Vuelta stage 7: Stybar surprises in Seville

Stage 7: Almendralejo to Mairena de Alijarafe, 195.5km

A throw of the handlebars from Zdenek Stybar was enough to deny world champion Philippe Gilbert his first victory in the rainbow jersey by the narrowest of margins. The two had escaped off the front of the peloton 10km from the finish and benefited from the technical finish to hold off the chasing pack by just a second. Belkin’s Robert Wagner won the bunch sprint for third just ahead of Adrien Petit (Cofidis). Continue reading

Friday Feature: The Carrots are dying, long live the Carrots!

It’s true – it’s over. Euskaltel-Euskadi will fold at the end of the season: a bitter pill for Spanish and, in particular, Basque cycling to swallow. A new structure had been put in place at the start of the season with the Basque Cycling Team, moving away from the original philosophy of recruiting only Basque or Basque-developed cyclists and it seemed that the organisation was on a sounder financial footing. Continue reading