CyclistPro Log: First ever British Tour de lAvenir win, No GB at European Champs, Ben OConnor leads Vuelta a EspaaWelcome back to another edition of Pro Log. Ben OConnor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) is still in the lead at the Vuelta a Espaa, with a 3min 53sec gap on his nearest rival Primo Rogli (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) after ten stages.Elsewhere, Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) won the Bretagne Classic and Lidl-Treks Mads Pedersen was victorious at the Deutschland Tour his team ultimately winning every stage.Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx-Protime) secured her second consecutive win at the Classic Lorient Agglomration (formerly known as the GP de Plouay) in a two-up sprint against Chlo Dygert (Canyon-SRAM).Joe Blackmore makes history at Tour de lAvenirTour de l'AvenirJoe Blackmore became the first British rider to win the Tour de lAvenir, the most prestigious U23 stage race on the calendar. The 21-year-old had worn the yellow jersey after Stage 3, lost it the following day, and won it back on Stage 5. He got through Stage 6 safely to win by just 12 seconds ahead of Spains Pablo Torres.The French dominated the concurrent Tour de lAvenir Femmes, winning three stages in the process. Marion Bunel of France claimed overall victory in the second edition of the race by 2min 11secs ahead of Canadas Isabella Holmgren. Josie Nelson was Great Britains highest place finisher in seventh, 7min 32secs down. Related Posts The climbs that will decide the Vuelta a Espaa 2024 Cyclists 2024 Vuelta a Espaa predictions How to watch and live stream the Vuelta a Espaa 2024 Vuelta a Espaa 2024: Route, start list, how to watch and all you need to know Great Britain team to miss European ChampionshipsDavid Pintens/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty ImagesGreat Britain will not compete at the upcoming European Championships, set to take place in Limburg, Flanders from the 11th-15th September 2024. Performance Director Stephen Park CBE said it was due to a number of reasons such as an already packed summer racing calendar including the Olympic Games, the Tour de lAvenir and the upcoming Tour of Britain.Last year in Drenthe, Josh Tarling powered to a gold medal in the mens elite time-trial with Anna Henderson winning silver in the womens event. At the U23 level, Zoe Bckstedt won the gold medal in the womens time-trial by almost one minute while Anna Shackley took home silver in the road race.Park cited the added complexity of our riders pro team responsibilities as well as vital rest and recuperation post major events as another reason for Great Britain not fielding a team, but said it was an event we value and have had great success at in the past, and we look forward to competing againinfuture.Ben OConnor still in red at Vuelta a Espaa Unipublic/Sprint Cycling AgencyBen OConnor of Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale continues to lead the Vuelta a Espaa by almost four minutes over three-time winner Primoz Rogli (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) after he took the lead in a daring breakaway on Stage 6s summit finish atop the Alto de las Abejas.Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) has been clawing back time however, his impressive win on Stage 9 bumped him up 20 places on GC to seventh. The same goes for Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), who finished second behind Yates and moved up 15 places to sit third overall.Big names forced to abandonTim de Waele via Getty ImagesCovid-19 is impacting another Grand Tour with big names out before the competition could really ramp up. UAE Team Emirates JooAlmeida entered as co-leader with Yates but had to withdraw after Stage 8, a day on which he haemorrhaged time and dropped from third to 26th overall.Ineos Grenadiers Laurens de Plus has also tested positive for Covid and abandoned prior to Stage 10. His teammate also Josh Tarling stepped off his bike on his Grand Tour debut after a crash on Stage 9 too. Lidl-Treks Giulio Ciccone was hit by a deer on Stage 8 and later abandoned during Stage 10 with knee pain.EF Education-EasyPost suffered a couple of first week blows with Rigoberto Urn out in his final Grand Tour and Rui Costa also abandoning due to a crash. Bahrain Victorious is the most depleted team of the race with Antonio Tiberi, Damiano Caruso and Rainer Kepplinger abandoning so far.See you next week. Related Posts The climbs that will decide the Vuelta a Espaa 2024 Cyclists 2024 Vuelta a Espaa predictions How to watch and live stream the Vuelta a Espaa 2024 Vuelta a Espaa 2024: Route, start list, how to watch and all you need to know The post Pro Log: First ever British Tour de lAvenir win, No GB at European Champs, Ben OConnor leads Vuelta a Espaa appeared first on Cyclist.