The Cycling Disciple

The Vuelta a España, alongside the Giro d'Italia, is often used as a proving ground for talent and can be a breakthrough race for general classification hopefuls and sprinters alike: take for example Chris Froome (2011), John Degenkolb (2012), Michael Matthews (2013) and  Tom Dumoulin (2015). With quite a handful of top bracket GC riders and practically all of the sprinters focusing instead on the Autumn classics, Tour of Britain and the World Championships in Innsbruck, Austria, many young riders are getting a chance at Grand Tour level.  Here are five riders under-26 who've impressed in the smaller races throughout the season and could take a massive step forward at this Vuelta. Tao Geoghegan Hart (Team Sky) Geoghegan Hart (right of centre) was an instrumental domestique as Geraint Thomas won the 2018 Criterium du Dauphine Photo credit: cyclingnews.com After a tremendous showing at the Tour of California in May  (fifth)  and Criterium du Dauphiné in June  (13th)

In the most open Grand Tour in years, Simon Yates finds himself with a golden opportunity to banish the heartbreak of the Giro. Simon Yates wore the maglia rosa for 12 stages after taking it on the stage six finish on Mount Etna won by teammate Esteban Chaves Photo credit: road.cc The 26-year-old Brit riding for Mitchelton-Scott came unstuck at the Giro for one reason. It wasn't inexperience or not fueling properly or a crash.  Purely and simply he pushed his body too far in an effort to make up time before the stage 16 time trial. He also pushed himself so far into the red in Trento to Rovereto TT his climbing legs abandoned him when he needed them most. He had 56 seconds over Tom Dumoulin as the race ticked over to stage 17. He was three days from becoming the first Briton to win the Giro.  The problem was his race was now done. His body exhausted after riding the hardest he'd ever ridden for over a week just to retain the maglia rosa heading into the Alps.  The

Yesterday was earmarked as a boring, straight forward stage for a bunch sprint. It turned out to be anything but. As Sam Bennett left the rest of the field spluttering in his rooster tail on the soaking wet circuit at Imola, Elia Viviani was 145th and nine minutes behind. All thanks to bad weather and a small climb. Sam Bennett claims his second victory of the 2018 Giro d'Italia with jersey holder Elia Viviani minutes behind Photo credit: cyclingnews.com Flash back to 25th March this year, as Viviani sat hunched on the side of the road, sobbing, as a Quick-Step sougneur draped a jacket over his shoulders after narrowly losing to world champion Peter Sagan at Gent-Wevelgem. It wasn't so much of a huge surprise given the calibre of sprinters in the field, but with Quick-Step's dominance to that point in Belgian one-day races, you could empathise with the Italian for letting down a team that is set up primarily for success in the classics. As Team Sky is for Grand Tours.

As pictures emerged of Team Sky's talisman picking himself up off the floor, covered in road rash with his training kit in tatters, you could feel the weight of  physical pressure to perform to such a high standard so early in the season pile on top of the existing  mental pressure of an unresolved dope test. The latter exists, no matter how much Froome and his team downplay the extent of the stress he's feeling. Chris Froome bears the scars of a crash in his course recon Photo credit: eurosport.co.uk Discussion has been rife ever since late last year when Chris Froome returned an adverse analytical finding for double the allowed level of salbutamol, but chatter over his eligibility to race has intensified ever since his team announced he would contest the 101st Giro d'Italia.  An alleged multi-million pound attendance fee probably played a part in their decision for the legendary Grand Tourer to take to the start line in Israel, but nevertheless, the improbable p

The 101st Giro d'Italia is absent of some big names as far as both the general classification and sprints are concerned, which opens the door to an open race as many young riders make their debut at the Corsa Rosa. Here are five riders making their Giro debut who could very likely produce a career propelling performance. Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) Miguel Angel Lopez wins stage two of the Tour of the Alps ahead of eventual overall winner Thibaut Pinot Photo credit: todaycycling.com 'Superman' is the rider Astana General Manager, Alexander Vinokourov, has chosen to bestow the task of filling the cleats vacated by Fabio Aru, who departed Astana last year to join ranks with Quick-Step's Daniel Martin and Katusha's Alexander Kristoff on a lucrative contract at UAE Team Emirates.  That said, Aru didn't exactly leave the Kazakh outfit with a particularly glowing CV. The Italian showed tremendous promise throughout 2015, finishing second at the Giro and

Given the typical profile of a rider competing at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, sprinting isn't usually their forte - unless your name is Michael Matthews - and so an attack before the final climb could prove pivotal for a rider to get the better of outright favourite Alejandro Valverde. Alejandro Valverde dedicated his 2017 win at Liege-Bastonge-Liege to the late Michele Scarponi Photo credit: roadcyclinguk.com Liege-Bastogne-Liege is littered with short climbs, some not even categorised, but it'll likely be the penultimate ascent of the day, the Cote de Saint-Nicolas at 6km to go, that produces the race defining move if one of the following five wants to avoid a sprint finish. If 6km proves too far out after 252km of racing though, a punchy attack on the finale in Ans may be the only chance to stop Valverde equaling Eddy Merckx's tally of five wins at La Doyenne - it was Alaphilippe's strong attack on the brutal Mur de Huy in the final kilometre that prevented the Spa

Tim Wellens attacked in the last 10km and stayed clear over the final climb to win a poignant De Brabantse Pijl, the first race after the death of Michael Goolaerts. Tim Wellens salutes Michael Goolaerts Photo credit: nieuws.vtm.be Wellens (Lotto Soudal) attacked the front group with 7.7km to go and  had a comfortable advantage as he came to the flat section after the Schavei climb, and rolled over the line pointing to the sky in tribute to Goolaerts. Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) won the battle for second, followed by Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal), Pieter Serry (Quick-Step Floors) and Jan Tratnik (CCC). The Race Verandas Willems Crelan led the peloton through the neutral zone in tribute to Michael Goolaerts who passed away on Sunday night following a cardiac arrest at Paris-Roubaix. Calvin Watson (Aqua Blue Sport), Tyler Williams (Israel Cycling Academy), Eduard Michael Grosu (Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini), Elmar Reinders (Roompot), Dries De Bondt (Verandas Willems C

Paris-Roubaix is such a unique race that invariably it requires a specific style of rider to win it, usually one who's primary role throughout the season is to protect their teammates. Peter Sagan is the bookies favourite for Paris-Roubaix 2018 despite only one classics victory this season at Gent-Wevelgem Photo credit: cyclingnews.com Talking of domestiques, Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors) has been banking credits across the entire classics campaign, working for his teammates in every race bar Dwars door Vlaanderen. You can only imagine this was to curry favour as he takes aim at the 'Queen of the Classics'.  The 35-year old is very much running out of time to win all five monuments - Milan-Sanremo looks like it could evade him - and with Quick-Step claiming all but one Belgian one-day races this season, it could be the best chance he's ever going to have to claim his fourth different monument. In the absence of a favourite lifting the famous cobble ston

Primoz Roglic won the time trial at the Basque Country for the second successive year to take the yellow jersey from Julian Alaphilippe on stage four. Photo credit: naszosie.pl Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo), one of the favourites for the stage given his performance last year, took 42-seconds out of race leader, Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors), who now sits 34-seconds adrift on general classification. Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) finished ninth on the stage to jump to third on GC, Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hangrohe) came 12th to leap up to fourth, while Gorka Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) dropped to fifth overall. The Stage Remi Cavagna (Quick-Step Floors) set the scorching early benchmark at the first intermediate split but faded catastrophically in the final section. Patrick Bevin (BMC Racing) set the first fast time, notching 22'35" on the 19.4km pan flat out and back course around Lodosa. Team Sky's key time trial men, Vasil Kiryienka, Jonathan Castroviejo and