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Thursday, August 28, 2025
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
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Current racing:
- August 23 - September 14: Vuelta a España
- August 26 - 29: Tour Poitou Charentes en Nouvelle Aquitaine
Upcoming racing:
- August 31: Bretagne Classic-Ouest France
Latest completed racing:
- August 20 - 24: Renewi Tour
- August 19 - 22: Tour du Limousin
- August 17: Hamburg Cyclassics
- August 17: La Polynormande
- August 12 - 16: Tour of Denmark
- August 15: Circuit Franco-Belge
- August 4 - 10: Tour of Poland
- August 7 - 10: Arctic Race of Norway
- August 5 - 9: Vuelta a Burgos
- August 6 - 8: Tour de l'Ain
- August 3: Circuito de Getxo
- August 2: San Sebastian Classic
We posted the report from the race organizer with the results.
Here's the Vuelta report from stage winner UAE Team Emirates-XRG:
With a magnificent display on the first full day in Spain, UAE Team Emirates-XRG won the stage 5 Team Time Trial at the Vuelta a España. The Emirati squad bested the time of second-placed Visma-Lease a Bike by eight seconds in Figueres, enough to take the stage win and see both João Almeida and Juan Ayuso move up in the general classification.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG on their way to winning stage five. Sirotti photo
Averaging a little under 57kph along the 24.1km course, UAE Team Emirates-XRG produced a blistering effort that moves the team to 74 victories for the 2025 campaign. In doing so, Ayuso, Almeida and Marc Soler now sit second, third and fourth overall, respectively.
The victory was built on meticulous preparation by the eight-man squad, who spent two days preparing for the discipline in Italy ahead of the Gran Salida, and did everything possible to dial their plan on Wednesday afternoon. Heading out on course for not one, but two recon rides, UAE Team Emirates-XRG ensured that the battle plan was well-honed before they became the third-to-last team down the ramp in Figueres.
Led down the start by Ayuso, the white jersey holder, the Emirati squad quickly fell into formation and began chipping away at the best time, which had previously been set by Lidl-Trek.
At the first intermediate time check, the team were level on time with Ineos Grenadiers at the head of the standings, thanks in large part to the efforts of Domen Novak, who gave his all through the first third of the course. Ten minutes later, the squad rode through the second intermediate time check and it began to look as though the stage win might be falling out of reach.
The Emirati squad had fallen to four seconds behind the time of Lidl-Trek and momentum needed to shift.
At this point, Jay Vine delivered a searing turn of pace at the head of the ranks, pulling the squad much closer to the time of the American team. From here on out, UAE Team Emirates-XRG were relentless in their pursuit of the stage victory. Vine pulled off, followed by Felix Großschartner, and finally Ivo Oliveira, each of whom had emptied the tank in a bid to fire the squad towards the best time.
Into the final kilometre, Almeida, Ayuso and Soler each remained, with Mikkel Bjerg tasked with leading the charge down the finishing straight. As the Dane delivered in spades at the front, Soler dug deep to hold onto the back of the group, knowing full well that the team’s time would be taken on the fourth rider across the line.
After 25 minutes and 26 seconds, the four riders crossed the line in Figueres together, toppling Lidl-Trek from the day’s hot seat, and all but certain to take the win. Visma-Lease a Bike and Groupama-FDJ were yet to come, but both teams had consistently clocked slower times at the two intermediate checkpoints. Indeed, neither outfit would trouble the Emirati squad come the finish.
In turn, the cameras quickly panned to the eight riders of UAE Team Emirates-XRG beyond the line, who began to realise that their efforts had all been worthwhile. They could celebrate a brilliant victory and count the time gains from the fifth day of racing.
Heading into the second uphill finish of the Vuelta on Thursday, Ayuso, Almeida and Soler all sit just eight seconds off the race lead of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike). Still just 22 years of age, Ayuso has strengthened his grip on the white jersey as the leader of the young rider’s classification.
Speaking to reporters in Figueres, both Almeida and Ayuso reflected on a job well done in a discipline last seen at the Vuelta a España some two seasons ago.
Almeida: “I think [we were among the favourites]. We knew we would be fighting for the win, but there are a lot of good teams here, and we need to be realistic. I think we did a really perfect job and we deserve it as well.
“I think for the team atmosphere, to get even better, it’s good. It gives us confidence as well, but of course, the gaps are small and it doesn’t mean everything. But it’s a good start.
“We had a plan, we did it perfectly, the team was super strong. We had some surprises in a good way, so it was an amazing team effort and congratulations to everybody.”
Ayuso: “It’s my first victory in a Team Time Trial, and to do it together, everybody has their own medal, it is super special. Especially the way we did it. We did two recons of the course because on the first time we did the recon, we were not happy. We committed to do it again and everybody was super optimistic today. It is a win we deserve.
“We organised in these positions in Italy when we practised it. Then here, when we did our first recon, we were not happy. We did it again and fixed our little mistakes. That is why, at the end, when the work comes out and you manage to win, it is something really special.
“As I said from day one, the Vuelta starts tomorrow [on stage 6]. But it’s super nice to arrive when the Vuelta ‘starts’ with a win, and with a team win. We take this with us, and tomorrow we will see where we are.”
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Here's the Vuelta report from new GC leader Jonas Vingegaard's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Team Visma | Lease a Bike claimed second place in the team time trial of La Vuelta Ciclista a España. Thanks to a powerful finish from the Dutch squad, Jonas Vingegaard reclaimed the red leader’s jersey.
On the 24.1-kilometre course, the team started as the penultimate squad. Despite beginning with only seven riders after Axel Zingle’s withdrawal, they were just ahead of the fastest time at the first checkpoint. At the second split, the picture looked less promising, but the team managed to rally and closed to within ten seconds of eventual winners UAE Team Emirates.
Jonas Vingegaard will start stage six in red. Sirotti photo
“It was a good day for us”, Vingegaard said afterwards. “We lost some time to UAE, but we are still ahead of them in the general classification, and that’s something we can be happy about. We’re satisfied with the performance today. Everyone did a strong ride in the team time trial. I’m feeling good right now and I’m already looking forward to the coming days. I’m happy to be back in red and excited for tomorrow”, he added, referring to the stage finish at the summit in Andorra.
Sports director Jesper Mørkøv was also content with the team’s display. “The team did well. We had a strong start, but in the middle section we briefly struggled to keep the pace high enough. Fortunately, we managed to fix that in the final kilometres. The way we finished today gives us confidence. Overall, we can be satisfied with the effort delivered”, the Dane concluded.
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Here's the Vuelta stage five report from third-place Team Lidl-Trek:
The team delivered a commanding performance in Stage 5 around the streets of Figures securing an impressive 3rd place in the highly anticipated Team Time Trial. The 24km course tested both cohesion and pure power – something the Team here is not short of!
From the start, the guys executed a meticulously planned strategy, riding with precision through the technical corners and narrow streets. With flawless rotation and consistent pacing, the only hiccup occurred when Carlos Verona crashed on a bend in the second half of the test. Despite this, the Team had a lengthy spell in the hot seat where it looked as though victory was on the cards. In the end, the Team clocked a time of 25:35, just 9 seconds off the stage winners, UAE – XRG. The result provided a solid platform in the general classification, with Giulio Ciccone now sitting in 5th heading into the upcoming mountain stages. We also head into tomorrow’s sixth stage with Mads Pedersen ready to defend his new green points jersey.
Mads Pedersen leads Team Lidl-Trek. Sirotti photo
What Mads had to say..
Today is a real positive, a dream performance from all the guys. The team performed at their absolute maximum and we showed a really good result. We have never won a Team Time Trial in a peloton like this and now we've less than 10 seconds behind teams that do this every time. We took some really big steps during the winter and this season to be there on the top step so I think it's only minor details in the end. The goal was to lose as little time as possible and do a really strong TTT and that's what we did.
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And here's the Vuelta report from Team Soudal Quick-Step:
On the fifth day of La Vuelta, the race finally arrived in Spain for one of the most important stages of the opening week – the 24.1km team time trial. It was for the 15th time in the last 20 years that a TTT took place at the Spanish Grand Tour, which on Wednesday was present in Figueres, the birthplace of the famous Salvador Dali – one of 20th century’s most important artists and a leading exponent of Surrealism.
Soudal Quick-Step in precise formation. Getty Sport photo
The seven T-Rex Quick-Step riders in the race – Gianmarco Garofoli, Mikel Landa, William Lecerf, Pepijn Reinderink, German ITT Champion Maximilian Schachmann, Mauri Vansevenant and Louis Vervaeke – put together a solid effort on the flat course around the Catalan city and stopped the clock at the end of this stage won by UAE Team Emirates in 26:14, having averaged 55.1km/h.
Following this TTT – which came so late into the race for the first time since the ‘70s – the best placed T-Rex Quick-Step rider in the general classification ahead of Friday’s challenging summit finish in Andorra is Czech Tour winner Junior Lecerf.
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