Follow Stage 20 of the 2026 Vuelta a Espana live as the peloton faces the queen stage and the final mountain showdown of the race. Starting in La Calahorra, the riders tackle almost 4,850 metres of climbing on a brutal route through the mountains around Granada and the Sierra Nevada. After a relativ...

Ion Izagirre has claimed what could prove to be the final victory of his professional career at the 2026 Memorial Marco Pantani, beating Giulio Pellizzari at the end of a four-man battle in Cesenatico. The 37-year-old Cofidis rider, who will retire at the end of the season, launched his sprint with...

Perhaps the smuggest variety of cycling comment piece is the Cyclist reports conversation with non-cyclist about cycling one. I should know, because Ive smugly written quite a lot of them. Its simply because as a group-bonding experience, its as good as it gets.At one end of the spectrum, there are non-cyclists who are impressed, and we can come together to lord it over them. At the other end, there are the openly hostile, whom we can band together to hate. In the middle there is weird stuff, like the day I ran into someone I hadnt seen since the sixth-form. When he heard what Id been doing since he said, Wow. You must have taken absolutely loads of drugs.We can combine outrage with amusement, share an expensive coffee, and agree that we are best. There is no social interaction with a non-cyclist where we dont come out feeling good. The more of a cyclist you are, the better.Ive found an exception. Ive seen myself as others see me.I happen to have a really lovely neighbour. A man in perhaps his mid 70s, always cheerful, always polite, usually gardening. A couple of years ago he was trimming his front hedge as I got back from a ride.Been far? he asked.I started my answer, About nine His eyes widened. teen miles, I finished, swerving away from the truth, which was ninety. I could tell that the real answer was about to genuinely horrify him. I know I was right because the lie nearly knocked him off his feet as it was.The real answer would have catapulted me into a classification of weird neighbour from which Id never recover. Every time he looked at me hed see a strange man with a disorder. He wouldnt necessarily be wrong, but you still dont want looked at that way. For some reason, this time, I cared what he thought. I really wanted him to water my plants when Im away without muttering, Ninety miles!Ive told him a lot more lies since. He asked if Id ever done any racing, and I told him Id done a little but hadnt ever won anything. He asked me how much a Specialized S-Works time trial bike cost, and I told him about 500, because while Im too old to trade in patronising ageism, I still didnt want to give him a coronary.Sometimes the lies have to be vaguer, because theyre not as baldly factual. Getting back on another hedge-cutting afternoon, one of warm sun and gentle breezes, he nodded and said, Beautiful day. Youll have enjoyed that, Im sure.There isnt really a good answer to this. Bear in mind that most people thank a fitness fanatic is someone who goes to the gym twice a week, and add to that that hed seen me as I headed out five hours earlier. So, Yes, loved it, is odd. But, No, I got dehydrated and didnt take enough food and the last two hours were a nightmare, is worse. Its weird to go on a five-hour physical odyssey and enjoy it. Its much weirder to voluntarily undertake a hobby in your spare time and at your own expense that you fail to enjoy in ways that seem highly predictable to outsiders. On such occasions I have to change the subject hedge-cutting technique is usually a winner.For years Ive manged to stay more or less an undercover-oddball. He thought I was a normal man with an only slightly peculiar hobby. Then, last week, I blew it:Is it not about time you got an electric bike? he asked.Dont fancy it, I said without thinking. It would make life a bit too easy.Damnit.

Follow Stage 20 of the 2026 Vuelta a Espana live as the peloton faces the queen stage and the final mountain showdown of the race. Starting in La Calahorra, the riders tackle almost 4,850 metres of climbing on a brutal route through the mountains around Granada and the Sierra Nevada. After a relativ...

Mikel Landa rolled back the clock on stage 20 of the Vuelta a Espaa to claim his first Grand Tour stage win in nine years, as Enric Mas all-but sealed the red jersey. The Soudal-QuickStep rider infiltrated a large breakaway on the penultimate day of the Spanish three-week race, moving away alongside Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) and Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech). The 36-year-old attacked at the foot of the Collado del Alguacil and broke his rivals, riding solo to the win on a famous day for Spanish cycling. In the General Classification race behind, it was Felix Gall (Decathlon-CMA CGM) who finished ahead of the rest, but Movistar's Mas comfortably defended his lead ahead of the final stage in Granada on Sunday.There were overall classification movements behind Mas, as Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) vaulted up the standings with a long-range attack and Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos) was dropped on the first major climb. Kuss jumped from 11th to 5th, ahead of Onley in the General Classification.The podium remained the same as it was at the start of the day, with Mas finishing ahead of Primo Rogli (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Gall, despite the Gall eating into Rogli's advantage over him.Landa's was a fairytale comeback win following several injury setbacks over the last few years. The former Giro d'Italia and Vuelta stage-winner suffered a fractured pelvis in a crash at Itzulia Basque Country earlier this season."I feel very happy.Something that I've been looking for a long time and finally I win again," Landa said afterwards."[It's] really emotional.It's been a really hard season, a really hard Vuelta for me and today was the last chance."More to come...

The2026 Vuelta a Espaawill be the third and final Grand Tour of the men's calendar and will take place from the 22nd of August to the 13th of September. Starting in Monaco, the World Tour peloton will travel through the eastern and southern half of Spain for a mountain-packed edition. Below, you...

Enric Mas entered the closing kilometres of the Vuelta a Espana queen stage with Felix Gall attacking a few bike lengths ahead and Primoz Roglic losing contact behind. By the time the red jersey reached the summit of the Collado del Alguacil, his advantage over Roglic had grown to 2:15 and his first...

Sepp Kuss 2026 Vuelta a Espaa hadnt gone to plan ahead of 20th and penultimate stage, but the American seized an opportunity presented on a crazy day of racing in Andalucia to vault into the top-five on General Classification. The Visma-Lease a Bike rider was sitting in 11th place ahead of the stage, more than eleven minutes down on race leader Enric Mas, but just five minutes away from Netcompany-Ineos Oscar Onley in fifth place. More than 50 riders attacked away from the Movistar-led peloton in the early stages of the day, including the entire Visma-Lease a Bike team, minus Kuss.As Onley and others ahead of him in the standings began to suffer on the first of four major climbs which would characterise the day, Kuss chance to move up presented itself. He attempted a move on the first ascent of the Puerto de el Purche but was brought back. A second move the second time up the climb was more effective.Kuss quickly built a lead over a stalling red jersey group, picking up team-mates as he went who would be able to pace him all the way. Ahead of the final climb, the Collado del Alguacil, it was Wout van Aert driving things for Kuss. On the climb itself, young Norwegian prospect Jrgen Nordhagen pulled Kuss all the way to the line, finishing eighth on the stage behind veteran Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep).The plan had worked. Kuss moved ahead of Onley and others and sits in fifth place ahead of the final stage in Granada, 8:45 behind Mas (Movistar).Hats off to the team. We had a plan, and it was just like the stars aligning in every moment of the race, Kuss told reporters after the stage. Every single guy on the team had a part in it. That's how we race as a team. That's our identity. It was just amazing being part of it.I had goosebumps the whole day, and its just fun to go out and race. Most of this race I've kind of had a bittersweet feeling, Ive just not been able to race like I wantedbut today I really enjoyed. It was like a playground out there with all these steep climbs.2023 Vuelta a Espaa winner Kuss revealed that the team had been discussing for several days how they could enable him to move up the rankings. The unpredictable nature of the stage no doubt played into Visma-Lease a Bikes hands, but the team executed their strategy to perfection. From the days before, we knew that I wouldn't be able to just jump in the early break. The plan was to go for the stage win, but you can never control the distance the break has. Already before the first time on Purche, there was a really big gap.I had nothing to lose. I knew I had a bunch of strong teammates ahead, so I just went all-in on the first climb, and yeah, the guys were amazing. It never felt like I was alone.

Crashes, illness and injuries can quickly reduce the Vuelta a Espana peloton, with some riders abandoning during a stage and others only ruled out after further assessment once the racing has finished. This live 2026 Vuelta a Espaa Medical Reports and Withdrawals hub will be updated throughout the...