The first summit finish of the 2024 Vuelta a Espana saw a horrifically brutal final climb on stage 4. Although Mikel Landa was distanced initially by the attacks of his rivals, the Basque managed his efforts well to negate any potential disaster.I didnt know what to expect this morning because I...

The brutal heat has marked the first few days of the Vuelta a Espaa and this will continue into stage 5. We preview a day where it is expected that the sprinters will fight for the win once again, and naturally we look towards Wout van Aert and Kaden Groves.A day to resettle and reorganize. From F...

CyclistIs winning the Tour de lAvenir actually indicative of future success?After a years hiatus the Tour de lAvenir is back, restoring to the calendar an event famed for unearthing the next generation of road cycling superstars. Its most recent winner was Mexicos Isaac del Toro in 2023, who won Stage 6 on the Col de la Loze and held off stiff competition to claim the yellow jersey overall. Following his success, Del Toros signature was highly sought after by the bigger WorldTour teams, and he would ultimately put pen to paper with UAE Team Emirates. In his debut pro season last year, he drew fans attention on just his second day of racing with an impressive stage win at the Tour Down Under and now hes a key part of UAEs Vuelta a Espaa team.But just how indicative is Tour de lAvenir success of future results? Will this weeks winner truly be the next big thing? Lets take a closer look Related Posts Tour de France Femmes reflections: Winners, losers and future stars If I set myself a target, Id regret it if I only gave 80%: Interview with Shirin van Anrooij No slowing down: Greg LeMond profile Vuelta a Espaa 2024: Route, start list, how to watch and all you need to know What is the Tour de lAvenir?Tour de l'AvenirLiterally translating to the Tour of the Future, the race is essentially a mini Tour de France for the next generation. It started off in 1961 as a race for riders from the Soviet Union and other Communist countries, who had no pros eligible for the Tour de France.Since then it has changed dramatically in demographic, if not in format. Typically held in August (this years edition started on 18th August), the race is typically held over eight to ten stages and visits many of the same places seen in the Tour de France. Del Toros triumph in what is pretty much the junior version of the Tour happened at the same heights as Tadej Pogaars yellow jersey campaign collapsed just a month prior.Riders compete for their national team, so it often shows which countries are set to take over cyclings biggest stage in the coming seasons.In its early years the race was restricted to amateurs but in 1981 it opened to professionals, before transitioning to a race specifically for younger riders. From 1992 it was open to all riders under 25, and from 2007 just those aged 18-22.With its demographic so restricted and the parcours so easily comparable to the Tour de France, it raised its profile as a prestigious race for cyclists starting out in the pro peloton. And equally for expectant viewers and media, as a hunting ground for rising stars of the future.Recent race winnersLuis Angel Gomez/SprintCyclingAgency via ASOEspecially in recent years the Tour de lAvenir podium places have been a star-studded roll call of big names. Belgian up-and-comer Cian Uijtdebroeks claimed the 2022 title, and went on to impress throughout the 2023 season almost beating his own team leader Alexander Vlasov in the Vuelta overall standings last year (and causing much drama in the process).Norwegian talent Tobias Halland Johanssen won the 2021 edition, which saw future Tour de France top five finisher Carlos Rodrguez salvage second both overall and on the final stage, after team leader (future Vuelta podium finisher) Juan Ayuso crashed out. Another potential Grand Tour contender, young Frenchman Lenny Martinez, finished in the top ten in 2022.Going a bit further back in time, Miguel ngel Lopez took overall victory a decade ago. (That edition also saw Aussie sprinter Caleb Ewan and Belgian climber Dylan Teuns win stages.)Lopezs win culminated with Pierre Latour, Emanuel Buchmann, and 2020 Giro dItalia winner Tao Geoghegan Hart all in the top ten with the Brit enjoying the best career since then.Three days into the 2024 edition, the race is being led by Denmarks Henrik Pedersen, with four stages remaining.Different routes to successSoudal-QuickStepSeveral riders whove enjoyed Tour de lAvenir success are now cutting their teeth as domestiques in the peloton, like Ilan van Wilder for Soudal-QuickStep, who finished on the bottom step of the podium in 2019.But he demonstrated his potential for much more in 2023, announcing himself on the world stage with his first WorldTour victory at Tre Valli Varesine. He beat none other than a cast of Primo Rogli, Pogaar, Rodrguez, Vlasov, Richard Carapaz, and Ben OConnor definitely worth the wait for pro success, and a reminder that for many riders it doesnt come instantly.For others its pretty much instantaneous. The two most successful winners of the Tour de lAvenir in recent years have been Pogaar winner in 2018 and Egan Bernal (2017), who have six Grand Tours between them, mostly won before the age of 25.Del Toros meteoric rise to WorldTour success has seen several comparisons made to the Slovenian. Both riders made their pro stage race debuts at the Tour Down Under, both aged 20, both having won the Tour de lAvenir the year prior. Pogaar came 13th overall at the Australian season opener but won the Volta ao Algarve the following month and the rest is history.Del Toro even has a similar look to Pogaar, who has become easy to spot in the peloton for the spiky tufts of hair poking out through his helmet, and seems to have his new teammates same love for racing.Historic winnersL'quipeBeyond Bernal and Pogaar, we have to go further back in time to see a more concrete picture of the correlation between lAvenir success and future results.The important question is, does winning the Tour de lAvenir mean youll win the Tour de France?Statistically, no. But the odds arent bad.Over 59 editions of the race, seven riders have gone on to win the Tour. Between them, Felice Gimondi (Tour de lAvenir winner in 1964), Joop Zoetemelk (1969), Greg LeMond (1982), Miguel Induran (1986), Laurent Fignon (1988), Egan Bernal (2017), and Pogaar (2018) have 16 Tour de France victories and another ten podium places.Beyond just the Tour, lAvenir winners (largely all these same riders) have gone on to win a rather impressive 28 Grand Tours in total. Although in the minority of lAvenir champions, these riders have progressed to long-term success and Hall of Fame status. Induran, as an example, won seven Grand Tours altogether and is one of four riders to win the Tour de France five times.Nairo Quintana (winner in 2010) has missed out on the yellow jersey but won the 2014 Giro dItalia and 2016 Vuelta a Espaa. Denis Menchov (winner in 2001) also won the Giro and Vuelta though had his best Tour results struck off for unsurprising reasons.Other winners in recent years have enjoyed excellent careers but never quite made it to the top echelons of modern cycling, so its by no means a guarantee of cycling greatness.Bauke Mollema, who won in 2007, is still going strong and claimed the biggest win of his career at Il Lombardia in 2017, hes won Tour and Vuelta stages. Esteban Chaves (2011) was on the podium at both the Giro and Vuelta in 2016. Warren Barguil (2012) has a pair of victories at the Tour and Vuelta. Miguel ngel Lopez (2014) was tipped for a great career and has had success including a Col de la Loze victory of his own but was suspended for potential doping last year and booted out of Astana Qazaqstan, so it hasnt quite gone to plan.A few more winners still have the potential to crack those elusive top ranks. 2016 champ David Gaudu has taken over the reins from Thibaut Pinot as Frances Grand Tour hopeful, and Bernal was on course to win more stage races before the crash that he was lucky to survive in 2022 and might still reach those heights again.Cautionary talesThere are also a fair few cautionary tales from this list riders who won the Tour de lAvenir but have since disappeared off the cycling map.First off is the 2000 edition, which was won by Iker Flores. Flores won one stage on his way to winning the Tour de lAvenir but never had a professional victory. His biggest claim to fame was the dubious honour of the Lanterne Rouge at the Tour de France in 2005. He followed in the footsteps of brother Igor, who was equally (un)successful at the Tour in 2002. Not quite the Yates brothers, then.Like any other race it hasnt been left unscathed by cyclings chequered history. Johan Bruyneel won it in 1990, but is probably better known for his role as directeur sportif at US Postal Service during the Lance Armstrong years. He received a lifetime ban from the sport by WADA in 2018 for his complicity in the doping scandal.Several riders fell foul of doping controls over the years. Russian rider Evgeni Petrov won in 2002 but was booted out of the Tour de France in 2005 for unacceptably high haematocrit levels by race officials. He came back to win Stage 11 of the 2010 Giro dItalia but retired in 2016.Moiss Dueas won in 2006 and again never won a major race or stage, but tested positive for the banned substance erythropoietin mid-Tour de France in 2008. He returned to competition in 2012 but again found results hard to come by and retired in 2015.2004 winner Sylvain Calzati won a Tour de France stage in 2006 but has since swapped one glamorous career for another, now working as an industrial street cleaner.Romain Sicard became the first man to win the Tour de lAvenir and Under-23 World Championships Road Race, but failed to live up to the lofty expectations of the French cycling media. After the diagnosis of a cardiac anomaly in 2021 he announced his retirement.2013 winner Ruben Fernandez races as part of French team Cofidis so still has time to make a name for himself, and has placed in the top ten at several WorldTour races including the Tour Down Under, Tour de Pologne, Giro dellEmilia and Volta ao Algarve.Unanswered questionsTour de l'Avenir FemmesA couple of recent winners are perhaps too early in their careers to tell if theyre destined for long-term greatness or not, like Norwegian duo Tobias Foss and Tobias Halland Johanessen, 2019 and 2021 champions.Theyve certainly made waves so far though and have put Scandi cycling on the map (beyond just Denmark, at least). Foss took a shock win in the time-trial at the 2022 World Championships, beating favourites Remco Evenepoel, Stefan Kng, and Filippo Ganna, and was snapped up by Ineos over the winter. Halland Johanessen came close several times at the Tour in 2023, including third on Stage 6 behind Pogaar and Vingegaard.Speaking of Evenepoel, he didnt win the Tour de lAvenir and nor did recent GC giants Jonas Vingegaard, Geraint Thomas and Rogli. So its by no means essential for future success, but its as good an indicator as any that a rider has what it takes to win big. A few other riders, including Tom Pidcock, Juan Ayuso and Aleksandr Vlasov, have victories in the Giro dItalias own U23 race, previously known as the Baby Giro, now Giro dItalia Next Gen.Last year also saw the first ever womens edition of the Tour de lAvenir, won by Netherlands Shirin van Anrooij ahead of Brit Anna Shackley and Italian Gaia Realini. Shackley has sadly been forced to retire but Lidl-Treks Van Anrooij and Realini have already made waves at the elite level.Theres an argument to be made that we should avoid building up too much hype around talented young riders, which has been a recipe for disaster in plenty of sports, cycling included.While avoiding putting too much pressure on the newer members of the peloton who, with the current rise in long-term contracts, seem to be getting younger and younger its hard not to get excited about their future prospects when they burst onto the scene. LEquipe may be getting slightly ahead of themselves already calling Del Toro Pogaars successor, and look out for the comparisons the next winner earns especially if hes Belgian.This article was originally published in January 2024. Related Posts Tour de France Femmes reflections: Winners, losers and future stars If I set myself a target, Id regret it if I only gave 80%: Interview with Shirin van Anrooij No slowing down: Greg LeMond profile Vuelta a Espaa 2024: Route, start list, how to watch and all you need to know The post Is winning the Tour de lAvenir actually indicative of future success? appeared first on Cyclist.

Dealing the first general classification blow of the 2024 Vuelta a Espana, Primoz Roglic put any doubts over his form to bed with a brutal win ahead of Lennert Van Eetvelt on the stage 4 summit finish.As a result, the Slovenian is now in a jersey he is very comfortable wearing, the Red Jersey of ra...

Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny) has said while he deeply regretted his early celebration at the end of Vuelta stage 4 today, which instantly turned to frustration, he believed he would have other chances before the race was over. Having just turned 23-years-old, Van Eetvelt was among the best three climbers on the summit finish []The post Van Eetvelts Vuelta finish line error | A kind of stupid thing to do appeared first on Sticky Bottle.

BikeTiresDirect, 3T, and Watt Wagon have partnered to give away a brand new 3T Exploro Ultra in the oh-so-tasty coffee colorway fully kitted out with SRAM AXS components!Throw your hat in the ring for a chance to be the lucky grand prize winnerwho walks away with this ultra-capable gravel steed. In addition to the grand prize, nine other winners will receive a $50 BTD gift certificate. The deadline for entering is Sept. 2, 2024, and winners will be contacted that week. The contest is open to US & Canada only this time around, apologies to our friends in other countries!One lucky winner will bring home a 3T Exploro Ultra gravel bike, while nine others will get a $50 gift card to BikeTiresDirect.com; (Photo/BikeTiresDirect)The Grand Prize 3T Exploro UltraGet to the worst roads fast with the aero frame & road-inspired riding position of the3T Exploro Ultra Gravel Bike. Many riders these days love riding in rough terrain but live in a more urban jungle. So you need a bike thats fast on the road and capable off-road. Keep your grip with massive tires and go for a standard round, dropper, or suspension post inside the Ultras aero seat tube. Add a few packs and the Ultra will be ready for epic overnight adventures.3T says the Exploro Ultra stands as the brands most extreme bike; (Photo/BikeTiresDirect)The Ultra is 3Ts most extreme bike. Starting with 55-61mm wide 650b tires, they then designed the whole aero package around those to keep the on-road speed high. If you ride on less extreme terrain, you can also fit 700c tires up to 45mm WAM (Width As Measured).The Ultra was 3Ts most difficult aerodynamic challenge to date: starting with massive 55-61mm tires and then making the bike aero. Theres nothing to be done about the tires, theyre big and the knobs dont help. What can be done is to take the airflow mess that comes off the front wheel and try to catch and redirect it. Thats why you will see the 60mm wide downtube placed closely behind the front wheel, going even wider as it gets closer to the bottom bracket.The 3T Exploro Ultra feels like a road bike, but ready to take on chunkier terrain; (Photo/BikeTiresDirect)Blending this into the headtube with an off-center aero profile along with loads of other tricks gives you a bike that feels so much faster than your brain can compute. And thanks to the aggressive riding position, the aerodynamics, the bottom bracket stiffness, and the narrow Q-factor, the Ultra actually feels 100% like a road bike when you want to go fast, even when muddy.Does this sound like a bike you need to have? Maybe you justwantit. What are you waiting for?ENTER THE GIVEAWAYThe 3T Exploro Ultra combines 55-61mm wide 650b tires with a sleek aerodynamic profile; (Photo/BikeTiresDirect)More about the partnersBTD has been selling 3T bikes and sponsoring Watt Wagon (aka Cynthia Carson) for nearly a year now, and the company is looking forward to what the years ahead hold. In part, this giveaway is a celebration of their approaching anniversary with both parties. For those who might not be familiar, heres a brief introduction to everyone involved:BikeTiresDirectBikeTiresDirect is an online retailer based out of Portland, Oregon, and home to the worlds best selection of bicycle tires, plus tons of bikes, frames, components, and other cycling gear.They have humble roots as a cycling club selling excess tires on eBay back in 2002, and have evolved over the past 20+ years to not only have one of the very best selections of tires in the US, but an excellent selection of products across all cycling-related categories.The BTD customer service team is at the heart of their business. With decades of bike shop sales and mechanic experience, the team is made of diehard cyclists with a knack for connecting customers to exactly the right product. Additionally, everyone on staff, across all departments, believes in bicycles as a force for good in the world.3T Bikes3T makes absolutely stunning bicycles.The brand, formerly known as Tecno Tubo Torino, got its start as a premier handlebar manufacturer in Italy in 1961. The lightweight, durable, and aesthetically pleasing components gained popularity among Italian professional riders before sweeping across the peloton, and before long 3T was developing stems, forks, and other bicycle components. A landmark success was achieved with the setting of the hour record in 1984 on their Aerodinamica bars. Their focus on research and development with continuing innovation led them into lighter and stronger steels, aluminum alloys, and eventually carbon fiber.The modern 3T was born in 2015 with the arrival of Cervelo co-founder Gerard Vroomen as co-owner and head of design. And in 2016 they debuted their first bike, the Exploro, a carbon gravel bike designed not only to be as aerodynamic as possible, but also rugged and capable of taking its rider anywhere.Today the Exploro and its variants are the heart of 3Ts lineup, offering uncompromising designs for the way you gravel.Cynthia Carson / Watt WaggonCynthia Carson is an Ultra Endurance Cyclistwhose journey into the world of Ultra Cycling began in 2021 with first place at Rockstar Gravel 250 followed by a fourth place at Unbound XL. Since then, Cynthia has found herself in the top step at some of the biggest ultras in the world including Unbound XL, Badlands, Across Andes, Atlas Mountain Race, GranGuanche Gravel, Transcordilleras, and Memory Bike Adventure. BTD supports Cynthias race season with wearable drivetrain components like chains, cassettes, rotors, brake pads and more.You can check out BTD atbiketiresdirect.com, follow them on Instagram@biketiresdirect, and subscribe to theBTD YouTube channel. Stay in the know as Cynthia travels the world racing ultras atWattWagon.cc, subscribe toWatt Wagon on YouTube, and follow along@watt_wagon on Instagram. See the latest and greatest from 3T over on their website3T.bike, or@3tbikeon Instagram.The post GIVEAWAY: Win a $5,000 Gravel Bike from BikeTiresDirect appeared first on Bikerumor.

Enric Mas impressively managed to hold the pace of Primoz Roglic on the very hard ascent to the Villuercas pass in the finale of stage 4 at the 2024 Vuelta a Espana. After finishing fourth, the Mallorcan is now third in the general classification.After the finish, the Movistar Team leader spoke to t...

Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco AlUla) lost minutes today on the first summit finish of La Vuelta 2024, though that may prove a blessing in disguise later in the race, even if we was despondent at the finish. The 27-year-old finished back in 41st place, some 3:02 down on stage winner Primo Rogli (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) and []The post Eddie Dunbar a bit disappointed after first summit finish at Vuelta appeared first on Sticky Bottle.

Debuting this week at the MADE Show, No. 22 Bicycles prototype Reactor aero road bike takes full advantage of 3D printing.Scheduled for a 2025 launch, this prototype is a bit different than what will make it into production, but well get to that. First, lets look at the details that are likely to carry overCockpit is slammed with their 3D-printed ti stem and an ENVE bar.The No.22 Reactor has been their race bike, and this next version is testing with 30-40% less drag than their current semi-integrated Aurora model. And thats only with CFD design so far, but theyll be taking it to the wind tunnel along with 3rd party aerodynamicists theyre working with for final optimizations.Its built with a CeramicSpeed-ified SRAM RED, 5Dev ti cranks, and Berk saddle.Its not just about aero. The drivetrain area is stiffer for better power transfer, and the rest of the bike is tuned for better ride quality to accentuate titaniums naturally good feeling.Except for the seat tube, this prototypes frame is 3D printed from Grade 5 titanium powder as a single piece. The seat tube is carbon fiber, similar to their prior Reactor model, but this one upgrades to an aerodynamic profile. Its made for them by Ride July.Its shaped to follow the tires contour but will still fit 34mm wide tires.For production bikes, theyll use a blend of 3D-printed sections with more traditionally bent and shaped titanium tubes, welding everything together and smoothing where necessary. They say that will give them better control of the final products tolerances and allow them to do the incredible anodized finishes theyre known for.If youre headed to the MADE Show in Portland, OR, August 23-25th, check it out in person. If not, stay tuned for closeup pics and video here on Bikerumor.22bicycles.comThe post Prototype No22 Reactor Road Bike 3D-prints Aero Gains appeared first on Bikerumor.

In the first high mountain stage of the 2024 Vuelta a Espana, we could see the first indications of riders who are in the best shape and those who don't have the best legs. For Richard Carapaz, it was sadly the latter category.The former Olympic champion finished 25th on the day, accompanied by the...