than the GTs this year, imo. Almost any race that UAE or Visma took an interest in became boring. And any sport where the winner has told everyone else his tactics and where he will apply those tactics needs a good hard look at what's going on.
“GT Cycling is horrific compared to 15 years ago”
Maybe a lot of those legendary solo efforts were the result of drug use? Has a “cleaner” sport made it a more boring sport?
Has a “cleaner” sport made it a more boring sport?
That's a far more positive view of current pro-cycling than mine. 🤣
I'm unsure why anybody thinks it's cleaner sport while Pogi and Gianetti are so dominant.