Tag Archives: Kenny Elissonde

2021 season, Grand Tours, Vuelta a España

Vuelta a Espana 2021 : Stage 6 – Cort hangs tough for victory as Roglic eases into red

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Magnus Cort (EF Education-Nippo) held on from the break-of-the-day to take a breathless victory atop the Alto de la Montaña de Cullera on Stage 6 of this year’s Vuelta a Espana. The Dane, strained every sinew and kept pumping those legs to keep ahead of a fast finishing Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) – when I tell you I YELLED! What a finale! Roglic’s imperious, smooth acceleration may not have grabbed the stage win, but it did put him back in red as Trek-Segafredo’s Kenny Elissonde surrendered on the finale. All this AND we finally had our longed for crosswind action. Continue reading →

2021 season, Grand Tours, Vuelta a España

Vuelta a Espana 2021 : Stage 5 – Sprint win for Philipsen; bittersweet red for Elissonde

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Stage 5 of this year’s Vuelta a Espana had the flattest profile of all the stages – a bunch sprint was a sure thing. Cycling fans, teams, and commentators alike, feeling starved of drama and excitement and desperate for a dose of action, had spent time pre-stage hyping up the potential for crosswinds and echelons, which, sadly, came to nothing. The stage, which proved to be an extremely dull affair, marred by a horrendous crash at 11.6km, but which also saw a second impressive stage victory for Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix), felt extremely bittersweet. Rein Taaramae (Intermarche Wanty Gobert), caught up in the crash and unable to get sufficiently close to the front group, ended the day losing the red jersey to Kenny Elissonde (Trek-Segafredo), while DSM’s Romain Bardet‘s grand tour bad luck continued, coming down hard in the crash and finishing the stage battered, bruised and with the biggest loss from all the GC contenders.

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