A heavy rainstorm ensured that Adriano Malori‘s time held throughout the 9.7km time trial ‘epilogue’ for the Movistarlet to take the final stage of the 2014 Vuelta. The top three rode cautiously, giving us an unchanged final podium of Alberto Contador, Chris Froome and Alejandro Valverde.
A parcours crammed full of challenging short, sharp climbs produced a rollercoaster of a race, with the yellow jersey being passed from rider to rider like a hot potato. But when an exhilarating week of racing came to an end on the streets of London, the winner was not Bradley Wiggins or Michal Kwiatkowski or one of the host of marquee names but Dutch neo-pro Dylan van Baarle, who held his nerve on the final day to announce himself to the cycling world with no small amount of panache.
It’s a short, sharp, individual time trial to end this year’s Vuelta. After yesterday’s result, it’s too short to make a difference to the top of the GC given the signficant gaps between each of the top five. This is going to be largely ceremonial with the only real prize at stake being the not inconsiderable honour of winning the final stage.