The final week of the Vuelta was crazier than a crazy thing from Crazy Town. But that makes for a particularly good Tweets of the Week. We have it all – just like Bogie and Bacall … or should I say Knox and Gilbert, the bromance of the Vuelta. We also have attackers, some serious trash talk, winners, podiums …
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 time for the VeloVoices to review how their respective riders to watch for 2013 finished their seasons. I’ve spent the year following the fortunes of three former HTC-Highroad sprinters: 2011 world champion Mark Cavendish, his former lead-out man Mark Renshaw and Argos-Shimano’s John Degenkolb. Here’s a quick overview of how each fared over the last couple of months of the season..